Kinda partial to this one- since it's mine now http://www.survivalmotorsports.com/675HP-Dinosaur.html
I can't look at the Dragnet cover without thinking of the line from Airplane, "Joey, do you like movies about gladiators?"
The two guys putting the chevy in the red 29 sedan are. Right is Don Grant, on the left is Dwayne Lindebaum. Don STILL owns the sedan. Dwayne Passed away a few years ago. The photo was taken in Dons Wooden garage just a few blocks from Pomona drag strip. Dwayne was a master builder and built about one hot rod a year.
It's almost impossible too narrow in down to just 5 (Heck i could pick 5 from each decade 40's -60's) But of the one's that haven't been posted here are my top five favorites. In no particular order.
I still have my first issue, and can remember putting the two quarters on the counter at Squashes. I'll post the other four later Bob I remember this issue so well, thought the kid was really cool and the RPU was really fine. Hope to meet him some day.
That's a good point. I'd forgotten about that great cover from 2012. I'll have to dig that one out of my sale pile! Thank you. As for covers, personally, I think by mid 57 the covers started to get really cluttered. Obviously there's some exceptions, but they started to pack more and more on and it loses clarity.
June 1953. Big Bill Edwards 1940 ford coupe. Drove to Bonneville with a blown Caddilac, ran 150 and drove it home. My avator was a tribute car with a blown Chrysler under the hood. Now has a little sbc that is barely visable compared to thr chrysler
Me? I didn't think so, I always try to keep respect for the board in my shares and pics. Just what I feel are an easy top 5. My picks are nearly or over 50 yrs old. I'm crowding 60 fairly quick so those were heavy influences.
Squirrel kinda had one of the first one's that popped in my head with the first year 265 in the Ford......after all they're still kinda doing that..............too much.......but I have other thoughts......
Here are my top 5. The July '51 issue with the Flathead on the cover is my favorite by far, followed closely by the orange crate and Llyod Bakan '32 covers. The ohv in a '40 Ford cover always caught my eye as a '40 guy. Fun!
This is not an easy task! October '48, November '49, July '51, May '52, November '55. 1952 has to be the best overall year for covers in general IMO they were just gorgeous.
This is the magazine that I first read a complete tech article on the Studebaker Hawk. I was enthralled with what that car had to offer from the factory. This started the fascination with Hot Rod Magazine. In 1958, these ¼ midgets were the rage in So Cal. It allowed these little kids to be race car drivers with cars that looked like the ones we saw at the big time tracks. My dad took us to see a lot of these races and watch his friend’s son race in a well prepped black Kurtis. Little did we know that a future HAMB member would be a little kid racing against our friend’s son in the same circles and winning. In 1958, my brother bought his 58 Impala. A cool , black, 348/280 hp 3 speed, with the sole purpose of a daily driver and drag racer in the A/Stock class. In 1960, it became my first car. In 1959, we had been going to the drags for a couple of years at Lions and seeing all kinds of race cars and colorful racers. My brother had been winning in the A/Stock class, but when we went to Riverside Raceway later, we saw some terrific new drag racers and their race cars. Art Chrisman was one of our favorites. Ike Iacono was a racer we always saw, earlier at Lions. In 1962, I was a senior in HS and saw this cover with some kid and his roadster pickup. I was so envious, so were all of my friends. A HS kid on the cover of HRM! His RPU was show quality and fast…No one in our neck of the woods even came close to such a cool hot rod. Hello, Hot Rod Magazines started the fascination with cars and customs from an early age. I read comic books first, from the time I learned to read. Then it was these Hot Rod and R/C magazines from cover to cover. But to pick the top 5 of all time, that would be difficult as everyone had a magazine favorite for many reasons. Mine was just as complex and interesting as I cannot fathom why I read this cover and article from end to end. It was just fascinating. So, this would be my top cover of HRM. Laugh if you will, but for me, it stuck with me and I read it over again just a couple of days ago. It was a long one with 6 full pages and several 1/3rd wide columns. My fascination with Studebakers started with the article in the March 1957 edition of Hot Rod Mag. I used to only read the captions and short photo stories, as the tech articles were boring for this little kid. But, somehow I spent days reading this long article on the Studebaker Hawk. The information was just good reading. It was the only Studebaker with a McCulloch supercharger stock from the factory. But it had a funny name, “Jet stream”supercharger. 16 sec and 82 mph for the ¼ was fine for us. Faster than my dad’s big, Buick Roadmaster at 18 and 79 mph. So, I read for days. I was impressed with the cool fins and the sporty look. I could imagine this car lowered or on a rake with Moon Discs or mag wheels. I must have been influenced by this article for more than just information. Later on in 1961, I must have really liked the writings of the author, Racer Brown. He was a journalist that started a camshaft company that was popular in the 60’s. We installed one of his first Racer Brown Cam and solid lifters sets in our 1958 Impala 348/280 hp motor. Of course, I was given the weekly responsibility of adjusting all of the solid lifters to make sure they did not make any noise. It was as quiet as if we still had our hydraulic cam in there. So, it must have made more than 280 stock horsepower. It certainly felt more powerful. No more A/Stock class for this car. But, I ask my self, what happened to that kid that read the “tech” article? Maybe after that article, the rest of the tech articles got too boring or something. If memory serves me correctly, those tech pages were/are the fastest skimmed parts of any magazine. The rest of those Hot Rod and R/C magazine tech stories were great pages for “wet dart” blowgun games. Jnaki Wet darts were full pages from magazines rolled up and twisted tightly, dipped in water, made into a needle nose dart, with adjustments for the opening of what ever tubing we were using at the time. We used thin metal tubing cut into 3 foot lengths for the actual blow gun. The larger diameter tubing with larger darts traveled faster/farther, but were heavier to carry around and consequently not as accurate. We would hide in the back yard or neighborhood parks/schools with a bag full of these wet darts. Then one team attacks or searches for the other. Yes, they were fast and dangerous to the eye, but luckily we never got hit there. The ultimate wet dart person would have two sizes of tubing. (with string and tape to make a sling) Also, two bags with two different sizes of darts for close up battles and quick chases through trees. Hot Rod related, for sure. The smaller pages made the best wet darts, much better than the larger, Life Magazine.
This one - because it was the first one and started it all. It was like nothing else This one because it is the essence of Hot Rodding on the street This one because that young fella is someone I proudly call a Friend! And it probably has a bit to do with why I have an affinity for RPU's This one, becasue of all the cool Ford Motor's we never got And this one, because when the Street Rodding movement was playing it safe with Resto Rods and greyhounds with sweaters on the radiator, Phil Cool's car say Fuck That - This is a HOT ROD
The Jalopy Journal
