As automobiles offered from the major automakers began increasing performance, the lure of Hot Rods began to wane. It was now easy to buy a Muscle Car that outperformed just about any Hot Rod, with more passenger room, and without having to go through the effort of building and tuning the car oneself.
As the public called on automakers to offer safety and fuel efficiency over performance, the resulting decrease in an average car's performance led to a revival of Hot Rodding, although the focus was on driving Hot Rods over racing so the term Street Rod was used to stand for a vehicle manufactured prior to 1949, often with a more reliable late model drivetrain.
Street Rodding as it was now known was a different phenomenon than Hot Rodding, as Street Rodding was more family oriented. National events were hosted by the National Street Rod Association (NSRA), which also stressed safety as the NHRA did 20 years before, but this was safety for the street as opposed to on the race track.
