Recently started reading more and was wondering, Whats some books you folks would recommend picking up on hot rodding and the history of it? Drag racing and circle stuff peaks my interest a ton as well. Gimme some suggestions for some stuff to get lost in at guys.
This may not be what you're looking for, but I'll put it out there, maybe some other folks will be interested. The Rodders Journal is having a sale on back issues, $5 ea. That's a helluva good price. I alright bought several, and I may need to go back for more.
Here are three great reads and reference: Tex Smith's Hot Rod History, book one and two, and The American Hot Rod by Dean Batchelor.
One of the best books I have read, and I have a very lengthy collection of hot rod and racing books, is The Christman Legacy. It is out of print and was a private published book by Ed Justice Jr. of Justice Brothers chemicals in Duarte, Ca. I talked to Ed recently and he has a very limited number of boos available. It is an incredible chronicle of hot rodding history and the effect the Christman family has had, especially Art Christman. You can't go wrong with that book IF there are any left!
Several good books on Smokey Yunick written by him with the help of others. Best read them out of the library if you can. Prices have gone nuts. Pete
"Bonneville".....fastest place on earth....Louise Ann Noeth Not quite Hot Rods, but, " McQueen's Machines"....Matt Stone
Even though the sale technically ended on Sunday, we're extending it through Wednesday—Valentine's Day—at midnight PST. That means all in-stock back issues are $5 apiece. You can sift through them here: http://www.roddersjournal.com/product-category/back-issues/ Feel free to shoot us a PM or give us a call at (800) 750-9550 if you have any questions.
Amen to the Batchelor book, especially if you want the history of the early engines and their modifiers.
Hop up mag is more on the lines of a book. Kool traditional rod, customs, race cars and an old vintage bike thrown in.
I recently found that the three original books are now combined in one 650+ page book for about $30.00. Being self published by the family it sounds like. Google "Best Damn Garage in Town". Great read, way interesting early life and brain. And life of a racer in the early days and his schemes as a WW2 pilot. Sent from my SM-G900V using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
Kandy Kolored Tangerine Flake Streamline Baby by Tom Wolfe. The book that launched his career and the first time an outsider (in his case, an art major from Yale) took notice of the custom car world and recognized that if there is such a thing in this world as art, these guys are artists. Fresh look at the custom car world of 1963 and other pop culture phenomena. Free PDF file https://www.google.ca/url?sa=t&rct=...-english.pdf&usg=AOvVaw3Ns6VuPMUrzkeMIgQaFHCD
Hello, I not a collector of historical books, but I have a set of books on drag racing that is told from the people that were there at Lions, Riverside, Santa Ana, Bakersfield and other local tracks. Mickey Bryant collaborated with racers and had actual presence at Lions and the Long Beach racing community. His series of books from a biography on Mickey Thompson to the amazing record in drag racing by the Albertson Oldsmobile race car group at the So Cal tracks, and finally the historic documentation with great photos of Don Garlits’ journey to the West Coast to show up the local racers. Reading the Mickey Thompson book made you think right back to 1959-60. That shop was about 4-5 blocks from our house and we were frequent visitors there. So, this book was fun to read. We followed his exploits in all of the Drag News and Hot Rod Magazines of the time period. The photos were the same scenes we saw in person as teenagers. Now, with this book on the career of Mickey Thompson, it is clear, concise and pretty great to relive local history, despite the wrong facts about the "altered coupe" stopping the racing on August 13. (page 63) The information came from the Drag News paper of the day and they(Drag News) had reported it incorrectly. We (C/Gas coupe) blew up, caught on fire, and crashed, shutting down the strip two hours early. The Albertson Olds story, King of Lions, was excellent and we were right there at Lions while this win streak was happening. As a matter of fact, again, we were mentioned erroneously as "an Altered having an explosion to stop the consecutive win streak." So, we were record breakers of sorts. The accident and race stoppage was mentioned on page 59. As the record breaking streak was alive, the drag race fans all crowded in to see the match races. Seats were hard to come by as the stands were packed. Lucky or unlucky, they saw our Willys racing all day and had to go home early because of our clutch explosion and fire. This caused the stopping this fantastic, drag racing win streak. The "Three Weeks in March" tells the story behind the West Coast foray of Don Garlits, that wild driver from Florida. He had captured the attention of all of the fastest racers on the West Coast and this book tells the story of that scene in So Cal. Was that East Coast drag racer with top speeds and times listed in the Drag News, real? That was the questions asked from most West Coast racers. Jnaki But the newest book written about the So Cal drag racing scene and Lions in particular was written by John “Waldo” Glaspey, a So Cal local. He has been following drag racing since those early days. It is a small world as if someone who stays in So Cal long enough, you are bound to meet someone from way back then. I had a nice conversation with John Glaspey at the Lions Dragstrip Museum Grand Opening in June of 2017. He gave me a recollection of a then, 19 year old college art student, sitting in the crowded stands all day, watching the racing down on the track. The story he told me created shivers down my back and arms. It was a first hand look at our racing, winning and final run late at night. The description he gave was one of being a “fan favorite” as we kept winning race after race until 9 p.m. at night. John Glaspey described the clutch blowing right in front of his “spectator side” seats and a clear view of the flaming Willys wedged into the spectator side fence, burning itself out. He probably saw me using several fire extinguishers down below, to no avail. Then watching me zipping off to the ambulance back at the finish line. Of all of the books we have in our basket/book shelves, (So Cal Thunder) this is the one to read and own. The art work is fantastic. The stories are on a different viewpoint from the others. But, the photos (old college roommates were pro photographers) and his own, personal, drag racing art work is by far the best published. This is one heck of a good book to read and have on your coffee table. So Cal Thunder it is… No, it is not a Los Angeles pro soccer team, but an excellent book on Drag Racing in So Cal. Outstanding artwork from the author, John "Waldo" Glaspey (an auto illustrator)
Tex Smith's Hot Rod Engines was my staple when I was a teenager in the mid-1960s. It covered early hemis, the street hemis, sbf and sbc, bbc, flatties, Ford FE and even the DOHC along with every V-8 from B-O-P and some odd ones, too. A nice introduction to the V-8s of the '60s.
A perk of my insuring the Ole Hotrod is I get a magazine this one has an article written on Gene Winfield with some photos so I will snap some crude pics (I can't find it online) and pass them on as I am sure many of you might like to have a look and read. The other is a link below with some recent pics and a short story written by the same author and also sharing some pics with the story. Sorry about resolution...I tried...You can save the double page and zoom in with your viewer if you can't read it as it is. Hagerty For People Who Care March/April 2018 https://www.autoclassics.com/posts/news/gene-winfield-open-house
That is awesome Stogy, thank you for posting! I've been thinking about heading out to his shop to try to meet the man, it would be a great trip. Maybe we ought to organize a HAMB So Cal rod & custom run out to his place. Anybody game?
@Blues4U...your welcome and apparently Gene likes company...the Hamber based run is a cool idea and he is certainly a people person. 5 acres of dusty golden treasures too. @Chaz it is a nicely done zine for sure.