Lucsko The Business of Speed

The Hot Rod Industry in America, 1915–1990
Erscheinungsjahr 2008
ISBN: 978-1-4214-0274-1
Verlag: Johns Hopkins University Press
Format: EPUB
Kopierschutz: Adobe DRM (»Systemvoraussetzungen)

E-Book, Englisch, 0 Seiten, Format (B × H): 156 mm x 235 mm

Reihe: Johns Hopkins Studies in the History of Technology

2009 Outstanding Academic Title, Choice

Since the mass production of Henry Ford’s Model T, car enthusiasts have been redesigning, rebuilding, and reengineering their vehicles for increased speed and technical efficiency. They purchase aftermarket parts, reconstruct engines, and enhance body designs, all in an effort to personalize and improve their vehicles. Why do these car enthusiasts modify their cars and where do they get their aftermarket parts? Here, David N. Lucsko provides the first scholarly history of America’s hot rod business.

Lucsko examines the evolution of performance tuning through the lens of the $34-billion speed equipment industry that supports it. As early as 1910, dozens of small shops across the United States designed, manufactured, and sold add-on parts to consumers eager to employ new technologies as they tinkered with their cars. Operating for much of the twentieth century in the shadow of the Big Three automobile manufacturers—General Motors, Ford, and Chrysler—these businesses grew at an impressive rate, supplying young and old hot rodders with thousands of performance-boosting gadgets.

Lucsko offers a rich and heretofore untold account of the culture and technology of the high-performance automotive aftermarket in the United States, offering a fresh perspective on the history of the automobile in America.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Lucsko, David N.

Fachgebiete

• Technische Wissenschaften Technik Allgemein Technikgeschichte
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Geschichtswissenschaft Allgemein
• Wirtschaftswissenschaften Wirtschaftswissenschaften Unternehmensgeschichte, Einzelne Branchen und Unternehmer
• Technische Wissenschaften Verkehrstechnik | Transportgewerbe Fahrzeugtechnik

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Preface
List of Abbreviations
Introduction
1. Faster Flivvers, 1915–1927
2. Westward Ho, 1928–1942
3. From Hot Rods to Hot Rodding, 1945–1955
4. The California Hot Rod Industry, 1945–1955
5. Factory Muscle, 1955–1970
6. Bolt-on Power, 1955–1970
7. The Speed Equipment Manufacturers Association
8. "Ink-Happy Do-Gooders," 1960–1978
9. "This Dreadful Conspiracy," 1966–1984
10. The Best of Times, the Worst of Times, 1970–1990
Conclusion
Notes
Glossary
Essay on Sources
Index

Über Autor(innen)

Lucsko, David N.
David N. Lucsko is an associate professor of history at Auburn University. He is the author of The Business of Speed: The Hot Rod Industry in America, 1915–1990.

David N. Lucsko is managing editor of Technology and Culture and an instructor of technological history at the University of Detroit Mercy.