Innehållsförteckning för March 2020 från Hot Rod

Editor-in-Chief @john.mcgann If you love advanced technology in the automotive industry, the last few months have been exciting times, with, among other things, the announcement of two new electric vehicles: the Ford Mustang Mach-E and the Tesla Cybertruck. I’m not so excited, though. Both vehicles have received their fair share of criticism—most of which has addressed the looks and functionality of each. The Cybertruck is beyond ugly. I’ve read speculation that, to keep the sticker price down, Tesla designed the car with flat panels that wouldn’t need complicated stamping processes. If that’s the case, I can forgive the vehicle’s looks, but just barely. Less forgivable is calling a battery-powered SUV a Mustang. I get the notion of drawing on brand heritage, but for a brand to have heritage, it needs…

“Preston Tucker was a true hot rodder; there’s no denying that fact,” cites world-class fabricator Rob Ida, while explaining the intricacies of his latest, no-holds-barred Tucker-branded tribute to the once maligned, now prominently praised marque. “There’s absolutely no rebuffing Tucker’s innovation and the fact that he was a true trailblazer—a visionary of the highest degree. That’s a short list of characteristics of what makes up a great hot-rodding mentality,” continues Rob. Rob’s got a lot to say about the Tucker legacy, as he should—it’s woven into his family’s history. “My grandfather, Joe Ida, owned a Tucker franchise for about a week in Yonkers, New York, before it was finally shut down,” says Rob. It’s through that history between the Ida and Tucker factions that Rob has befriended both Sean and…

At the headquarters of Carroll Shelby International in Gardena, California, sat close to $55 million worth of automobiles. Thanks to the folks at Shelby American and The Original Venice Crew, and as part of the 15th Annual Tony Sousa Car Show, two of the most significant American race cars were present for onlookers to view and enjoy. The first was the Ford GT40 that was driven by Ken Miles in the 1966 24 Hours of Le Mans. The second, and equally iconic, was the Shelby Daytona Coupe driven by Bob Bondurant, that went on to win the 1965 FIA World Manufacturer’s GT Championship. By themselves, these two vehicles hold an estimated value of more than $49 million. Scattered throughout the Gardena warehouse lay a host of classic Shelby vehicles, 2005–2006…

Q: I’m in the final stages of finishing a rebodied, mid-engine C6 Corvette titled “Caccia Drago.” The car has been under construction for a number of years, and its LS7 has not run for quite a while. I have turned the engine over by hand, but I am very concerned that since there has not been any oil running through the engine, the bearings may be damaged if I try to start it before pumping oil through the system.Am I being overly cautious? Is there some way to use an external pump to run oil through the system before I hit the “start” button? A: You can never be too cautious on a high-end (and expen$ive) engine. Most engine wear occurs at start-up, so you need to, at a minimum,…

Network Content Director @douglas.glad If George Peppard were here to see the 2022 Tesla Cybertruck, he’d chew his cigar a little faster and maybe rub his hands at the prospect of a Damnation Alley remake. Don’t get the reference? Google it. We’ll wait. Any human who views Elon Musk’s angular stainless steel swipe at the lucrative half-ton market will have a similar reaction. What does it remind you of? Cylons? That hot chrome Stormtrooper from Star Wars: The Force Awakens? For us, it was Dean Jeffries’ gleaming Landmaster used to fight radioactive scorpions. We really couldn’t imagine it towing a race car. Somehow, we got a third-party look at the ultra-secret photos and spec sheet before the launch of the Cybertruck in Tesla’s Hawthorne, California, facility on November 21. We…

Complacency is the ironic flip side of hot rodding. For all the inspirational creativity and mechanical wizardry that abounds, trends often become clichés that are difficult to shake. So, given his trendsetting legacy with early F-bodies, the logical reaction to Pro Touring pioneer Mark Stielow’s latest build is, “that’s a funny-looking ’69 Camaro.” But the visionary builder took a big step out of his comfort zone with an LT-swapped, two-wheel-drive 1978 K5 Blazer because, well … just because. “I’ve always loved the design of these Blazers and I wanted to build something for long-haul drives—something that was comfortable, had room for a week’s worth of gear, and was forget-about-it reliable,” he says. “I didn’t build it to race; I built it to drive.” In fact, Stielow had just tacked on…

In our January issue, we chronicled the installation of a real limited-slip differential in the 12-bolt of our 1967 C10. Eaton’s Detroit Truetrac is a major step up from the inexpensive locker we installed in the original open differential. Now, we are really ramping up the performance of our project, Truck Norris, with a complete suspension overhaul thanks to Total Cost Involved. We’ve got a lot of pictures here, so let’s get to it. Sources CLASSIC PERFORMANCE PRODUCTS; 714.522.2000; ClassicPerform.com Total Cost Involved Engineering; 800.984.6259; TotalCostInvolved.com…

Rear Suspension Kits for C10s Detroit Speed // 704.662.3272 detroitspeed.com This one is for you, owners of ’73-’87 GM square-body trucks. Detroit Speed has debuted Quadralink rear suspension kits, in your choice of weld-on or bolt-on. C10s gain a four-link rear with track bar, adjustable Detroit Speed Swivel-Links, coilover shocks and springs, and C-notch cut template. A C-notch plate allows for additional axle clearance at lower ride heights. Also, the adjustable upper shock mount relocates, one inch up or down from nominal, so a change in ride height won’t affect shock travel. The kits include laser-cut brackets that are compatible with the original axle, wiring, brake lines and installation hardware. Price: Starts at $3,095 for the weld-on kit, $3,295 for the bolt-on kit Coilovers for GM A-Bodies Hotchkis // 877.466.7655…

“40 Cars. 5 Tracks. 1,500 Miles. You’ve Never Seen Anything Like This Before!” promised the cover of the Jan. ’06 issue of HOT ROD. It was the birth of HOT ROD Drag Week, which hit the 15th anniversary milestone in 2019. Who has the fastest street car in America? Even local street racers in the earliest days of hot rodding wanted to know. In the modern era, the question attempted to be answered by the original HOT ROD Fastest Street Car in America Shootout in Memphis in conjunction with the NMCA. That race started in 1992, and for the first few years competitors did “‘a 30-mile drive,’ which was just laps around the road course—not exactly stoplight-to-stoplight,” said former HOT ROD editor, Rob Kinnan. “It had a winner every year—but…

Hiding in the hills of North Carolina are a bunch of incredible Mopar Honey Holes. This one we’ve been too a handful of times, and yet there is always something new to uncover, like this 1970 Dodge Challenger. We recently visited a gentleman in North Carolina who had let us look at his collection several years ago. On this visit he was going to show us his new shop. On the way to the shop we passed an old shed, and sitting there was a 1970 Dodge Challenger. It was an original small-block car with a flat hood and drum brakes. There was a little rust in the fenders and quarters, but nothing serious. Soon after our visit, the car was moved into the new shop and finished up.…

Stories don’t always begin with the featured vehicle. This one actually began with a 1967 Chevy pickup. I photographed that C10 for sister publication Classic Trucks. It was exceptional beyond the sum of its parts: Tony Scalici transformed it from hardly more than a frame and bits of a rusty cab into a top-shelf Pro Touring rig that made the cover of a national magazine. And he did it in about a year. But that’s not even the impressive part: It was his first shot at building anything. This is a busy dude with a big family and a serious job. When pressed for the secret to success, he revealed something that most wouldn’t associate as any sort of benefit to car building: post-traumatic stress disorder. Tony is one of…

THE COMBO “I’ve always been a car guy,” Don Hicks recalls. “I’ve owned a lot of Fords, going back to a 1969 Boss 302 Mustang in college. I love working on cars and going to shows. About nine years ago, I found this 1973 convertible sitting in a local farmer’s barn. The price was right, and my wife and I think convertibles are really cool. Later I found out the car was originally sold in Honolulu, Hawaii, and—from what I am told—was at least a ‘drive-around’ car for the cast on the original Hawaii 5-O [TV show] back in the 1970s. “When I retired, I finally had time to add a complete Global West front suspension and SSBC front disc brakes. I put a new top on it, then a…

Roadkill @davidfreiburger If you follow me on social media, it’s clear to you that I’ve become a huge fan of NHRA drag racing—a switch from years ago when I had the obligatory auto-journalist opinion that the whole thing had jumped the shark. Instead, these days, it’s my opinion that the more closely you follow drag racing, the more invested you become. Know the drivers, the crew member drama, the points-chase info, the intricacies of the rules—and all of a sudden it’s a much greater story. Things have changed quite a bit since that very first organized drag event in Goleta, California, in 1949. Here, in no particular order, are some details you may not be aware of if you don’t follow obsessively. 1. The 1,000-foot thing. The nitro classes of…