Art & Inspiration What was the most influential Hot Rod or Car magazine cover to you?

I have several that stick out in my mind, but I don't want to sway this poll. I'm curious if you guys are as jacked up as me.

Post up a pic as well.

 

Wow. OK this is though, but here:



Nov 1954 R&C. Competiton Teams. Guys coming together to annihilate the opposition!
........or.......



Oct 1951 Motor Trend. Getting it done. These two covers represent the spirit of this place and how life should always be!

I'll have you know this is like having to choose one child over another, though.

 

My first Hot Rod Magazine that came in the mail! April, 1961!!!
I had been getting them at the grocery store as a kid, but now I was getting it at home...!!!!
I was 10 years old.
"Car Craft", "R&C", "Drag News" and "Popular Hot Rodding" would come later...
Drag News was the guide to selecting which strip to have my parents drop me off that next weekend....Lions, Fontana, San Gabriel and in '65, Irwindale....life was good, those days will never come again, I was one lucky kid at the perfect time

 

The Peek Bros car on HRM that Ryan blogged about.

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=513944&highlight=peek+brothers

 

^^^^^^(gasp)........Number One!!^^^^^^^

 

I can think of many, but the one that comes up almost automaticly is the Hot Rod with the Eastwood/Baracat '32 tudor on it.

 

Just a few....
All customs naturally...

 

or

 

Here is my favorite. Chevrolet U.S.A-1

 

Oddly enough my very first Hot Rod Magazine left a lasting impression on a then soon to be a 12 year old kid.

But the image in my minds eye never completely went away even though the magazine disappeared decades ago..

Then about 2 or 3 years ago I saw the name Dean Lowe show up here and sure enough that was the the man that built the cool hot rod on the cover of the magazine so long ago,,

This is the cover back in '62 that did it for me. Thanks Dean,,your insperation has cost me a small fortune and I don't regret it in the least! HRP

 

well im a little younger then most here but one of my favorites is from hot rod that has the orange 57 chevy (project car cant remember what they called it) but they have the body siting beside the completely rebuilt frame

from the day i saw that cover ive allways wanted to do a frame off car like that
and thats how im doing my 57 ford now ....sort of i got the frame out from under it but the shoebox got in way

 

For me it was Fat Jack Robinson's 46 on the July '85 cover of hot rod. Before that it was strictly muscle cars for me. I still love the rake he has always had with his cars. It is what I always shoot for. Remember this was pre-air-ride days....

 

April '61 was my first Hot Rod ever. I was 14. I still have it and every one since. That's 50 years worth!

There have been so many great covers through the years I'd be hard pressed to pick just one that stands out.

I know as a teenager I would often just stare at the covers and imagine what it must be like to be a hot rodder like those guys!

 

Rod & Custom, November 72 issue with Pete & Jakes 3 window.

 

Destroyed both of those issues from too much reading as a teen!

 

I think this was about the time that the kustom, hot rod, and yes even rat rod scene really started coming up from the younger generation.

 

I agree wholeheartedly Sparky. I was 15 when that magazine came out and unfortunately it was out of print by the time I was old enough to really get into the cars. My girlfriend at the time found it on eBay and bought it for me for X-mas when I was 17. Seeing the Choppers and Mike Ness's cars in there was a major influence on my style and direction at the time. I still have that magazine and cherish it

 

this one was definently a bad thing for me...made me REALLY want a 46-48 ford bad.......the other 2 covers that stick out were the one with airbrushed bird on the 80's firebird (ruben and want to say santini painted probably around 84/85ish? ) and the paint and graphics issue from around 88 or so...those two switched my career choice that i had made in middle school from sign work to pinstriping and graphics and custom paint. the steve stanford and thom taylor renderings pretty much made it a must for "jeems" hot rod rake and big and littles ..kinda like art influencing life

 

I'd say the Hot Rod cover with McMullen's Deuce, or Chicken Coop R&C, but Larry T already did that!

 

While issue #1 was very influential ... this one was more so.



The Neal East Roadster ... just did it ( and still does ) for me.
The Roadster on the May 1953 issue and Gray Baskervilles roadster
have made me be a DEUCE roadster guy for 30 years.

 

This one got me. I really dig radiused fenders and big block chevy's!

 

The 68 issue was left at home by an older brother, and the 72 "beater" issue I bought at the news stand at age 8! I'd sure like to have a copy of it again.

 

For me it was the Rod and Custom November 1972 "Are coupes for chickens?". I found it in a cabinet at home around 1978 when I was 7. I read it like a thousand times. I love the way the Rod and Custom logo was in the middle of getting chopped! It really changed my life. I already knew I liked cars, but this really did it for me. I have a scan of it in a frame next to my desk at work.

 

I remember that photo shoot like yesterday. Just around the corner from me.
Back to the thread, first time Project-X got done up.

 

August 1973 CAR CRAFT, the first magazine I ever bought ... and only 50 cents !!!

 

This one right here, the 1984 Hot Rod Annual. Their budget build up of a '57 Chevy for a grand has been an influence on just about every car I've done.

 

Forgot the name of it, early 60's custom commissioned by a large corporation to highlight the possibilities of brass and stainless steel in auto design.

Think I saw something on it not so long ago, car is in a museum now I think.
Recall I was glad to see it still exist.

The other would be a Corvair powered show-rod T-bucket, think it might have been the "Six Pack"?
Engine was in front, Tempest rear trans, actually capable of setting a good time in an autocross!
Might have been the first radical custom rod that actually gave a thought to getting around a corner.

Update, found some info for the Corvair T-Bucket on-line.

Link to a post on another forum, http://www.canadianrodder.com/forum/showthread.php?t=2687
Magazine cover of Rod Action magazine. Nov. 1973.
Don Kendall originally built the car. It won the Best Engineered Rod at the NSRA NATS in Tulsa, Ok, 1973.
The front suspension is a work of art in it's own right.

I remember seeing this car for sale at the old Fremont Ford plant swap meet around the time this guy bought it, I think it was red back then.

 

Man, there were so many!! When Funny Cars were in their infancy, and there were so many configurations....it was a VERY influential time for this 12-13 year old. And then THIS thing appeared. I was floored. Bad fucking ass to the highest level of "wow" factor for this kid at the time. About 15 yrs later I was fortunate enough to meet his son and speed shop owner after I relocated 3000 miles to SoCal, at which time he sponsored my current at the time street race car. Unheard of....a speed shop sponsored street race car.