Hot rods and blue jeans have been as solidly connected to each other as peanut butter and jelly in the lexicon of American culture. Recently on the Jalopy Journal website, a video called “Hot Rod circa 1953” was posted that really drove that connection home.

Produced by the Levi’s Vintage Clothing Group, the video is a montage of ’50‘s movie and TV clips along with vintage film from the early years of hot rodding. While the visual footage sets the atmosphere of racing, romance and rumbles, some interesting, first-person narration tells stories from when the hot rod scene began to flourish and the rebellious clothing connection came to be.

Although the title of the video specifically refers to 1953, constraint to activities and events in that year and before are not absolute. The sharp eyed among us will quickly notice the that there are quite a few instances where the year is more of a suggestion than a rule. The appearance of a T-bird which didn’t make the scene until the 1955 model year is one such occurrence. 

Another editorial liberty taken with the era is the color shot of the legendary “Pure Hell” AA/Fuel Altered that saw it’s heyday in the ’60s. However considering the iconic status of both of those cars within the hot rod world, it’s certainly understandable for them to be included in the vid. Besides, we’re sure that the producers meant it to be a cultural time reference rather than an actual date stamp for the video. Because if that weren’t so, why are we still wearing blue jeans?