Hot Rod August 2022

@john.mcgann Folks, I’ve got to admit, I took the weekend off. Even though I had work to do, I skipped it all for the sake of personal care. I took a bunch of supplements, and now I have some recommendations that I can wholeheartedly endorse. Disclaimer: these may not be the supplements you’re used to seeing in commercials, on social media, or in health food stores, however. These are supplements of the gearhead persuasion and are probably better for you because of it! High up on my list is compound C10, especially if you can combine that with element T56. The combination of those two offer mental clarity and boost energy levels. You also get the benefits of leg day by working three pedals instead of two for maximum calorie burn. Your…

20 Years Ago August 2002: 124 pages, $4.99 Yes, a stock small-block Chevy is under the hood of Nick Fusco’s Firebird Formula, photographed with the wheels up at Englishtown by Steve Bell. It was on its way to a 10-second pass. How was Mr. Nick able to get that kind of performance out of a Tuned Port Injection 350? Through judicial use of the parts catalogs from Street Legal Performance (SLP), and Tuned Port Injection Specialties (TPIS), weight loss, and a healthy shot of nitrous. He got there the old-fashioned way, whittling the e.t.’s down season by season. His best pass to date was a 10.70 at 124 mph with a combination of an Accel Super Ram/TPIS Big Mouth intake, SLP roller cam, TPIS recalibrated PROM, a 9 ½-inch TCI torque converter,…

“It will probably create more excitement and hard racing than we’ve seen in years; it’s one of NHRA’s better ideas.” That’s how Associate Editor John Dianna described Pro Stock, the new eliminator NHRA introduced for the 1970 season, when he wrote about the year’s new drag racing rules in the March 1970 issue of HOT ROD. Since news broke about the new class, “there have been more racers switching and building new Pro Stockers than any other single class that we know of.” The rules for this “heads-up Super Stock” class, as Dianna described it, “are relatively basic and are very similar to Modified Production regulations. However, only American-built cars with American engines and no less than a 97-inch wheelbase will be allowed to run.” The engine had to be the same…

When we met Jeff Wasserman in 2015, we were impressed by his five-car garage and the cars he had there that day. But even that super-sized garage wasn’t big enough for all his cars. Most of his collection was stored elsewhere at the time, but we did get to see his 1915 Ford Model T, his 1934 Ford three-window coupe, and the 1965 Chevelle two-door wagon, which was his daily driver at the time. A year later, Jeff moved from Los Angeles to Somis, California, in the middle of the Ventura County orchards. His house was built in 1978 with a three-car garage, a shop area, and an additional 45-foot-deep motorhome-sized garage. By the time Jeff moved in, the garage capacity had expanded to 18 cars, with commercial doors, lots of…

For many years now, Fox-body Mustangs (1979-1993) have been skyrocketing in popularity. There was a time when you could get them cheap, but that ship has sailed over the horizon. Still, they make a great light-weight platform to get serious performance out of, so people are willing to pay a premium price. Of course, the cure for expensive starter cars is finding a sweet example in the family. Such was the case with this 1990 Mustang coupe owned by Lewis Roberts. We found this sweet Fox-body ride lurking at the Holley LS Fest (calm down—Ford purists need not worry). As Lewis told us, “My Mustang was owned by my great aunt, who purchased it new in 1990. She put 80,000 miles on the car, using it to go to church and…

Jarrod Frankum has been looking for a Mach 1 Mustang since he found a set of faded 3x5 photos in his dad’s tool chest in 2009. Then 16 years old, Jarrod got a good look at the 1969 that his father, Royce, had driven in high school back in 1982. That, and a 1970 Mach 1 he had bought a year later. Young Jarrod may have stared a little too long, as it woke his inner car guy. For the next 11 years, Jarrod searched for a decent Mach 1 that wasn’t either marked up through the roof or a total rust bucket. To ease some of the frustration, he built a Mach 1 styled skateboard to ride to and from classes through college. He was riding that very skateboard through…