Hot Rod June 2023

Editor-in-Chief @john.mcgann In my 20 years of living in Los Angeles, I’ve never experienced such a cold and rainy winter as we’ve had this year. I’m not complaining, either, just remarking on an observation. Coming from Northeast Ohio, I know the word winter should be put in quotation marks when comparing the last few months here to the blizzards and sub-zero temperatures I left behind many years ago. Relatively speaking, the worst winter weather in Los Angeles would be likened to a mild spring day in Cleveland and seen as a welcome break if it happened to me in the middle of January. Still, the last few months have been colder than normal and with much more rain than we are used to. The rain is spread out such that my favorite mountain…

20 Years Ago June 2003: 116 pages, $3.99 “We build engines, and they end up stacked in the shop like cordwood. Meanwhile, we get letters every month from readers offering to take them off our hands for free. Putting two and two together, it looks like a lot of readers want free engines. Here ya go!” With that, David Freiburger announced the Win Your Dream Engine sweepstakes, in which HRM would give away a Chevy, Ford, Mopar, and Pontiac or Oldsmobile engine to the readers who submitted the most creative—and actually buildable—engine combo based on parts available from contest sponsors. Freiburger then added to the cordwood stack with three more engines: a big-block Chevy stroker that made 661 hp and 698 lb-ft when topped by a Weiand blower; and Chevy and Ford…

HOT ROD magazine, and its sister publications Motor Trend, Car Craft, Rod & Custom and Sports Car Graphic, had their fingers on the pulse of automotive performance in the 1960s. Case in point: These photos, gathered from 1963, display the variety of venues and personalities Petersen shooters caught on film during a very busy year. This month we’ll let the pictures do the talking. If you like this kind of approach, let us know. This collection barely scratches the surface of what our guys shot in 1963, let alone all the other years of film housed in the archive.…

HOT ROD has long championed the idea of building cars that are out of the mainstream. Long before then-Editor Jeff Smith dubbed the movement “Dare to be Different” in the 1980s, HRM featured cars that were wild, wacky, and downright strange. In a good way, though. Dick Raczuk’s 1941 Graham Hollywood is wild, certainly, and it is also unlike most prewar cars that typically get the hot rod treatment. For one thing, it’s extremely rare. Sources vary when tallying Hollywood production, but estimates range from a few hundred to just over 1,000. It’s also a four-door sedan, arguably the body style furthest down the list of desirable hot rod material. But what a sedan it is. The Graham Hollywood’s bloodlines reach back to icons of classic American automotive styling. From the cowl…

There was a time when magazines would never feature a car in bare metal, but I think everybody agrees that seeing almost any good build without its paint gives the observer a behind-the-scenes sneak peek. Unfortunately, catching a car in bare metal is not always easy. Most builds, by the time they get to this stage, are hurrying into paint, and few builders have the luxury of slowing the process. The customer typically wants it as soon as possible, and taking time out for a photo shoot is just not on the agenda. Therefore, we were lucky enough to get the call from Troy Ladd, owner of Hollywood Hot Rods in Burbank, California, who said, “You can shoot the coupe today but tomorrow the wheels will be off it and I don’t…

The Race of Gentlemen (TROG) was born on the beach in Asbury Park, New Jersey, in 2012. After four successful events racing on the sand on the Jersey Shore, it was only natural that TROG would venture west to California, the birthplace of hot rodding. Their first event in California was the 2016 Race of Gentlemen West, held on the sand in Pismo Beach. Unfortunately, Mother Nature greeted the racers with a rainstorm, and the event was cut short. TROG returned to California in 2019 for its first event on pavement, the Santa Barbara Drags. Though the race was a huge hit, there were logistical problems that came with racing on city streets. Mel Stultz, TROG founder, knew he wanted to have another event in California, but he also knew he…