Free access to all Hot Rod Magazine issues 1948-2021 online!

[ea0863]

A twin engine dragster/streamliner with very handsome looks...

[Muncie]

23 minutes ago, ea0863 said:

A very tasteful sedan made up of parts from a myriad of cars, it came out like the beautiful baby of an Italian mama and American dad! I don't know how easy it would be to replicate in plastic, but it sure would be fun to try.

All cool posts, thank you for posting and bringing them to light.  This car was restored about three years ago.  You'd suspect some lead in an old custom, but the original metalwork was so good that very little was used.

[ea0863]

3 minutes ago, Muncie said:

All cool posts, thank you for posting and bringing them to light.  This car was restored about three years ago.  You'd suspect some lead in an old custom, but the original metalwork was so good that very little was used.

I'm glad you're enjoying them Steve. I could literally post hundreds of photos every night! There is such good stuff in these old magazines. (Just to give you an idea, as of tonight I have gone from HRM 1948 through 1959. This amounted to roughly 10,000 pages!)

[ea0863]

How about quite possibly the sweetest boattail speedster this side of an Auburn? And with a Corvette V-8 to boot! 

 

HRM November 1958

[ea0863]

An HRM cover worthy of posterizing and putting on the shop wall

[ea0863]

And you all thought automous vehicles were a recent thing  

[ea0863]

Totally want it. (I really need to get me another job to pay for all these toys I want!)

[ea0863]

Great article on an Offy racer. HRM June 1959

[ea0863]

As the 50's wore on, you started to see more and more scale model ads, and even a few articles here and there, on our hobby.

[ea0863]

Kurtis midget racer from HRM October 1959

[ea0863]

I just bought one of these recently!

HRM October 1959

[ea0863]

I saw one of these Kellison J-6 cars at SEMA 2021. It was quite stylish, in an in-your-face aggressive sort of way. HRM November 1959

Car done by Count's Kustoms in Las Vegas.

I found no scale models of the Kellison, but did find someone on ebay selling clear PETG bodies, so I picked up a couple.

Edited November 20, 2022 by ea0863

[ea0863]

And that wraps up the 50's. In the first 12 years of HRM, I noticed that they went from a magazine of about 25 pages per issue, to one of roughly 65 pages. They stayed true to their main mission of featuring hot rods (particularly '20's and '30's Fords), and lots of news regarding various forms of wrenching and racing. They also did some forays into articles and ads on karting (which I pretty much understood). What I had more trouble with was their segue into motorcycling, boating, and airplanes. Not to say I dislike any of these topics (I particularly love motorcycling), but it seemed to me HRM was trying to be too many things to too many people. Be that as it may, for those of you interested in gaining information, insight, and inspiration regarding these other topics, practically each issue had something about one of these alternates to automobiles.

As I wrote in my first post on this topic, the Hot Rod Magazine archives are available for free at https://www.motortrend.com/hotrod-archive/ .

Edited November 19, 2022 by ea0863

[ea0863]

I showed my son these posts, and he said I was "blogging". I told him not to use such foul language around me  

[ea0863]

On 11/16/2022 at 10:07 PM, ea0863 said:

Sometimes I found some really interesting cars by squinting at the ads. This is a case in point (enlarged for your pleasure). I have no idea what it is, but love the wraparound grill/molding treatment. HRM March 1954

I did a little more digging on this one, and what a fascinating car this one turned out to be! It is called the "1939 Fageol Supersonic". Nice write-up on it at http://justacarguy.blogspot.com/2014/04/fageol-supersonic-1939.html .

Edited November 21, 2022 by ea0863

[ea0863]

I knew the '61 Chevy Impala "Bubble Top", but did not know there were equally beautiful offerings from other GM divisions. 

Case in point, this 1960 Olds 88. (HRM January 1960)

Or, this Pontiac Tempest. (HRM May 1960)

[ea0863]

Great shot of this beast called "Ram Rod". (HRM January 1960)

[ea0863]

Stunning customized Buick Invicta. I love the color and pinstriping combo. (HRM March 1960)

[ea0863]

This 1960 Plymouth Sonoramic just bristles with technology. I don't know if Virgil Exner had a direct hand in its design, but his vibe is all over this car. Great write-up on this rare bird at http://wildaboutcarsonline.com/cgi-bin/pub9990262549620.cgi?categoryid=9900291504075&action=viewad&itemid=9990291504629 .

[ea0863]

Just a beautiful photo from a bygone era...

[ea0863]

AMT model ad. Anybody ever build one of these?

 

[ea0863]

Two articles on Victress fiberglass cars. I would love to see these in real life, and build them in scale.

[ea0863]

I really enjoy squinting at the tiny little ads, then trying to research what the heck I'm looking at  Case in point from HRM July 1960.

[ea0863]

A Devin fiberglass creation. HRM August 1960.

I saw one of these at a car show in Lake Placid some years back, and it was stunning! 

[ea0863]

38 minutes ago, ea0863 said:

A Devin fiberglass creation. HRM August 1960.

I saw one of these at a car show in Lake Placid some years back, and it was stunning! 

I just looked it up, and $10,000 in 1960 was worth $100,000 today! That was NOT a cheap kit car.