Hot rod
Hot rods are old, classic or modern American cars with large engines modified for faster speed. The origin of the term "hot rod" is unclear. For example, some claim. Other origin stories include replacing the engine's camshaft or "rod" with a higher performance version. Hot rods were favorites for greasers The term has broadened to apply to other items that are modified for a particular purpose, such as "hot-rodded amplifier". There are various theories about the origin of the term "hot rod"; the common theme is that "hot" related to "hotting up" a car, which means modifying it for greater performance. One theory is that "rod" means roadster, a lightweight 2-door car, used as the basis for early hot rods. Another theory is that "rod" refers to camshaft, a part of the engine, upgraded in order to increase power output. In the early days, a car modified for increased performance was called a "gow job"; this term morphed into the hot rod in the early to middle 1950s. The term "hot rod" has had various uses in relation to performance cars.
For example, the Ontario Ministry of the Environment in its vehicle emissions regulations, refers to a hot rod as any motorized vehicle that has a replacement engine differing from the factory original. The predecessors to the hotrod were the modified cars used in the Prohibition era by bootleggers to evade revenue agents and other law enforcement. Hot rods first appeared in the late 1930s in southern California, where people raced modified cars on dry lake beds northeast of Los Angeles, under the rules of the Southern California Timing Association, among other groups; this gained popularity after World War II in California, because many returning soldiers had received technical training. The first hot rods were old cars, modified to reduce weight. Engine swaps involved fitting the Ford flathead V8 engine into a different car, for example the common practice in the 1940s of installing the "60 horse" version into a Jeep chassis. Typical modifications were removal of convertible tops, bumpers, and/or fenders.
Wheels and tires were changed for improved handling. Hot rods built before 1945 used'35 Ford wire-spoke wheels. After World War II, many small military airports throughout the country were either abandoned or used, allowing hot rodders across the country to race on marked courses. Drag racing had tracks as long as 1 mi or more, included up to four lanes of racing simultaneously; as some hot rodders raced on the street, a need arose for an organization to promote safety, to provide venues for safe racing. The National Hot Rod Association was founded in 1951, to take drag racing off the streets and into controlled environments. In the'50s and'60s, the Ford flathead. Many hot rods would upgrade the brakes from mechanical to hydraulic and headlights from bulb to sealed-beam. A typical mid-1950s to early 1960s custom Deuce was fenderless and steeply chopped, powered by a Ford or Mercury flathead, with an Edelbrock intake manifold and Collins magneto, Halibrand quick-change differential. Front suspension hairpins were adapted from sprint cars, such as the Kurtis Krafts.
As hot rodding became more popular and associations catering to hot rodders were started, such as the magazine Hot Rod, founded in 1948. As automobiles offered by the major automakers began increasing performance, the lure of hot rods began to wane. With the advent of the muscle car, it was now possible to purchase a high-performance car straight from the showroom; however the 1973 Oil Crisis caused car manufacturers to focus on fuel efficiency over performance, which led to a resurgence of interest in hot rodding. As the focus shifted away from racing, the modified cars became known as "street rods"; the National Street Rod Association began hosting events. By the 1970s, the 350 cu in small-block Chevy V8 was the most common choice of engine for hot rods. Another popular engine choice is the Ford Windsor engine. During the 1980s, many car manufacturers were reducing the displacements of their engines, thus making it harder for hot rod builders to obtain large displacement engines. Instead, engine builders had to modify the smaller engines to obtain larger displacement.
While current production V8s tended to be the most frequent candidates, this applied to others. In the mid-1980s, as stock engine sizes diminished, rodders discovered the 215 cu in aluminum-block Buick or Oldsmobile V8 could be modified for greater displacement, with wrecking yard parts; this trend was not limited to American cars. There is still a vibrant hot rod culture worldwide in Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom and Sweden; the hot rod community has now been subdivided into two main groups: hot rodders. There is a contemporary movement of traditional hot rod builders, car clubs and artists who have returned to the roots of hot rodding as a lifestyle; this includes a new breed of traditional hot rod builders and styles, as well as classic style car clubs. Events like GreaseOrama feature the greaser lifestyle. Magazines like Ol' Skool Rodz and Gals, Rat-Rods and Rust Queens cover events and people. Author Tom Wolfe was
Lawn mower
A lawn mower is a machine utilizing one or more revolving blades to cut a grass surface to an height. The height of the cut grass may be fixed by the design of the mower, but is adjustable by the operator by a single master lever, or by a lever or nut and bolt on each of the machine's wheels; the blades may be powered by manual force, with wheels mechanically connected to the cutting blades so that when the mower is pushed forward, the blades spin, or the machine may have a battery-powered or plug-in electric motor. The most common self-contained power source for lawn mowers is a small internal combustion engine. Smaller mowers lack any form of propulsion, requiring human power to move over a surface. Larger lawn mowers are either self-propelled "walk-behind" types, or more are "ride-on" mowers, equipped so the operator can ride on the mower and control it. A robotic lawn mower is designed to operate either on its own, or less by an operator by remote control. Two main styles of blades are used in lawn mowers.
Lawn mowers employing a single blade that rotates about a single vertical axis are known as rotary mowers, while those employing a cutting bar and multiple blade assembly that rotates about a single horizontal axis are known as cylinder or reel mowers. There are several types of mowers, each suited to purpose; the smallest types, non-powered push mowers, are suitable for small gardens. Electrical or piston engine-powered push-mowers are used for larger residential lawns. Riding mowers, which sometimes resemble small tractors, are larger than push mowers and are suitable for large lawns, although commercial riding lawn mowers can be "stand-on" types, bear little resemblance to residential lawn tractors, being designed to mow large areas at high speed in the shortest time possible; the largest multi-gang mowers are mounted on tractors and are designed for large expanses of grass such as golf courses and municipal parks, although they are ill-suited for complex terrain. The first lawn mower was invented by Edwin Budding in 1830 in Thrupp, just outside Stroud, in Gloucestershire, England.
Budding's mower was designed to cut the grass on sports grounds and extensive gardens, as a superior alternative to the scythe, was granted a British patent on August 31, 1830. Budding's first machine was 19 inches wide with a frame made of wrought iron; the mower was pushed from behind. Cast-iron gear wheels transmitted power from the rear roller to the cutting cylinder, allowing the rear roller to drive the knives on the cutting cylinder. Another roller placed between the cutting cylinder and the main or land roller could be raised or lowered to alter the height of cut; the grass clippings were hurled forward into a tray-like box. It was soon realized, that an extra handle was needed in front to help pull the machine along. Overall, these machines were remarkably similar to modern mowers. Two of the earliest Budding machines sold went to Regent's Park Zoological Gardens in London and the Oxford Colleges. In an agreement between John Ferrabee and Edwin Budding dated May 18, 1830, Ferrabee paid the costs of enlarging the small blades, obtained letters of patent and acquired rights to manufacture and license other manufacturers in the production of lawn mowers.
Without patent and Ferrabee were shrewd enough to allow other companies to build copies of their mower under license, the most successful of these being Ransomes of Ipswich, which began making mowers as early as 1832. His machine was the catalyst for the preparation of modern-style sporting ovals, playing fields, grass courts, etc; this led to the codification of modern rules for many sports, including for football, lawn bowls, lawn tennis and others. It took ten more years and further innovations to create a machine that could be drawn by animals, sixty years before a steam-powered lawn mower was built. In the 1850s, Thomas Green & Son of Leeds introduced a mower called the Silens Messor, which used a chain drive to transmit power from the rear roller to the cutting cylinder; these machines were lighter and quieter than the gear-driven machines that preceded them, although they were more expensive. The rise in popularity of lawn sports helped prompt the spread of the invention. Lawn mowers became a more efficient alternative to domesticated grazing animals.
Manufacture of lawn mowers took off in the 1860s. By 1862, Ferrabee's company was making eight models in various roller sizes, he manufactured over 5000 machines until production ceased in 1863. The first grass boxes took their present shape in the 1860s. James Sumner of Lancashire patented the first steam-powered lawn mower in 1893, his machine burned petrol and/or paraffin as fuel. These were heavy machines. After numerous advances, these machines were sold by the Stott Fertilizer and Insecticide Company of Manchester and Sumner; the company they both controlled was called the Leyland Steam Motor Company. Around 1900, one of the best known English machines was the Ransomes' Automaton, available in chain- or gear-driven models. Numerous manufacturers entered the field with petrol engine-powered mowers after the
Road transport
Road transport or road transportation is a type of transport by using roads. Transport on roads can be grouped into the transportation of goods and transportation of people. In many countries licensing requirements and safety regulations ensure a separation of the two industries. Movement along roads may be by animal such as horse or oxen. Standard networks of roads were adopted by Romans, Persians and other early empires, may be regarded as a feature of empires. Cargo may be transported by trucking companies, while passengers may be transported via mass transit. Defined features of modern roads include defined lanes and signage. Within the United States, roads between regions are connected via the Interstate Highway System; the nature of road transportation of goods depends, apart from the degree of development of the local infrastructure, on the distance the goods are transported by road, the weight and volume of an individual shipment, the type of goods transported. For short distances and light, small shipments a van or pickup truck may be used.
For large shipments if less than a full truckload a truck is more appropriate.. In some countries cargo is transported by road in horse-drawn carriages, donkey carts or other non-motorized mode. Delivery services are sometimes considered a separate category from cargo transport. In many places fast food is transported on roads by various types of vehicles. For inner city delivery of small packages and documents bike couriers are quite common. People are transported on roads. Special modes of individual transport by road such as cycle rickshaws may be locally available. There are specialist modes of road transport for particular situations, such as ambulances; the first methods of road transport were horses, oxen or humans carrying goods over dirt tracks that followed game trail. The Persians built a network of Royal Roads across their empire. With the advent of the Roman Empire, there was a need for armies to be able to travel from one region to another, the roads that existed were muddy, which delayed the movement of large masses of troops.
To resolve this issue, the Romans built lasting roads. The Roman roads used deep roadbeds of crushed stone as an underlying layer to ensure that they kept dry, as the water would flow out from the crushed stone, instead of becoming mud in clay soils; the Islamic Caliphate built tar-paved roads in Baghdad. As states developed and became richer with the Renaissance, new roads and bridges began to be built based on Roman designs. Although there were attempts to rediscover Roman methods, there was little useful innovation in road building before the 18th century. Starting in the early 18th century, the British Parliament began to pass a series of acts that gave the local justices powers to erect toll-gates on the roads, in exchange for professional upkeep; the toll-gate erected at Wade's Mill became the first effective toll-gate in England. The first scheme that had trustees who were not justices was established through a Turnpike Act in 1707, for a section of the London-Chester road between Foothill and Stony Stafford.
The basic principle was that the trustees would manage resources from the several parishes through which the highway passed, augment this with tolls from users from outside the parishes and apply the whole to the maintenance of the main highway. This became the pattern for the turnpiking of a growing number of highways, sought by those who wished to improve flow of commerce through their part of a county; the quality of early turnpike roads was varied. Although turnpiking did result in some improvement to each highway, the technologies used to deal with geological features and the effects of weather were all in their infancy. Road construction improved initially through the efforts of individual surveyors such as John Metcalf in Yorkshire in the 1760s. British turnpike builders began to realize the importance of selecting clean stones for surfacing while excluding vegetable material and clay, resulting in more durable roads. By the late 18th and early 19th centuries, new methods of highway construction had been pioneered by the work of three British engineers, John Metcalf, Thomas Telford and John Loudon McAdam, by the French road engineer Pierre-Marie-Jérôme Trésaguet.
The first professional road builder to emerge during the Industrial Revolution was John Metcalf, who constructed about 180 miles of turnpike road in the north of England, from 1765. He believed a good road should have good foundations, be well drained and have a smooth convex surface to allow rainwater to drain into ditches at the side, he understood the importance of good drainage, knowing it was rain that caused most problems on the roads. Pierre-Marie-Jérôme Trésaguet established the first scientific approach to road building in France at the same time, he wrote a memorandum on his method in 1775. It involved a layer of large rocks, covered by a layer of smaller gravel; the lower layer improved on Roman practice in that it was based on the understanding that the purpose of this layer is to transfer the weight of the road and its traffic to the ground, while protecting the ground from deformation by spreading the weight evenly. Therefore, the sub-base did not have to be a self-supporting structure.
The upper running surface provided a smooth surface for vehicles while protecting the large stones of the sub-base. The surveyor and engineer Thomas Telford made substantial advances in the engineering of new roads and the construction of bridges, his method of road building involved the digging of a large trench in
Cultivator
A cultivator is any of several types of farm implement used for secondary tillage. One sense of the name refers to frames with teeth that pierce the soil as they are dragged through it linearly. Another sense refers to machines that use rotary motion of disks or teeth to accomplish a similar result; the rotary tiller is a principal example. Cultivators before planting or after the crop has begun growing. Unlike a harrow, which disturbs the entire surface of the soil, cultivators are designed to disturb the soil in careful patterns, sparing the crop plants but disrupting the weeds. Cultivators of the toothed type are similar in form to chisel plows, but their goals are different. Cultivator teeth work near the surface for weed control, whereas chisel plow shanks work deep beneath the surface, breaking up hardpan. Cultivating takes much less power per shank than does chisel plowing. Small toothed cultivators pushed or pulled by a single person are used as garden tools for small-scale gardening, such as for the household's own use or for small market gardens.
Sized rotary tillers combine the functions of harrow and cultivator into one multipurpose machine. Cultivators are either self-propelled or drawn as an attachment behind either a two-wheel tractor or four-wheel tractor. For two-wheel tractors they are rigidly fixed and powered via couplings to the tractors' transmission. For four-wheel tractors they are attached by means of a three-point hitch and driven by a power take-off. Drawbar hookup is still used worldwide. Draft-animal power is sometimes still used today, being somewhat common in developing nations although rare in more industrialized economies; the basic idea of soil scratching for weed control is ancient and was done with hoes or mattocks for millennia before cultivators were developed. Cultivators were drawn by draft animals or were pushed or drawn by people. In modern commercial agriculture, the amount of cultivating done for weed control has been reduced via use of herbicides instead. However, herbicides are not always desirable—for example, in organic farming.
The powered rotary hoe was invented by Arthur Clifford Howard who, in 1912, began experimenting with rotary tillage on his father's farm at Gilgandra, New South Wales, Australia. Using his father's steam tractor engine as a power source, he found that ground could be mechanically tilled without soil-packing occurring, as was the case with normal ploughing, his earliest designs threw the tilled soil sideways, until he improved his invention by designing an L-shaped blade mounted on spaced flanges fixed to a small-diameter rotor. With fellow apprentice Everard McCleary, he established a company to make his machine, but plans were interrupted by World War I. In 1919 Howard returned to Australia and resumed his design work, patenting a design with 5 rotary hoe cultivator blades and an internal combustion engine in 1920. In March 1922, Howard formed the company Austral Auto Cultivators Pty Ltd, which became known as Howard Auto Cultivators, it was based in Northmead, a suburb of Sydney, from 1927.
Meanwhile, in North America during the 1910s, tractors were evolving away from traction engine-sized monsters toward smaller, more affordable machines. The Fordson tractor had made tractors affordable and practical for small and medium family farms for the first time in history. Cultivating was somewhat of an afterthought in the Fordson's design, which reflected the fact that just bringing practical motorized tractive power alone to this market segment was in itself a milestone; this left an opportunity for others to pursue better motorized cultivating. Between 1915 and 1920, various inventors and farm implement companies experimented with a class of machines referred to as motor cultivators, which were modified horse-drawn shank-type cultivators with motors added for self-propulsion; this class of machines found limited market success. But by 1921 International Harvester had combined motorized cultivating with the other tasks of tractors to create the Farmall, the general-purpose tractor tailored to cultivating that invented the category of row-crop tractors.
In Australia, by the 1930s, Howard was finding it difficult to meet a growing worldwide demand for exports of his machines. He travelled to the United Kingdom, founding the company Rotary Hoes Ltd in East Horndon, Essex, in July 1938. Branches of this new company subsequently opened in the United States of America, South Africa, France, Spain, Malaysia and New Zealand, it became the holding company for Howard Rotavator Co. Ltd; the Howard Group of companies was acquired by the Danish Thrige Agro Group in 1985, in December 2000 the Howard Group became a member of Kongskilde Industries of Soroe, Denmark. When herbicidal weed control was first commercialized in the 1950s and 1960s, it played into that era's optimistic worldview in which sciences such as chemistry would usher in a new age of modernity that would leave old-fashioned practices in the dustbin of history, thus herbicidal weed control was adopted widely, in some cases too and hastily. In subsequent decades, people overcame this initial imbalance and came to realize that herbicidal weed control has limitations and externalities, it must be managed
Jeep
Jeep is a brand of American automobiles, a division of FCA US LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Italian-American corporation Fiat Chrysler Automobiles. Jeep has been a part of Chrysler since 1987, when Chrysler acquired the Jeep brand, along with remaining assets, from its previous owner: American Motors Corporation. Jeep's current product range consists of sport utility vehicles and off-road vehicles, but has included pickup trucks and roadsters in the past; some of Jeep's vehicles—such as the Grand Cherokee—reach into the luxury SUV segment, a market segment the Wagoneer is considered to have created. Jeep sold 1.4 million SUVs globally in 2016, up from 500,000 in 2008, two-thirds of which in North America, was Fiat-Chrysler's best selling brand in the U. S. during the first half of 2017. In the U. S. alone, over 2400 dealerships hold franchise rights to sell Jeep-branded vehicles, if Jeep were spun off into a separate company, it is estimated to be worth between $22 and $33.5 billion—slightly more than all of FCA.
Prior to 1940 the term "jeep" had been used as U. S. Army slang for new recruits or vehicles, but the World War II "jeep" that went into production in 1941 tied the name to this light military 4x4, arguably making them the oldest four-wheel drive mass-production vehicles now known as SUVs; the Jeep became the primary light 4-wheel-drive vehicle of the United States Army and the Allies during World War II, as well as the postwar period. The term became common worldwide in the wake of the war. Doug Stewart noted: "The spartan and unstintingly functional jeep became the ubiquitous World War II four-wheeled personification of Yankee ingenuity and cocky, can-do determination." The Jeep marque has been headquartered in Toledo, Ohio since Willys-Overland launched production of the first CJ or Civilian Jeep branded models there in 1945. Its replacement, the conceptually consistent Jeep Wrangler series, remains in production since 1986. With its solid axles and open top, the Wrangler has been called the Jeep model, as central to the brand’s identity as the rear-engined 911 is to Porsche.
At least two Jeep models enjoyed extraordinary three-decade production runs of a single body generation. Jeeps have since the war inspired a number such as the Land Rover. Many Jeep variants serving similar military and civilian roles have since been designed in other nations. In lowercase, the term "jeep" continues to be used as a generic term for vehicles inspired by the Jeep that are suitable for use on rough terrain; when it became clear that the United States would be involved in the European theater of World War II, the Army contacted 135 companies to create working prototypes of a four-wheel drive reconnaissance car. Only two companies responded: American Bantam Car Company and Willys-Overland; the Army set a impossible deadline of 49 days to supply a working prototype. Willys was refused; the Bantam Car Company had only a skeleton staff left on the payroll and solicited Karl Probst, a talented freelance designer from Detroit. After turning down Bantam's initial request, Probst responded to an Army request and began work on July 17, 1940 without salary.
Probst laid out full plans in just two days for the Bantam prototype known as the BRC or Bantam Reconnaissance Car, working up a cost estimate the next day. Bantam's bid was submitted on July 22, complete with blueprints. Much of the vehicle could be assembled from off-the-shelf automotive parts, custom four-wheel drivetrain components were to be supplied by Spicer; the hand-built prototype was completed in Butler and driven to Camp Holabird, Maryland on September 23 for Army testing. The vehicle met all the Army's criteria except engine torque; the Army thought that the Bantam company was too small to supply the required number of vehicles, so it supplied the Bantam design to Willys and Ford, encouraged them to modify the design. The resulting Ford "Pygmy" and Willys "Quad" prototypes looked similar to the Bantam BRC prototype, Spicer supplied similar four-wheel drivetrain components to all three manufacturers.1,500 of each model were built and extensively field-tested. After the weight specification was revised from 1,275 lb to a maximum of 2,450 lb including oil and water, Willys-Overland's chief engineer Delmar "Barney" Roos modified the design in order to use Willys's heavy but powerful "Go Devil" engine, won the initial production contract.
The Willys version became the standard Jeep design, designated the model MB and was built at their plant in Toledo, Ohio. The familiar pressed-metal Jeep grille was a Ford design feature and incorporated in the final design by the Army; because the US War Department required a large number of vehicles in a short time, Willys-Overland granted the US Government a non-exclusive license to allow another company to manufacture vehicles using Willys' specifications. The Army chose Ford as a second supplier. Willys supplied Ford with a complete set of specifications. American Bantam, the creators of the first Jeep, built 2,700 of them to the BRC-40 design, but spent the rest of the war building heavy-duty trailers for the Army. Final production version Jeeps built by Willys-Overland were the Model MB, while those built by Ford were the Model GPW. There were subtle differences between the two; the versions produced by Ford had every component marked with an "F". Willys al
Willys MB
The Willys MB and the Ford GPW, both formally called the U. S. Army "Truck, 1⁄4-ton, 4×4, Command Reconnaissance" known as Jeep or jeep, sometimes referred to as G503, were successful off-road capable, military utility vehicles, built in large numbers to a standardized design, from 1941 to 1945, for the Allied forces in World War II; the jeep became the primary light wheeled transport vehicle of the United States Military and its Allies in World War II, as well as the postwar period, with President Eisenhower once calling it, "one of three decisive weapons the U. S. had during WWII." It was the world's first mass-produced four-wheel drive car, manufactured in six-figure numbers. About 640,000 units were built, constituting a quarter of the total U. S. non-combat motor vehicles produced during the war, two-thirds of the 988,000 light vehicle class produced, together with the Dodge WC series, outnumbering those by two to one. Large numbers of jeeps were provided to the U. S.' allies, including Russia at the time – aside from large amounts of 1½- and 2½-ton trucks, some 80,000 jeeps were provided to Russia during WW II — more than Nazi Germany's total war production of their jeep counterparts, the Volkswagens Kübelwagen and Schwimmwagen, combined.
According to author Charles K. Hyde, "In many respects, the jeep became the iconic vehicle of World War II, with an mythological reputation of toughness and versatility." Not only did it become the workhorse of the American military, as it replaced the use of horses and other draft animals in every role, from cavalry units to supply trains, but improvised field modifications made the jeep capable of just about any other function GIs could think of. The jeep was considered such a valuable piece of equipment that General Eisenhower wrote that most senior officers regarded it as "one of the six most vital" U. S. vehicles to win the war. Moreover, General George Marshall called the squared-off little car "America's greatest contribution to modern warfare." In 1991, the MB Jeep was designated an "International Historic Mechanical Engineering Landmark" by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers. After WWII, the original jeep continued to serve, in the Korean War and other conflicts, until it was updated in the form of the M38 Willys MC and M38A1 Willys MD, received a complete redesign by Ford in the form of the 1960-introduced M151 jeep.
Its influence however, was much greater than that—manufacturers around the world began building jeeps and similar designs, either under license or not—at first for military purposes, but also for the civilian market. Willys trademarked the "Jeep" name, turned the MB into the civilian Jeep CJ models, Jeep became its own brand; the 1945 Willys Jeep was the world's first mass-produced civilian four-wheel drive car. The success of the jeep inspired both an entire category of recreational 4WDs and SUVs, making "four-wheel drive" a household term, numerous incarnations of military light utility vehicles. In 2010, the American Enterprise Institute called the jeep "one of the most influential designs in automotive history", its "sardine tin on wheels" silhouette even more recognizable than the VW Beetle; the design of the World War II jeep was the result of a long process, involving the contributions of both U. S. military officers and civilian engineers, the latter tied to three companies: Bantam and Ford, has been called a "design by committee".
In fall 1941, Lt. E. P. Hogan of the U. S. Quartermaster Corps wrote: "Credit for the original design of the Army's truck 1⁄4-ton, 4×4, may not be claimed by any single individual or manufacturer; this vehicle is the result of much research and many tests." Hogan credited both military and civilian engineers those working at the Holabird Quartermaster Depot. Advances in early-20th century technology resulted in widespread mechanisation of the military during World War I; the United States Army deployed thousands of motor vehicles in that war, including some 12,800 Dodges, thousands of four-wheel drive trucks: Jeffery / Nash Quads, trucks from the Four Wheel Drive Auto Company. General John Pershing viewed horses and mules as acceptable for the previous three U. S. wars, but in the new century, his cavalry forces had to move quicker, with more range and more personnel. After World War I, the use of motor vehicles in that war was considered only a prelude to much greater application in future armed conflicts.
As early as 1919, the US Quartermaster Corps recommended the acquisition of a new kind of military vehicle, "... of light weight and compact size, with a low silhouette and high ground clearance, possess the ability to carry weapons and men over all sorts of rough terrain." The U. S. Army started looking for a small vehicle suited for reconnaissance and messaging, while at the same time searching for a light cross-country weapons carrier. At the same time, there was a drive for standardization. By the end of World War I, U. S. forces overseas had a total of 216 makes and models of motor vehicles to operate, both foreign and domestic, no good supply system to keep them running. Various light motor vehicles were tested. At first motorcycles with and without sidecars, some modified Ford Model Ts. In the early-1930s, the U. S. Army experimented with a bantam weight "midget truck" for raiders. After 1935, when the U. S. Congress declared World War I vehicles obsolete, procurement for "remotorization of the Army" gained more traction.
In 1937 Marmon-Herrington presented five 4×4 Fords, American Banta
Custom car
A custom car is a passenger vehicle, either altered to improve its performance by altering or replacing the engine and transmission. A desire among some automotive enthusiasts in the United States is to push "styling and performance a step beyond the showroom floor - to craft an automobile of one's own." A custom car in British according to Collins English Dictionary is built to the buyer's own specifications. Although the two are related, custom cars are distinct from hot rods; the extent of this difference has been the subject of debate among customizers and rodders for decades. Additionally, a street rod can be considered a custom. Custom cars are not to be confused with coachbuilt automobiles rolling chassis fitted with luxury bodywork by specialty body builders. A development of hot rodding, the change in name corresponded to the change in the design of the cars being modified; the first hot rods were pre-World War II cars, with running boards and simple fenders over the wheels. Early model cars were modified by removing the running boards and either removing the fenders or replacing them with light cycle fenders.
Models had fender skirts installed. The "gow job" morphed into the hot rod in the early to middle 1950s. Typical of builds from before World War II were 1935 Ford wire wheels. Many cars were "hopped up" with engine modifications such as adding additional carburetors, high compression heads, dual exhausts. Engine swaps were done, with the objective of placing the most powerful engine in the lightest possible frame and body combination; the suspension was altered by lowering the rear end as much as possible using lowering blocks on the rear springs. Cars were given a rake job by either adding a dropped front axle or heating front coil springs to make the front end of the car much lower than the rear. Postwar, most rods would change from mechanical to hydraulic brakes and from bulb to sealed-beam headlights; the mid-1950s and early 1960s custom Deuce was fenderless and steeply chopped, all Ford. Reproduction spindles, brake drums, backing based on the 1937s remain available today. Aftermarket flatty heads were available from Barney Navarro, Vic Edelbrock, Offenhauser.
The first intake manifold. Front suspension hairpins were adapted from sprint cars, such as the Kurtis Krafts; the first Jimmy supercharger on a V8 may have been by Navarro in 1950. Much rods and customs swapped the old solid rear axle for an independent rear from Jaguar. Sometimes the grille of one make of car replaced another. In the 1950s and 1960s, the grille swap of choice was the 1953 DeSoto; the original hot rods were plainly painted like the Model A Fords from which they had been built up, only begun to take on colors, fancy orange-yellow flamed hoods or "candy-like" deep acrylic finishes in the various colors. With the change in automobile design to encase the wheels in fenders and to extend the hood to the full width of the car, the former practices were no longer possible. In addition, tremendous automotive advertising raised public interest in the new models in the 1950s. Thus, custom cars came into existence, swapping headlamp rings, bumpers, chrome side strips, taillights as well as frenching and tunnelling head- and taillights.
The bodies of the cars were changed by cutting through the sheet metal, removing bits to make the car lower, welding it back together, adding lead to make the resulting form smooth has since replaced lead. Chopping made the roof lower. Channeling was cutting notches in the floorpan where the body touches the frame to lower the whole body. Fins were added from other cars, or made up from sheet steel. In the custom car culture, someone who changed the appearance without substantially improving the performance was looked down upon. Juxtapoz Magazine, founded by the artist Robert Williams, has covered Kustom Kulture art. Certain linguistic conventions are followed among rodders and customizers: The model year is given in full, except when it might be confused, so a 1934 model is a'34, while a 2005 might be an'05 or not. A'32 is a Deuce and most a roadster, unless coupé is specified, always a Ford, now on A frame rails. A 1955, 1956, or 1957 is a Chevrolet. A 1955, 1956, or 1957 Chevrolet is called a Tri-Five.
A 3- or 5-window is a Ford, unless specified. A flatty is a flathead V8. A hemi is always a 426. See baby hemi. A 392 is an early hemi. A 331 or 354 is known to be an hemi, but referred to as such A 270 "Jimmy" was a 270 cubic inch GMC truck engine used to replace a smaller displacement Chevrolet six cylinder. Units are dropped, unless they are unclear, so a 426 cubic inch displacement engine is referred to as a 426, a 5-liter displacement engine is a 5.0, a 600 cubic feet per minute carburetor is a 600. Engin
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