Avanti - Built For Speed Birthday Card

Since the introduction of Ford's model T in 1908, aspiring racers and resourceful young gear-heads throughout America tore apart any vehicle they could their hands on in a quest to improve speed, acceleration, and attitude. Stripped to bare essentials and souped up with performance parts scavenged from other vehicles (even airplanes), these "Hot Rods" - most likely a shortening of "Hot Roadsters" - prompted dirt racetracks to spring up all over Southern California, from Carrell Speedway and Ascot park to Lion's Drag Strip and Auto Club Famoso. Some of the most popular racecar drivers during this time cut their teeth on these loud, dusty strips, including Johnnie Rathmann, who was so eager to race that at age 16 he borrowed his older brother's name, and never gave it back