You’re Covered: Hot Rodding Magazines from 1945-1975

A hot rodder’s library is one of their most important tools. Books, magazines, newspapers, brochures, manuals, maps—it doesn’t really matter what it is; if it’s old and has to do with cars, it’s probably worth reading. If the subject matter pertains specifically to rods and customs, you can change that probably to a definitely.

A few days ago, our fellow H.A.M.B.er Richard Carroll launched a new site that showcases all your favorite hot rod and custom car magazine covers from 1945-1975. Not just the big ones like Hot Rod and Rod & Custom either. We’re talking American Rodding, Custom Craft, Northwest Rods, Speed Age, Street & Strip… the list actually goes on and on.

Richard has taken the time to scan or photograph each of the covers and organize them in a way that makes a whole lot of sense. The site’s easy to navigate and as an added bonus, he’s included useful information about each of the magazines’ origins.

As someone who has actually worn out my copy of 50 Years of Rod & Custom because I’ve read it so many times, you can understand my excitement when I first heard about Carroll’s archive. By clicking through the pages, you can get a firsthand glimpse at our hobby’s trendsetters during the Golden Age. Famous cars and backyard builds alike are all represented in their candy coated, chrome-laden glory. It’s pure mid-century Americana and it’s a beautiful thing.

Before you head over to the site, keep in mind that Richard is still looking for a few issues to help fill in some gaps. If you have any of the missing issues, make sure to drop him a line. There’s no doubt that this was a massive undertaking, and we’d like to extend our thanks to Richard for this invaluable resource. Thanks again!

—Joey Ukrop

 Click here to check it out!

 Points Worth Mentioning 

• If Richard’s name sounds familiar, it may be because he assembled the extremely helpful Rod & Custom index a little while ago
• Thank you to the guys at Kustomrama for bringing this site to my attention
• I’ve picked a few favorite covers to give a glimpse of what’s in store…