Car modifying has been popular among youth in the US, especially in Southern California, since the days of hot rods in the 1950s and 1960s. There is significant evidence indicating that import drag racing first started in Southern California in the mid-1960s, with Volkswagen Beetles, sit-up-and-beg Ford Populars and Austin A40 Devons: Documentation of quarter-mile passes were published in Hot Rod Magazine as early as August 1965.
Puerto Rico also has a history of pioneering import drag racing in the mid-'70s and -'80s, and it is still a huge hobby on the island.
