BOOZE & FAST CARS IN HISTORY

In 1933 prohibition had finally come to an end, but the demand for moonshine was still high. The tax free, cheap price and high alcohol content of moonshine kept it in high demand throughout the southern U.S. and major cities all over the country.
The mafia was the main distributor stealing cars and running liquor. Moonshine was a great revenue. Due to moonshine being tax free, the government didn’t want to lose any tax revenue so they continued to send out the Government agents to try and shut down the illegal stills in operation. This proved to be a very difficult task because most of the stills were hidden deep in the mountains and hills of Appalachia which made them difficult to locate. This made distilling and producing the whiskey easy for the ​“shiners” but the real challenge was getting the moonshine from the stills to the cities. Government agents would hide out all over the back country roads to try and stop the runner’s cars before they could deliver their loads.
To get their product delivered safely, the moonshiners would hire ​“runners” to haul and transport the liquor. Since the roads were full of the government agents, the runners would have to transport the liquor after midnight when the roads were clear, so they would be able to drive fast enough to out run the agents. However, a runner would need more than just clear roads and the cover of darkness to out run an agent, his car would have to be the fastest car on the road.
Some automotive historians say that the term ​“hot rod” originated with stolen vehicles being refitted with another engine and repainted. The term ​“hot” was equivalent to being stolen. The term ​“rod” was equivalent to any motorized vehicle.
These early hot rods became the inspiration for road and drag racing a like, and continue to influence racing and custom car culture to this day.

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