o, if you’re reading this editorial (thank you), then you are a hot rodder, car enthusiast, gearhead, or known among family and friends by some other car-related moniker. Being a car fan deeply enamored with cars is a sacred duty not to be taken lightly.

And, if you’re reading this, you’re probably stalling because you have an unfinished project in front of you. If you are sitting in your garage, reading a car magazine, and refusing to throw it away, then you have a deep-seated aversion to discarding anything and possess hoarding issues, especially with car “stuff.” Fortunately, that’s OK; it’s even considered a virtue in “our” world. Welcome to my world.

Did you know that on November 11, 2026, Route 66, affectionately called the Mother Road, will celebrate its 100th anniversary? It was built to connect the east (Chicago) with the west (Santa Monica), along with many cities in between, enabling faster, broader growth in both population and commerce. I remember driving on it in my roadster or a friend’s coupe several times. Back in the 1970s, much of Route 66 was still intact. The original two-lane highway was a lot of fun to drive and gave you the chance to enjoy many small towns, with great tourist attractions like the “largest ball of string” or other quirky sights, as well as some of the best local food you’ll ever taste. Traveling alone was peaceful and a perfect time for reflection. Add a buddy and it becomes even more fun. When two or three hot rodders team up and “hit the road,” well, life just doesn’t get any better. June 27, 1985, marked the end of an era, as Route 66 officially stopped being a U.S. highway. The Eisenhower Highway System, officially called the Interstate Highway System, was created in 1956 to replace unsafe roads and was finished in 1992. Interestingly, it’s those “unsafe” roads that many hot rodders enjoy driving on. Oh well!

Every hamlet, village, town, city, or metropolis in this country has a “road”—whether dirt, gravel, or paved—that serves as our outlet for late-night drives. You know the kind of drive: a cool night with the windows down, the top down, or ala roadster (my favorite) to enjoy the nighttime sky and let Mother Nature do “Her” thing with wind in your face and bugs in your teeth. (That comes from the ear-to-ear smile, showing off the pearly whites.)

Our car culture began in various places around the country, but it’s clear that in the 1930s and very early 1940s (before the war), many young men—and a few women, like Veda Orr—had the chance to explore their mechanical curiosity and their “need for speed.” While this emerging car culture is well documented on the West Coast, especially Southern California, it was through early newsletters and magazines that the word spread. After World War II, these young men, now older and more skilled, returned to the car scene, and many found a way to make a living—an industry was born.

Hot rodding teaches some of life’s most valuable lessons, such as self-reliance (building, modifying, and maintaining), followed by innovation (solving problems), community (the rise of the car club, which allowed many hot rodders to expand their skills and benefit from others), and, last but not least, a rebellious attitude toward authority. We all, in our own way, deviated from society’s norms through our expression in our “hot rods,” music, dress, hairstyles, and all things personal.

Hot rodding has given all of us a way to express ourselves; it’s a form of freedom. As life gets busier and more complicated, having a hobby that lets you enjoy personal freedom is pretty cool. I hope I will be driving my roadster for many more years.