"Hot rod music" or "hot rod rock" evolved from surf music.
Dick Dale recalled how surf music was re-imagined as hot rod music by a record company-inspired move to capture a larger market.
According to The Ultimate Hot Rod Dictionary, by Jeff Breitenstein: "While cars and, to a lesser degree, hot rods have been a relatively common and enduring theme in American popular music, the term hot rod music is most often associated with the unique 'California sound' music of the early to mid-1960s ... and was defined by its rich vocal harmonies, amplified (generally Fender brand) electric guitars, and youth-oriented lyrics (most often celebrating hot rods and, more broadly, surfing and 'girls')."

Author David Ferrandino wrote that "the Beach Boys' musical treatments of both cars and surfboards are identical", whereas author Geoffrey Himes elaborated on "subtle" differences: "Translating the surf-music format into hot-rod tunes wasn't difficult... If surf music was a lot of Dick Dale and some Chuck Berry, hot-rod music was a little more Berry and a little less Dale — i.e. less percussive staccato and more chiming riffs.
Instead of slang about waxes and boards, you used slang about carburetors and pistons; instead of name-dropping the top surfing beaches, you cited the nicknames for the top drag-racing strips; instead of warning about the dangers of a 'wipe out', you warned of 'Dead Man's Curve'."
"Hot rod music" or "hot rod rock" evolved from surf music. Dick Dale recalled how surf music was re-imagined as hot rod music by a record company-inspired move to capture a larger market. According to The Ultimate Hot Rod Dictionary, by Jeff Breitenstein: "While cars and, to a lesser degree, hot rods have been a relatively common and enduring theme in American popular music, the term hot rod music is most often associated with the unique 'California sound' music of the early to mid-1960s ... and was defined by its rich vocal harmonies, amplified (generally Fender brand) electric guitars, and youth-oriented lyrics (most often celebrating hot rods and, more broadly, surfing and 'girls')."
Author David Ferrandino wrote that "the Beach Boys' musical treatments of both cars and surfboards are identical", whereas author Geoffrey Himes elaborated on "subtle" differences: "Translating the surf-music format into hot-rod tunes wasn't difficult... If surf music was a lot of Dick Dale and some Chuck Berry, hot-rod music was a little more Berry and a little less Dale — i.e. less percussive staccato and more chiming riffs. Instead of slang about waxes and boards, you used slang about carburetors and pistons; instead of name-dropping the top surfing beaches, you cited the nicknames for the top drag-racing strips; instead of warning about the dangers of a 'wipe out', you warned of 'Dead Man's Curve'."
Surf music