Shame they didn't survive. Looks like they would have been more on target than some of the tripe that has come and gone over the years.
Awesome covers. When are you going to do a calendar with similarly interesting images? Small historical footnote. The upcoming "1959 Chrysler Hemi" referenced in the giveaway never happened. The big 392 Hemi was replaced by the RB 413 in the '59 300E, New Yorker, and Imperial.
@Ryan - Just an FYI, there was no such thing as a "1959 Chrysler Hemi" as '58 was the last year of the 392ci HEMIs. UPDATE: D'oh! ... Danny (@Gotgas) beat me to it.
Unfortunately, we lost Mr. Rost six years ago (see Herman A. Rost Obituary). Here's what Bill's circa 1958 "SF Avenues" house looks like today: Further sleuthing (Googling) revealed that Bill currently lives in Taft, CA ... and that Bill does "do social media" ... though his Facebook page is (wisely) locked down to "Friends Only."
Ryan Check your voicemail. Give me a call. I just spoke with Bill Wickwire - nice guy. Give me a call and I will fill you in.
Yes the good ole days are worth celebrating...and there's no better place to do it...perhaps we'll get to see what Bill got up to...great story. Graphic art and Hotrods are a great mix as well.
Always thought that Rods Illustrated was a very good magazine. Would be interesting to see what it would be now if it had lasted.
Ryan, you are certainly a man of good taste. The T roadster you liked so much was built by the Austin brothers, Carl and Bob of Rochester, NY. Unfortunately, Carl the older of the brothers, passed away a number of years ago, a victim of cancer. Fortunately, Bob is still with us and at age 86 is still pounding on things automotive. He still can be found driving his spectacular '34 Ford phaeton. And luckily for us the T roadster still exists. It is stashed away in the garage of one of Carl's sons. Carl was in the process of rebuilding it when the big C got him and was never able to finish it. Someday I hope that it will see the streets once more.
@Ryan The Rost RPU is still here in Fort Wayne. It is now owned by the eldest son. I went to his body shop a few years ago to discuss shooting the RPU but it kind of fizzled out, I did get to see a bit of history on it and some of the other smaller magazines it was in at the time. Very nice people. The RPU wasnt at the body shop but at his house. If you'd like I can see what I can do in regards to getting back in touch with the family.
Me too! April 14th 1950. Yours? The 14th was the day Lincoln was shot and the Titanic hit the iceberg. He died and it sank the next day. Loretta Lynn and Julie Christie (Dr, Zhivago). The 20 millionth Ford rolled off the assembly line 1931. It was found and restored back in the late 90s. There's some youtube clips about it. That's it, I'm done.
Some of those issues look familiar.....and are up in my attic.....still! Walking home from junior high school, one day every week I would stop at Mahonies Sporting Goods Store, as they had a large magazine rack. I looked through all the rod magazines and usually bought the one that had the hot rod or custom that I just had to have a copy of. Maybe that's why I ended up spending my life in graphic arts.
Fast Company = Kenny Lindley & Don Hampton Hello, We saw/read plenty of old Hot Rod, Custom Car and R&C magazines on our weekly foray at the neighborhood liquor store. Once a week, on my dad’s day off, he would take us to the liquor store for newspapers, magazines and just stuff. But, for some reason, we never saw that Midwest magazine anywhere in So Cal. Maybe it was a regional thing. But, in 1959, one of our favorite race cars was Kenny Lindley’s 671 Potvin style Hemi streamlined dragster. Every time we saw it in the pits or on the race track at Lions Dragstrip, it was one impressive build. Don Hampton (later owner of Hamptonblowers.com) was very quick at the helm and other racers paid the penalty if they were slightly asleep at the starting line. (sometimes it was reversed…) TOTAL Kenny Lindley/Don Hampton total (silent and sorry for the odd color filming at the beginning…we were experimenting with less expensive color Ansco film, not the reliable, but expensive Kodak film.) In 2015, I had my old Lions films digitized, opening up a whole new ball game. But, one step beyond was when I discovered that I had access to the original 1959 sound of Kenny Lindley/Don Hampton’s race car sound on the Dragstrip. It was not at Lions Dragstrip, but the sound was recorded at the Detroit Nationals in 1959 September. We had purchased an LP 33rpm album at Wallach’s Music City, Lakewood. It was called Hot Rods and Dragsters in Hi-Fi. The original LP said Hi-Fi, but was recorded in stereo. The sound of the race cars went from one side of the room to the other in stereo as we know of it, today. Back then, it was a new tech item. I had filmed them at Lions in the Spring/Summer of 1959. The myriad of films, added together with this new/old sound created an actual realistic action film and sound of a race car at Lions in 1959. Kenny Lindley/Don Hampton with actual 1959... SOUND Jnaki Nice post on those old Rods Illustrated Magazines. I wish they were in that neighborhood liquor store (back then) for us to see and flip those valuable pages of the drag race and hot rod cars. But, growing up near Lions Dragstrip had it rewards, for sure.
The Jalopy Journal
