First of two parts
Nineteen-fifties America is a long way from present-day Japan — in terms of time, distance and culture. There were more teenagers than adults for the first time in the history of the United States, and this new demographic permanently changed the country's character. And the rapidly expanding postwar economy in southern California created new opportunity and purchasing power. Young adults with jobs bought sleek new cars, leaving a huge number of 1920s and '30s trade-ins within reach of teenagers.
In a creative process aimed at radically increasing their velocity, male teenagers began to turn their jalopies into "hot rods." Hot rods were noisy, greasy, fast and dangerous. But most importantly, they were cool.
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