Movie of the Week: ‘Hot Rod – Rebel of the Road’

This movie has been discussed a few times over the years, but since the YouTube version was pulled a while back, I’m not sure we’ve all had access to it. To be honest, ‘Hot Rod’ was a 1979 ‘TV movie of the week’ on ABC that had a limited life on VHS, so it’s fairly hard to find now. The story is a predicable one: “A drag-racer enters a local championship race. However, he runs up against the town boss, a corrupt sheriff who has already made arrangements to ensure that his own son wins the race.”, but there are a number of solid actors with familiar faces including star Gregg Henry (Body Double!), Pernell Roberts (Bonanza!), Robert Culp (Greatest American Hero!), and Ed Begley Jr. (A Mighty Wind!). This film came on the heels of ‘American Graffiti’ and the resurgence of 50s nostalgia in America, which shows in the solid soundtrack. For hot rods in the movie, there are a few great ones, (plus plenty of 60s and 70s muscle cars which you would expect for 1979), but the real star is a primered straight axle Willys drag car that gets run hard for the majority of the film (and apparently it’s so fast it even beats a Porsche 930 Turbo in a backroad ‘race’- ha!). Watch for the drag racing 1960 Olds wagon and few other choice rides as well. Grab a cold mug of Munn’s Root Beer and enjoy…