Innehållsförteckning för November 2021 från Hot Rod

@john.mcgann I recently received a disturbing press release announcing the production of an all-electric Superformance GT40 replica built by British electric car builder Everrati Automotive. Right off the bat here, I must admit my bias against electric cars. I suppose they have their place as commuter vehicles, but I have a tough time being excited about them as performance cars. Yes, the electric Cobra Jet Mustang is quick, Don Garlits’ electric dragster set a record a couple years ago, and Tesla’s new Plaid something-or-other out-accelerated all of the supercars MotorTrend routinely tests, but to me, they have all the engagement of a golf cart. That’s just my opinion, of course, and I’m well aware that I may find myself drowning in the looming tidal wave of electrification that seems poised…

In an ironic twist, “Lefty” Randall is very solidly right-handed, with little ambidextrous skill to match the nickname given to him by his father at a very early age. Dad was an avid baseball fan who figured he could preemptively bestow upon baby Darrin an illustrious career as a southpaw pitcher simply by donning the appropriate nickname, but alas, those plans never materialized. Lefty is a righty and never attempted a career in professional sports, but what he did do is become successful in the business of hauling trash. That may not sound as glamorous as being a major league pitcher, but it’s no less noble work. He started his trash hauling company more than 40 years ago in the Chatsworth and Canoga Park areas of Los Angeles. At first,…

It sometimes takes a while to go from an idea to a reality; often, it’s a lot longer that it should. Such was the case with Mark Kuffel’s 1966 Pro Touring Chevelle. You see, the idea for this build started 14 years ago. The problem wasn’t finding a car or the funds, it was finding the right shop to turn his vision into an automotive reality. He bought the 1966 Chevelle in 2008 from a guy in Wisconsin. It was a decent 20-footer with a 350 small-block and minimal rust. At that point, the car went into storage until he could find the right builder. The shop he eventually found was Roman Performance and Fabrication in Illinois. The owner, Ed Romanowski, saw Mark’s vision and began work on the ’66…

Good steering is vital when it comes to enjoying our classic hot rods. After all, the two ways we interact with our cars are through the throttle and the steering wheel. Poor performance in either of those will really be a buzzkill when it comes to taking our rides on the highway or track. What your worn system needs is a classic Chevy steering upgrade. Even when our classics were new, the steering wasn’t all that great, but back then, people didn’t know any better, so “it was what it was.” Well, today we’ve been conditioned by our modern cars to expect a certain responsiveness from our car’s steering. Add in 50-plus years of wear and tear, and it’s no wonder our stock classics’ steering feels vague as it wanders…

Roadkill @davidfreiburger It was a crushing blow to the history of enthusiast magazines when Bob D’Olivo passed away on July 11. Unless you’re a hardcore maven of vintage magazines, you likely don’t know D’Olivo’s name—but you were affected by him even as a casual observer of car mags over the last many decades. D’Olivo worked for Petersen Publishing, home of HOT ROD and many others, from 1951 until 1996, when founder Robert E. Petersen first sold the business and advised his dearest cronies to retire—advice that purportedly came with a large check. The first position D’Olivo held was that of a staff photographer, but he soon became director of the entire photographic department. As such, he changed the face of buff magazines. The most famous HOT ROD photog of the…

Jeff Wasserman’s personal hot rod collection is diverse, including everything from ’60s muscle cars to this early ’60s style 1915 Ford T-bucket. The Model T is the earliest of Jeff’s hot rods, both in terms of production year and how long he’s owned it. The way it looks today is very close to the way it looked when he first built it. Practically every part added, and every procedure done is accompanied by a remarkable story. Jeff was a kid when he first saw Norm Grabowski’s famous Model T roadster and Tommy Ivo’s similarly-styled T-bucket—not at a car show or in a museum, but on the streets of Los Angeles more than 60 years ago. Those historic cars made an indelible impression on teenaged Jeff, who was determined that he…

The best part of barn finds, garage finds, and field finds, are the stories of how these cars and trucks came to be put aside and forgotten. Chad Ehrlich, of Nobody Else’s Auto in Great Bend, Kansas, searches the country for these forgotten automotive treasures, and he has more than a few stories to share. This time, it’s a 1974 Z/28 Camaro that was set aside nearly 40 years ago. As Chad told us, “Back in 1976, Jan Shank was looking for a new set of wheels. College was coming up and he needed good, reliable, transportation. Since his dad was a Chevy dealer, a Bow Tie was the obvious choice, and being a young man heading off to school, he wanted something cool and sporty. A local guy had…

The wrong ride height can just kill the looks of an otherwise nice car or truck; that’s an irrefutable truth. Aside from the aesthetics of ride height, lowering a car with quality shocks and springs can not only make your classic handle better but ride better as well. Today, companies like Aldan American are selling kits that make it pretty painless to improve the looks, ride, and handling of your classic Chevy, Ford, or Mopar. To show how easy it is to improve the looks and handling of your car we dropped by Aldan American’s shop to watch them do an upgrade on a 1955 210 Chevy. Tri-Fives are one of the many cars that look better lowered, and while this one was already dropped a bit, the current system…

In 2019, we told you about this 1973 Dodge Challenger that Steve Strope of Pure Vision Design in Simi Valley, California, created for an unusual purpose. The Challenger had been commissioned by the Charles Schwab Corporation. The financial services company was title sponsor of a PGA golf tournament (called the Charles Schwab Challenge) and wanted a prize for the tournament champion. The traditional awards are a huge trophy, a red plaid jacket, and a mountain of money—all irresistible prizes, but Schwab figured that a high-performance muscle car from one of the country’s best builders might be cool, too. They made it a 1973 Challenger because that’s the year Charles Schwab was founded and because of the “challenge” theme of the event. They picked Pure Vision because muscle car era street…

There’s no denying the popularity of GM’s line of LS engines and their many variants. And one of the most prevalent, and popular, would be the 5.3L Vortec, RPO code LM7. There are hundreds of thousands of these out there, and while some people don’t mind digging through wrecks, there is a shiny new crate version that can give you a lot of performance for a very reasonable amount of cash. That combination makes them perfect for LS swaps. And these 5.3L (and even their smaller 4.8L cousins) are ripe for various power adders. Affordable 5.3L Vortec Long-Block Crate Engine for LS Swaps If you can’t get to a salvage yard, or just want to start with a clean, fresh, and rebuilt engine, then you can’t go wrong with this…

There is an adage that says, “A building is only as strong as its foundation.” That’s true for hot rod cars and trucks, too, particularly when they are stuffed full of horsepower and equipped with an aggressive suspension system and fat tires. We’ve just described the mechanical transformation that Jason Scudellari’s 1969 Ford F100 has been going through. Jason tossed the original frame with its twin I-beam front suspension and rear leaf springs. In its place is a Fatman Fabrications chassis with IFS, stout front and rear anti-roll bars, and adjustable coilovers on each end. Power will come from a Chevrolet LS1 equipped with a ProCharger backed by a six-speed manual transmission. Since the plans for the truck include negotiating the cones on an autocross course, the engine was set…