Jalopnik: Hotrod

Sweden Turns Hot Rods Into Rally Cars

Raphael Orlove — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 13:00:00 EST

When your country is blanketed in snow, what are you going to do? Garage up your old hot rod and let it hibernate for half the year? Not this hardy Swede, who slides his '34 Ford through a snow track like it was a rally car. More »

For $12,999, be a fresh prince

graverobber — Wed, 08 Jun 2011 08:00:00 EDT

The Shoebox Chevys were also known as the Tri-fives because they encompassed three years in the mid fifties - 55, 56 and 57. Today's Nice Price or Crack Pipe Bel Air is from the first of those three, but does it come with a price that's triple what it should be? More »

Bathtub hot rod on Ebay

Tom Joslin — Sun, 06 Mar 2011 10:00:00 EST

We aren't sure exactly what motivated someone to start building a hot rod around a bathtub, but the results are certainly interesting. This unfinished project is built on an unknown frame and features a low cubic inch small block Chevy V8 (283 or 305), an automatic transmission, some shiny new headers and you guessed it, a bathtub. More »

Nine Second Four Door Cadillac Terrorizes ¼ Mile

Tom Joslin — Sat, 22 Jan 2011 12:30:00 EST

When you think about a Cadillac, drag strips are usually not among the first things that come to mind. This 4 door CTS-V produces approximately 865 horsepower which help it run an impressive 9.85 second 1/4 mile with relative ease. More »

Who Says Big Rigs Can't Drift?

Tom Joslin — Sun, 19 Dec 2010 14:00:00 EST

Hot Rod Magazine got 9 time Pikes Peak Class Champion and Pro Racer Mike Ryan and his Freightliner to the Toyota Speedway to prove there is at least one Big Rig that can drift. (Hat tip to autoedit!) More »

America's Fastest Street Car Drives 1000 Miles, Rips Off 6.95-Second 1/4-Mile

Ben Wojdyla — Thu, 23 Sep 2010 16:00:00 EDT

Larry Larson participated in Hot Rod's anti-trailer-queen Drag Week 2010 with his twin-turbocharged, 2300-ish-horsepower 6.95-second 1/4-mile at 209mph 1966 Chevrolet Nova. He then packed up and drove off as America's fastest street car. [1320 Video, Bangshift] More »

Hot Rod Hacks Up Corvette In Search Of Speed

Ben Wojdyla — Mon, 13 Sep 2010 15:00:00 EDT

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If you picked up this month's Hot Rod you undoubtedly read about the boys carbing a C4 Corvette then chopping it down in pursuit of speed. Here's the video of the whole blessed event. It looks like lotsa fun. More »

Dying Man's Last Wish Granted By Hot Rod Modder

Justin Hyde — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 14:45:00 EDT

This is the story of how a busted hunk of hot rod hopes spurred one man to honor another man's dying wish. More »

Dry Lake, Dusty Bias-Ply

Sam Smith — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 14:30:00 EDT

If you've ever stood on a sun-drenched, crack-filled piece of lakebed, you'll understand. Even if you haven't, you probably will. Speed. Potential. Horizon. It's all there. I have dreams. God bless California for giving them to me. [via CoolisaColor] More »

Detroit, We Love You

Sam Smith — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 15:00:00 EDT

Letterboxing, flames, a sled, and whitewalls. Some things just make you glad to be an American. [via FuckYeahCarburetors] More »

Want To Watch Hot Rod Magazine Destroy A Corvette?

Sam Smith — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 16:00:00 EDT

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Last Monday, the staff of Hot Rod magazine towed a 1985 Chevrolet Corvette to Toyota Speedway at Irwindale. They then beat the hell out of it — literally. Predictably, Corvette guys are pissed. More »

Man Builds Detailed Model Cars From Discarded Aluminum Cans

Ben Wojdyla — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 15:30:00 EST

Meet Sandy Sanderson from New Zealand. Needing something to keep himself occupied after breaking his wrist in a motorcycle accident, he started building amazing model cars from discarded aluminum cans. His incredibly intricate work below. More »

Girls With Cars: Photographs By Phillip Hall

Murilee Martin — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 15:00:00 EDT

We learned last year that most of you prefer hot rod pinups to European Booth Professionals, so here's a selection of Alameda photographer Phillip Hall's "Girls With Cars" work for you. More »

Fifty-Fraud T-bird for an Old School $20,000!

graverobber — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 07:00:00 EDT

The Stray Cats brought Rockabilly to a whole new generation of honky-tonkers and poodleskirters. Now, Nice Price or Crack Pipe brings you a Thunderbird that wants to do the same thing for their cars. More »

Aussie Nutjobs Drop GMC Twin-Six V12 In Fiberglass Hot Rod

Ben Wojdyla — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 14:30:00 EDT

"Rod Bods Down Under" is a hot rod shop in Australia specializing in fiberglass bodied cars, including one with a gigantic hunk of Detroit metal up front. What vehicle doesn't need a GMC Twin-Six V12? More »

Hot Rod Hooligans Rip '60 Buicks, Make Getaway In Chicken Truck: The Choppers!

Murilee Martin — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 10:30:00 EDT

The ringleader drives a T-bucket with six pots, and the gang earns their bread strippin' the squares' sleds. Welcome to 1961's The Choppers! More »

The Stupidest Awesome Car At Billetproof 2009: Lowest Car Ever

Ben Wojdyla — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 17:15:00 EDT

This Ford Model A at Billetproof is the lowest vehicle we've ever seen. It's so low you can't get a foot under the frame. We're pretty sure it's being naturally clearanced. And that's just the start. More »

Motor Trend Publisher Files For Bankruptcy, Will Privatize

Ray Wert — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 10:00:00 EDT

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Secretive media mogul Ron Burkle's Source Interlink, the publisher of Motor Trend, Hot Rod and Automobile filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. No word whether Angus Mackenzie's preparing for a new career in hair care. [Bloomberg] More »

Hot Rod Garages, By Peter Vincent

Murilee Martin — Sun, 26 Apr 2009 14:00:00 EDT

For those of you who like to get your 90-weight-coated paws on some car-themed reading material, we're continuing with this book-review thing. Today we're checking out a weighty slab of a coffee-table book. More »

Ya Don't Drive, Ya Aim! Motor City Drag Racing, 1958

Murilee Martin — Sat, 11 Apr 2009 12:00:00 EDT

It's like threading the needle at a quarter of a mile… but it's really livin'! Hot Rod Magazine put together this great drag racing documentary for the 1958 Nationals, and it's well worth watching. More »

Toyo Tires Shows Off 2008 SEMA Line-Up

Mark Arnold — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 13:00:00 EDT

The Nissan GT-R, Mitsubishi Lancer Evo, Studebaker hot rod, disfigured Bentley Continental GT, and lifted Toyota Tundra you see here are the five cars Toyo Tires will be bringing to the upcoming 2008 SEMA Show in Las Vegas. But what's the one thing they all have in common—besides wearing Toyo rubber? They're all ridiculous caricatures! Well, the 1931 Studebaker Model 54 hot rod might not be so bad, but if the rendering pictured is accurate, its non-existent ride height means it's nothing but a trailer queen. The most subtly tuned of the rest is the Nissan GT-R, which sports some carbon-fiber body parts, an Amuse titanium exhaust and Endless six-piston brakes. The rest of the bunch are a bit more radical. More »

When You Want Your Pinup Photos To Tell A Story: Paco's Hit And Run

Murilee Martin — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 14:00:00 EDT

Traditional wolf-whistle-style pinups are always a hit, but some of us might get weary of the same vacuous facial expressions and slab-o-meat poses you generally get. So what happens when a Portland photographer gets together with pinup model who's decided she wants to do her own take on the pinup thing, complete with special-effects makeup and wild '57 Chevy drag car? That's right- horror pinups! Here we see the story of what happens when Paco meets Miss Axemaker on the road, complete with innovative use of the shoebox's big trunk to hide the evidence. More »

Up-Close Photos Of Mystery Corvette Concept From New Transformers Movie

Ray Wert — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 18:17:23 EDT

We've seen the mystery Corvette concept (who some dare to believe may be named "Hot Rod") from the upcoming Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen movie three times already. The first photo was a blurry camera phone shot from far away. The second shot was of the folks at Saleen busily painting the new movie star up and making him all silvery-looking. The third shot showed the mystery Transformers Corvette concept and a buddy about to be loaded up to roll out. Now, thanks to an e-mail tipster, we have the fourth and fifth shots as it gets close enough to the camera to see the "GM Design" logo on the rear end. Is it a prototype for a "C7" Corvette? Is it some hot Rodimus action? We guess we'll have to wait and see. (Hat tip to Anonimus Prime!) More »

The Shriner's Parade Is At 3PM

Andrew Stoy — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 14:00:00 EDT

Buick Roadmaster Hot Rod Makes Flat Black Look Good

Ben Wojdyla — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 17:00:00 EDT

Flat black, white walls, wagon, flames. On paper, this Buick Roadmaster wagon would be a spectacular hot rod and parts hauler, but the truth is far stranger than that. Start with the first description, then chop the top off the wagon, add a vinyl liner to the back, and make those flames out of wood-grained contact paper. Oh, and put some bull horns on the hood. And rename it the Ratmaster Roadster. Intriguing. In fact, all signs point to crazy, and therefore a sick part of us really likes it. (Thanks for the pics Tinfoil) More »

Roadster Rods Or Kool Kustoms?

Mark Arnold — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 15:20:00 EDT

While the cars at the Billetproof show come in all sorts of old-skool flavors, there seem to be two ends of the spectrum: hot rod roadsters on one side, and kool kustoms on the other. We know the two don't always have to be mutually exclusive; after all, just look at some of the creations from Autorama Detroit. But the pure essence of each is pretty distinct. So, toward which pole does your compass point? More »

Before They Called Them Rat Rods: Hellhammer's Caddy-Powered Model T

Murilee Martin — Fri, 30 May 2008 13:20:00 EDT

When we brought a car with a crazy engine/transmission swap and some wild junkyard suspension mods to the 24 Hours of LeMons race, some folks thought it wouldn't last a dozen laps... but we knew better. You see, we've got the mighty Hellhammer, aka Junkyard Dave Schaible, as crew chief, and this guy can build anything. Here's one of my favorite Hellhammer projects: one of the first- if not the first- of the current generation of Northern California rat rods, built back in the early 1980s. It's a Model T body (which was found, complete with bullet holes, sitting in a Castro Valley field) on a Model A frame, powered by a '49 Cadillac 331-cubic-inch engine spinning a seriously lumpy mid-50s-vintage Isky cam. It's built entirely from stuff Dave had sitting around, including a Geo Metro back seat, '40 Ford brakes, handmade headers, etc., and I'm having a tough time thinking of any vehicle that's more fun to drive. Those of you heading to the Billetproof show in September will get to see this machine in person. More »

Would Car Nutz Customs Be Illegal In Florida?

Ben Wojdyla — Fri, 09 May 2008 15:40:00 EDT

With all the hullabaloo over Truck Nutz it's a wonder the folks at Car Nutz Customs haven't taken a cue and changed their name a bit. True, they don't specialize at installing chrome dangly bits on '71 Impalas, but with Florida legislators rebelling against all things Nutz, you'd think they might just consider it. That being said, Car Nutz Customs (CNC in brief) actually does some nice work if you're into the whole big rims and crazy stereo with a clean install kind of thing. Unfortunately they aren't into big pictures of their cars. Enjoy the tiiiiiiny gallery of their work. More »

Blastolene Special Creator At It Again With "Sneaky Pete"

Ben Wojdyla — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 11:00:00 EDT

Some guys think big, Michael Leeds is one of those guys. The designer of the fantastically prodigious More »

PCH, Packard Eight Swap Edition: 1937 Pontiac Sedan or 1929 Ford Truck

Murilee Martin — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 17:20:00 EDT

Well, whaddya know- an American Hell Project beat a French one in our most recent Choose Your Eternity poll, with the Malaise Corvette Limo winning by a small- yet significant- margin over the V8-ready Peugeot 404. Unprecedented! We need to honor this tremendous underdog victory by going with an all-American matchup, with a 71-year-old car taking on a 79-year-old truck. Not only that, to honor the amazing Packard Straight Eight we saw in today's Engine of the Day post, each of these projects must be viewed as the potential recipient of a supercharged Packard inline eight engine. So forget those small-block Chevy engines that come with 'em, because the Chevy is just too easy. More »

Details Emerge on Lakes Style Speedster

Ben Wojdyla — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 12:40:00 EDT

We told you what was needed to figure out the details on that sweet black lakes-style hot rod was to just sit back and let the HAMBers do their thing. Of course we were right again, as they've clawed a ton of information out in just a single day. First and foremost on the neat-o list is that engine its unbelievably a Datsun 260Z mill made to look like an old Miller/Offenhauser inline six — very trick. The car was built by a first time body man by the name of Jim Pendleton out of Texas and the build is fairly well documented across several sites. It's pretty nicely built and aside from the Datsun motor the rest of the build appears to be period correct. Jealous. More »

Mysterious Single Seat Lakes-Style Hot Rod

Ben Wojdyla — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 14:45:00 EDT

A very mysterious custom hot rod showed up at the Lone Star Rod & Kustom Round Up last weekend and it's caught our eye. The single seat, lakes-style inspired roadster is sleek and smooth with some very cool tricks up it's sleeve. The car is powered by an inline six sporting a straight pipe running down the side and a V12 distributor — good for a dual spark head. Not too much info out on it yet, but the folks at the HAMB are on the case, so we'll know what schedule bolts were used on the seat bracket in no time. More details and images over at Jalopy Journal. More »

Plymouth Rat Rod With Machine Gun Intake

Mark Arnold — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 16:15:00 EDT

A 1934 Plymouth sedan isn't a typical starting point for a hot rod, but that's just the beginning of the uniqueness of this car. It's a hodgepodge in the best sense of the term; '79 GM A-body rear suspension, 400 cubic-inches of '73 Plymouth V8 power, a custom intake manifold, and 3 Rochester 2bbl carbs. The wood headliner is actually made from a tree that was growing in the owner's yard. That machine gun styled air cleaner even utilizes the leftover portion of the shortened driveshaft. And would you take a look at that homemade hood ornament; its a "screw" flying though a "U." The best part? The owner bought the car just to get one part for another car, but ended up deciding to build this up just for fun. It's stuff like this that make us love Autorama. More »

European Booth Professionals or American Hot Rod Pinups?

Murilee Martin — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 15:45:00 EST

With all the testosteriffic talk about European Booth Professionals in Geneva yesterday, those of us in California can't help but think that real car women pose with good ol' flathead-powered machinery and aren't afraid to pick up a wrench now and then. We found a Flickr set with a pretty good selection of hot rod pinups and thought we'd share them with all you knuckle-dragging wolf-whistlers. [Flickr]

More »

Pobeda, Baby!

Murilee Martin — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 14:30:00 EST

We think the ideal car for a Russian rockabilly dude would have to be a heavily customized ZIS 112, but the GAZ-M20 Pobeda is way easier to find these days. Lower it a bit, shine up the chrome, and install some aftermarket wheels, and you'll be living in an alternate universe in which the Soviet Union of the 1950s was all about rock-n-roll and hot-rod hoonage. More »

Volvo Rod! A Swedish T-Bucket Named Jakob

Mark Arnold — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 12:30:00 EST

Don't think that the 'mericans are the only people who like hot rods. This rod may at first glance look like a Ford T-bucket, but look again. If those IKEA-like touches or the diagonal line across the grille didn't already give it away, just look at the badge. Yep, that Mars symbol means that this is a Volvo. Fear not, for this is not another example of badge-engineering; it's actually based on an ol' Volvo. An original ÖV4, the first model from the Swedish brand back in the late 1920s, has ~~been hacked up~~ provided the basis for the design. And don't expect a traditional V8 rumble, because keeping the Swed bloodlines pure is a modern Volvo inline-5 turbo. This isn't the first Volvo hot rod we've seen in recent years, nor is it the second. So while this particular car may be retiring to the Volvo Museum in Göteborg, perhaps this will help start a movement of Swede-Rods. More »

American Motors Corporation Is Back? No, Not Really

Ray Wert — Wed, 13 Feb 2008 15:30:00 EST

The guys all about the Rods that are quite Hot have an absolutely enthralling report in their April magazine that AMC is back and will be looking to:

"create a full-scale racing program to encompass NASCAR, Drag racing, IMSA, and reportedly, a highly modified Javelin for Pikes Peak this July... and possibly by 2010, at the Baja 1000, to celebrate the '67 baja run of Spence Murray and Ralph Poole, in a virtually stock Rambler."

So how the hell did this happen? More »

1939 Chevrolet Master Deluxe Coupe

Murilee Martin — Thu, 02 Aug 2007 09:00:48 EDT

As always, I was keeping my eyes open for vintage machinery as I cruised down High Street a couple weeks back, and this incredibly orange object down a side street caught my attention from blocks away. So, I headed over to investigate and found something you don't often see parked on a city street, not even in Alameda...
More »

How did Henry Ford bring "power to the people?"...

Ray Wert — Mon, 30 Jul 2007 08:50:00 EDT

How did Henry Ford bring "power to the people?" By bolting a 65-horsepower V8 onto a deuce coupe and inadvertently inventing the hot rod. [NYT] More »

Billetproof 2007: Hot Rod Wrap Up

bwojdyla — Tue, 05 Jun 2007 16:00:00 EDT

There were so many cool rods at this event that it's hard to highlight them all. Can you really highlight a Caddy with an air suspension that's "layin' frame" over a nutjob that put flappers on all eight hand made exhaust pipes? Or how about epic pinstriping over oh so smokin' hot rockabilly chicks? You don't. If you're lazy (like me), you post all the great shots of cool stuff in one gallery for the people of the year (you) to ogle for a while. At the end of the day, even though I ran from the barrage of giant raindrops like a little girl to my overengineered Deutschmobile, the rods at Billetproof '07 were so nicely built that I can't help but mark my calendar for next year - and that's an indication of radness right there.– Ben Wojdyla More »