Speed was always the goal in hot rodding in the early days. When I see the words “speed equipment” in old hot rod magazines from the days when flatheads ruled the streets, it makes me smile. I smile because those words are relevant to a time and purpose.
Guys souped up their roadsters and coupes in garages and back yards with parts purchased from the pages of magazines, local speed shops, and junk yards. Speed was the ultimate objective - to go faster than the next guy on the street, beach, lake bed, or strip. The same parts that they saw on the car in the magazine that had set a record at El Mirage were available at their local speed shop. Speed was attainable. Going faster than the next guy was only a few hundred dollars and some ingenuity away.
Today these aftermarket parts for 4-bangers, flatheads and early overhead valve motors are still referred to as “speed equipment.” And while it does make them faster than stock, it just isn't the same anymore. Those words seem to have lost their true relevance for the potential buyer and gained more of a nostalgic or romantic relevance. Speed is no longer the ultimate objective but rather a subsequent side effect of said equipment.
See the complete Fuel & Fire column on early speed equipment in CKD #33
Fuel & Fire
Fuel & Fire
By Josh Mills
By Josh Mills
