This was one of the best mail days ever!!! I got two new hot rod books in the mail and the brand spaking new 10th anniversary issue of the Rodder's Jounal. I thought I write up a quick review on each and give some impressions... 1. Hot Rod Milestones: Ken Gross and Robert Gebat wrote this one and I've always enjoyed both of these guys. That said, I was kind of skeptic about yet another Hot Rod book. How many times can we publish the same photos of the Chrisman coupe? I was wrong - it kicks ass... There are a ton of new photos (amazing photography actually) of the old legendary hot rods and even a few shots of some cars I've never seen before (Chester Osgood's '26 T-Roadster??? WOW!). This is just a really good reference book... 2. VonDutch Pat G's new book... I was really excited to see this one and Pat didn't disappoint. With all of the recent commercialization of the man, I have started to kind of lose interest in VonDutch as a subject. This book did a good job of reeling me back in and kind of relighting my appreciation for his art. He really did have a distinct style... I haven't read any of the copy yet, but the captions are good! I believe you can get both books at www.cartechbooks.com... If I could only get one, I'd prolly get Hot Rod Milestones... but, I bet some of you artists would go for the Dutch book. 3. 10th Ann. of The Rodder's Journal I think this new issue of TRJ just might be the most gorgeous car magazine ever printed. There might be issues of TRJ out there with more interesting features or cars, but none of them have ever looked this good.
Dare I ask what sort of money TRJ 10th is costing in the US market? Look forward to adding to my collection. Cheers, Drewfus
Been wondering about the VonDutch book - since he's a famous fashion designer and all according to the yungsters in the mall. The twisted part is that he acutally was kind of a fashion slave of sorts the way he customized shirts with his way of airbrushing. A very misterious fellow. Looking forward to the book.
I just got the Hot Rod Milestones book Yesterday. I too was pleasently surprised to see some new pics of some of those cars. It is a must have for any collecton of hotrod books. I've been feeling the same way about the over commercialization(is that a real word) of Von Dutch. But I will most likey end up with that book as well. And what else could be said about TRJ. That publication has impressed me since the first time I saw it.
Ryan, thanks for the info, my thoughts were the same about another Hot Rod book just having alot of the same pics (or alot of 80's style cars) but I will have to look for this one and check it out.
Thanks, Ryan. I've re-reading some of my old TRJ issues. Waiting ,patiently, for #28. The latest Hotrod has a story by Pat on Dutch. Now I gotta buy the book !!! Damn ,I gotta wait 6 months for Xmas ??!!!
Thanks dad, I'll get right on it as soon as I take out the trash and mow the lawn just like you asked. Frank
Thanks Oprah! Another one you may want to check out is a new coffe table style book on the history of the Small Block Chevy. It was written by Mike Mueller. Interesting read, and a shamelss plug for myself, the spacetruck is on page 178,179 and 180. I can't remember the exact name but it is something like: "History of the small block Chevy, 50 years of high performance"
Does anyone have any images of the Osgood roadster they can post? I'd scan one of the images in the book, but I don't wanna piss any of them book people off...
I got a book in the mail yesterday. I dont know if it has cars in it but the cover has a nice picture of some gal. My kid sez there's a picture of a car on the cover but so far I havent been able to find it.
That letter... I have mixed feelings about it. First, I've never thought that he was someone I would want to hang out with. Put frankly and as evidenced by that letter, Howard was not an intelligent or thought provoking guy in anyway. I think he was mostly ignorant to the world around him and didn't have the mental capacity to really back-up his view points. I think if he did, he would have had a much different perspective on the world - who wouldn't? That said, I really do love the style of his art... not so much his striping, but his lettering and technical drawings... It's just a shame that such cool stuff had to come out of someone with such a lack of respect for not just specific people, but ALL people. Kharma is a baseball bat named boomerang. In the end, I honestly believe Kenneth got what he deserved. While a lot of guys cringe at the site of the latest pop stars wearing his name, I kind of giggle... Sure, the wrong people are prolly making the money but if Kenneth is looking up from somewhere he is most likely learning his lesson. BUT, who I am to judge? I can only have an opinion... Such an ugly topic. Lets talk about that Osgood roadster. Fucking amazing car.
I just bought a book, a tiny little $6.98 cheapie called The World's Worst Cars and I suspected that the Ford Consul Capri/Classic line would be in there, and sure enough it is. The book's written by an English guy and it's one of the funniest things I've ever read, the humor's drier than an $8.00 martini. It's laugh out funny, I recommend it highly. BTW Ryan, does Ganahl's book explore Von Dutch's lunatic hatred?
I don't know... I've just read the captions so far and haven't gotten to the text... I was most interested in looking at the guns/knives he made.
Oh come on Ryan, I haven't seen it yet, and am dying to now. A search of the web turned up zero. Drew
Let me suggest a few additional titles... High Performance : The Culture and Technology of Drag Racing, 1950-2000 by Robert Post. AWESOME historical academic book that chronicles both the technical progression and culture of drag racing... from early postwar SoCal street racing to "the Bug", to Gasser Wars, Fuel ban, A/FX, etc. Written by a historian at MIT but you'll be unable to put it down. Five stars. The American Auto Factory by Byron Olsen & Joseph P. Cabadas. A historical review of the golden era of car manufacturing, 1920-60; Lavishly illustrated w/ photos. The Last Dream-o-Rama By Bruce McCall. If you've never heard of him, McCall is satirical illustrator whose stuff has appeared in National Lampoon and the New Yorker. This one parodies the GM Tomorrowland dream cars of the 50s, and it is a flat-out, laff riot scream.
I'm thinking about the Book on Dutch myself. I read a little bit of an artical that Pat did in HR the otherday. Pretty good stuff, to listen to the Modern Rodder along with the Mall Groupies you would never realize that Dutch was a person.
Mike, that Bruce McCall book is incredible, it's not just his ideas but the whole thing's politically charged and a definite backlash against the perception that the fifties were fabulous. Did you see this month's ESPN magazine? It has McCall doing cars based on sports, worth picking up.
Nads - oh yeah, that ESPN mag feature was some funny shit. Back when McCall was at National Lampoon he created an entire history for a mythic car company, Bulgemobile, and did a series of ads for them, from the 1900s thru 70s. The 50s Bulgemobile ads ("Fireblast Dynacharge" etc) had illustrations that showed the seats stretching to the vanishing point. The 60s Bulgemobile musclecar was the "Maniac", which by the 70s became the "Gran Maniac Barcelona 2+2 Landau". Jebus Cripes, was it funny. The best McCall book, if you can find it, is "Lazy Afternoons." Out of print, can fetch like $300 or $400 from collectors.
Mike to be honest, this book is the first I'd ever heard of Bruce McCall, I think he's brilliant. Do you dig Philip Garner too? His book Utopia is one of my faves.
Oh, yeah! I first heard of Garner back in the early 80s, when he was doing wacked-out shit like the Grass Suit. He sort of started an entire cult in Japan called "Chindogu" -- devoted to coming up with completely useless inventions. I have a few books of Chindogu, they're a riot as well.
Mike...thanks for the Deja Vu!!!...some real funny shit in that mag.....My mom took away the mags she felt unacceptable....NatLamp looked harmless to her, so they stayed. I feel blessed to be warped.....(Got any Firesign Theatre eight track tapes laying around?) Wonder if the Rude Boyz will ever return.....if they do, the Smart Shoppaz will handle em! Pushin the Zima WAAAAYYYYYY back in the cooler.
"Porrrrgie? Porgie Tirebiter! Come down to breakfast, your grubcakes are getting cold!"... "C-c-coming Mother!" In other words, don't get me started. Speaking of Bulgemobiles, here is the new '46 Bulgemobile line... "The car so darn spanking new it make Tomorrow seem like Yesterday!" http://www.jamesgoodmangallery.com/mccall/pages/exhibdisplay07.html http://www.jamesgoodmangallery.com/mccall/pages/exhibdisplay06.html http://www.jamesgoodmangallery.com/mccall/pages/exhibdisplay08.html
If any of you ordered the Dutch book from Cartech and havent got it, this is for you. I read on another board that they had lost some orders. I emailed them and asked them about mine since I hadnt got it yet. They replied very quickly and told me they had nothing on me other then a catolog request. I went back and checked credit card statments and I had not been charged. Seems there can be a glich when ordering. So if your buddy has gotten theres and your pissed becasue you havent you might check with them. They were very nice and responded to my emails quickly.
Chandler -- Thanks for the heads up on that -- I wasn't aware of any order problems, but not surprising since I'm not on the sales side of the fence. The book is shipping, and the website orders might've gotten messed up. If anybody has questions, call the order folks at 800-551-4754 (we're closed this coming Tuesday for inventory) and we'll get it figured out. And Ryan, glad you liked the books (knew you would) and thanks for the kind words. Both were a lot of fun to work on (I was the editor for both) and I'm pretty damn proud of the results. later, Steve
The Jalopy Journal
