Following on from the 'Anatomy of a V8 Stock Car' article, is this, The Anatomy of a National Hot Rod.

National Hot Rod racing is a series run in England and Ireland, with affiliates in Belgium and Holland. The series has been going for over 45 years and began at the Hednesford Hills Raceway in Staffordshire, England. The series began as a spin-off from the contact-sport of Stock Car racing. By the 1970s there were official rules, regulations and championships for the National Hot Rod series which were recognized internationally.

Unlike the original National Hot Rod race cars - which were often based on written-off road cars - the vehicles of today are purpose built machines with fully integrated tubular steel spaceframes - totally unlike their roadgoing counterparts. From the outside these racecars might look somewhat similar to everyday hot hatches or sports cars, but underneath the skin they are completely custom built. The bodywork is usually lower, wider and distinctly more aggressive than the cars which they resemble. Some of the most popular styles of body are Vauxhall Tigra, Renault Clio Williams, Audi TT, Peugeot 206cc, Peugeot 206 GTi, VW Corrado, Opel Corsa GSi, Ford Fiesta RS, Mitsubishi Colt, and this the Mercedes SLK. Any 2.0l 8V engine can be used in the series, however the most popular powerplants come from GM, Ford, VW and Peugeot.


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Image courtesy of Roy Scorer. A technical illustrator for the Ministry of Defence in the UK, Roy has been involved in motorsport illustration for many years. Roy specialises in creating highly detailed cutaway and ghosted images of a variety of race cars. All images are the copyright of Roy Scorer and may not be reproduced without his permission.

Portfolio of Roy Scorer