Twenty years ago I gave this old book of mine to my son. I'd forgotten all about it until I found it while cleaning out his closet yesterday. HOT ROD By Henry Gregor Felsen Copyright, 1950 Speed, more speed, suspense, taking the curves on two wheels, these made up Bud Crayne's days and he was proud to be thought the wildest, most reckless driver of a "heap" in Avondale. He was the idol of the younger boys, the little fellows who listened to his boast that "Speed will get you anywhere; brakes are only for sissies." And for a time it looked as though Bud really knew what he was talking about. Then two little lads tried out his advice and two homes were made sadder by the tradgedy that followed. And Bud for the first time questioned his own wisdom. Still, there was his "gang," the high school crowd in whose eyes Bud could do no wrong. What if he had been grounded by the police for reckless driving? What if his showing in the Roadeo had, somehow, not been what he or they had expected? Speed was the thing and Bud its guiding force. And then came horror and a lesson learned too late. A story so packed with suspense that to begin it is to read it, spellbound, to the end, and to have read it is never to forget its impact. The problems in this book are true, the characters, places and accidents are fictional. The teen-age Roadeo described is based on a similar Roadeo devised by the Des Moines Safety Council and is described with their permission.
I remember reading several books written by Henry Gregor Felsen They made quite an impression on a young gear head.
Henry's daughter is actually a member here. http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=237925&highlight=felsen
>>>>>,Back in 1960,,my Hi-School English teacher ***igned us to do two book reports ,,had to be books from the school library ,,,i searched n searched for a couple books to do ,,,then ,way back in the back of the library ,,amoung a bunch of paper backs ,,i found "Hot Rod" and "Street Rod" ,,,,read both of em over n over ,,did my book reports and got two "A's" on em ,,the only time i ever got an "A" in English cl***,,good thing too,,that turned my "F" into a "D" ,, ,, after all that ,,,i went and got my '34 Chevy coupe runnin' ,, those two books outa be required reading for all young hot rodders
7th grade, 1969...used to skip every study-hall to go to the library and read the Hot Rod, Street Rod, and Rod&Custom mags on the rack. One day, I got the idea to check the file-cards for the word hot rod. Eureka! Hmmmmm...Henrey Gregor Felson. Went to the appropriate shelf, and there it was, just like yours...small, hardbound book in pretty rough shape. Started reading, and could not stop. Even shared it with my 10 year old brother...he enjoyed it too. Often mentioned it to my wife, and in the early '90s, she bought the whole reissued set of 5 for me for Christmas. I still have them, in perfect shape. Hot Rod, Street Rod, Road Rocket, Fever Heat, Rag Top, and Crash Club. I believe Henry wrote others, but those are the ones in my set. According to Mr. Felson's daughter, they either recently did or are about to reissue Hot Rod. If they sell well, (which I'm sure they will) they plan on printing some of the others, I think.
Same for me. Seventh grade English teacher took the whole cl*** to the public library and we all got library cards. She told us to pick out any book we liked and do a report on it. I found "Hot Rod" and, Liks Connman, it was one of the few A's I ever got in English. After that I quickly read "Street Rod" and "Crash Club" as well. Over the years I've tracked down hardback copies of all of them and introduced them to my son as well. Good books that made quite an impact on both of us. Oh, my son also got an A on HIS report.
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