Innehållsförteckning för March 1949 från Hot Rod

The other day an HRM dealer from the midwest dropped into the office to say hello. When asked what the fellows liked the best in the magazine, the dealer exclaimed, “Parts With Appeal, by all means. The first thing they ask when a new issue appears is, ’What’s the Parts With Appeal this month?’” Another dealer, this one on the east coast, wrote to tell us that the technical articles create the greatest reader interest. “They help the fellows in building their cars more than anything else.” Readers themselves have told us they prefer other regular features of HRM. As time goes by, our articles may change, new reader preferences may become evident. That is all well and good, and it is to be expected. But, it is up to…

RICKSHA HOT ROD Dear Sirs: Enclosed is a picture I have been wanting to send to you for a long time but just now got around to getting it processed. This is the fastest thing I have been riding in, on the ground that is, since! I have been in Japan. My apologies to cartoonist Medley for stealing his idea. With the help of some associates I originated the Southwest Roadster Racing Association at Roswell, New Mexico in 1947. We pioneered “Hot Rod” racing in Southern New Mexico. Tracks were built in Roswell, Artesia and Carlsbad. They were ½-mile slightly banked dirt tracks, with one one-third mile track. At the time, I was stationed at Roswell Air Force Base having been transferred from Colorado Springs. I had raced at Colorado…

Imagine a Chevy 4 roadster doing over 120 mph? Impossible? Yet, that is what the team of Spurgin and Giovanine did with their ’25 Chevy 4-barrel at the SCTA lake meet of October 30-31 last year. Holding the present Class A roadster record of 123.65 5 mph, the Spurgin-Giovanine team is now preparing refinements for their car which they hope will take them up into even higher speed brackets this coming season. Bob Giovanine was born in Moline, Illinois, in 1919 and moved to California the following year, while Chuck Spurgin started his life as a native son in Oxnard, California, in 1916. Bob went to Washington High in Los Angeles while Chuck went to Los Angeles High. Both took mechanical courses. Bob and Chuck are both married and both…

Editor’s Note: Future issues of HRM will introduce new equipment and services available to builders and enthusiasts. Readers knowing of new items on the market are asked to send information to HRM. The annual S.C.T.A. Awards Dance will be held Saturday night, March 26, at the Royal Palms Hotel near 6th and Alvarado in Los Angeles. Tickets may be purchased through any S.C.T.A. club representative. Cost is $1.50 per couple. Proceeds will go to S.C.T.A.’s Youth Betterment Fund. HRM readers are invited to purchase tickets and attend. A good band will furnish dance music for the evening. Artist Gus Maanum announces his new Hot Rod Souvenir booklet. The album contains 16 Maanum drawings of roadsters, streamliners and modified hot rods. The complete album, with identification of each car, is on…

Q. I have a few questions I’d like to have answered about my ’36 V8 with Mercury block. What I’m after is fast getaway in low and second and the fastest speed possible in high gear. It is my idea to use Zephyr gears in low and second with a slightly higher ratio ring and pinion. I plan to use high compression heads, dual carburetors and a ¾ cam. Please inform me as to whether or not you think my setup sounds practicable. Robert M. Davis Fort Wayne, Indiana. A. A higher ratio ring and pinion gear will add to your acceleration, but will not add to the high speed. A good compromise between acceleration and top speed is ’41 Zephyr transmission gears and a 3.78:1 differential. With a ¾…

Model Doris Ives recommends the slick racing tire for asphalt tracks. This tire affords greater traction on pavec surfaces. It is a retread, molded to conform slick characteristics. Miss Ives has some pretty slick characteristics herself. Born in New York City in 1923, she completed her schooling at Horace Mann in that city. She began modeling in 1941, working for John Robert Powers and Walter Thorton. A trip to California few years back convinced Doris and her mother that they wanted to live in the west. In 1947 they moved to the coast, settling in Santa Monica. Doris loves animals, has had a wide variety of pets. These included snakes, squirrels, rabbits, mice and an alligator. Her talents brought her a role in “The Devil’s Sleep,” a motion picture soon…