Innehållsförteckning för January 1986 från Hot Rod

New car sales are booming, especially performance car sales. Many of them will be purchased by hot rodders who, for the most part, will leave them alone, or possibly add wheels and tires. And that’s not all bad, because the new cars are pretty good the way they come from the factory. Any car that is capable of 14-second e.t.’s, .8-g’s lateral acceleration, and over 20 mpg is in my book a pretty good car. However, the hard-core rodders among us will be saying to ourselves, “We can make this thing a lot better.” Traditionally this means ripping out all the electronically controlled equipment and replacing it with the more familiar mechanically controlled parts that have been with us since the ’50s. The results are predictable. We did it with…

Out•law (out’ lô’) n. 1 A habitual criminal. 2. A person excluded from normal legal protection and rights, -tr.v. 1. To declare illegal. 2. To ban. 3. To deprive of the protection of the law. The American Heritage Dictionary, 1980 out•law (out’ lô’) n. 1. A hot rodder. 2. A 1985 IROC Camaro equipped with the latest in stealth technology. 3. A 9.5:1 383-cubic-inch small-block disguised as a stock Tuned Port Injection 305. 4. An NOS nitrous oxide injection system for Tuned Port Injection units. 5. A host of special performance modifications and the good sense not to mess with parts that are already right. HOT ROD Magazine, 1986 Building an outlaw Camaro can be a rewarding and frustrating experience all at the same time. Our last attempt at building…

For all their supposed differences, the American, International, and National Hot Rod Associations do (have two things in common. ’ One, all three Associations use the name “hot rod.” Two, none of them have a place for real hot rods … anymore. Oh, I fully realize that these same sanctioning bodies try to pawn off their various “Pro” categories as being hot. They even try to con us into believing that semi-pro bracket racers and touring exhibition wheelstanders or jet cars are also hot. However, what you’ve been fed is nothing more than bulloney. No, fellow lovers of the sport of sprint, the last of the real hot rods to grace this nation’s dragstrips were the eternally awesome “Double-A Fuel Altereds.” Historically, the Fuel Altereds could trace their lineage all…

Louisville, Tennessee’s Bobby Alloway has himself a winner—but not because his ’33 Vicky epitomizes the terms “high dollar” or “high tech.” No, Bobby’s Victoria illustrates the successful blending of customized smoothness with hot rod power. The customized portion runs the gamut from a 4½-inch cut taken out of the Vicky’s top to hidden door hinges, handmade hood sides, and rounded window openings. The power portion—nestling between a set of Bobby-built frame rails suspended by Alloway’s own independent front end and his Aldan-equipped Franklin “quickie” rearend supported by Halibrands, Michelins, and Goodriches—is in the form of a roots-blown, Weber-carbureted, ported ’n’ polished, Jim “Chew” Miller-brewed 460-inch Rat. And while it’s true that Bobby’s Vicky is essentially a show car, which won the prestigious ’85 Ridler award and is rarely driven, Alloway’s…

HR: Where did the portholes go? I mean, Buick has always been the chrome show-boat division of GM. Why the new performance push? JN: Buick is still building cars that appeal to the same sort of people we always have. But we’re looking at gaining in market share by trying to appeal to some of the younger buyers, too. You might say we’re doing what most of the other car manufacturers are doing now—going after the Yuppie market. And we’re succeeding. But it’s still a Buick buyer, a more affluent buyer. HR: Your department—Buick Special Products—was largely shaped and developed by Herb Fishel [who recently moved to head Chevrolet’s similar, but much older, performance group]. Is there a new direction or a new emphasis now that you’re in this position?…

HOOD SWAP Q I have a plain 1969 Mustang fastback, and I was wondering if a ’69 Shelby hood would fit on the car if I left the original fenders on. Randy R.Thibodaux, Louisiana A The hood will physically bolt on and lock using the stock hood latch, but will not line up with the front of the fenders or the grille since it is 4 inches longer in front than the stock Mustang hood. To look right, you’d have to install the complete Shelby front end. LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM Q I own a 1979 Pontiac Trans Am with a 400, 4-speed. I recently put on a set of 1972 455-HO heads with Hooker headers, an Edel-brock Torker with a Holley 4779-2 750-cfm double-pumper carb, and a I969-’70 factory Ram…

This is one of those cars that grabs you any way you look at it. No, it’s not a chromed, candy-painted, super-detailed show piece. It’s a hard-runnin’, low down, innovative, homegrown driver owned by David Mordhorst and his father Leo of Carson City, Nevada, and built almost entirely by Dave and his uncle Milo in a one-car stall in a backyard barn. Dave started upgrading his bottom-of-the-line One-Fifty ’55 by fitting the body over an Alston Pro Gas kit chassis. A Chevy 12-bolt rear with Strange axles, Moroso Super Brute 4.11 gears, and Wilwood disc brakes rides on TCI coil-over shocks in back, while a Pinto suspension with Carrera coil-overs and disc brakes was adapted to the front. The Big Bad Orange lacquered body features an all-steel, one-piece tilt front…

Only two short decades ago, virtually anyone with a few grand in hand could walk into a new car showroom and literally drive right out with one of the quickest and fastest hot rods around; that’s right, brand-new, and absolutely the quickest cars in town! During the mid-Sixties, 500-pius horsepower Plymouths and Fords could actually be store-bought. And each of these factories’ maximum performance models rolled out of the showroom fitted with all the extra-duty equipment needed to back its high-powered acceleration act. Tim Hennessey and John Paradise are both enthusiastic motorists who missed a chance, two decades ago, to shop the showrooms for their new iron. Instead, both upstate New York horsepower fanatics spent a few years twisting tools on an old Plymouth and a ’64 Ford, respectively, to…

DRAG RACING Jan. 30-Feb. 2—NHRA Chief Auto Parts Winternationals, Pomona, California OFF-ROAD RACING Jan. 25—Mickey Thompson’s Off-Road Championship Gran Prix Series, Hoosier Dome, Indianapolis, Indiana SHOWS, ROD RUNS & OTHER FUN STUFF Jan. 2-5—25th Annual Auto-Rama, Cobo Hall, Detroit, Michigan Jan. 3-5—12th Annual Budweiser World of Wheels, Bayside Exposition Center, Boston, Massachusettes1 Jan. 3-5—15th Annual International World of Wheels, Florida State Fair & Expo Park, Tampa, Florida Jan. 3-5—25th Annual International Championship Custom Auto Show, Cervantes Convention Center, St. Louis, Missouri Jan. 10-12—26th Annual Speed Sport ’86, Metro Toronto Convention Centre, Toronto, Ontario, Canada Jan. 10-12—20th Annual International Autorama, Pershing Municipal Auditorium, Lincoln, Nebraska Jan. 17-19—11th Annual Tri-State World of Wheels, Huntington Civic Center, Huntington, West Virginia Jan. 18-19—26th Edition Victorville Custom Car, Sports, and Hot Rod Show, Victorville County…

OK Used Racers In December we showed one of the winning IMSA GTO Mustangs in action. Sneaky looking cars, aren’t they? Ever wished you could have one just like it? Well, step right up, ’cause Jack Roush can slide you into one of these beauties—driven only on weekends for one year—for as little as $72,500. Yes, the whole Roush Protofab stable of seven Trans Am Capris and GTO Mustangs goes on sale at the end of the ’85 season. A rolling chassis is 55 grand. Five more gets you a Weissman 5-speed trans. And there are 15 Ford motors to choose from, $22,500 to $17,500 rebuilt, or $22,500 new. If you can consider spending that kind of money without a 30-year mortgage, contact Roush Protofab at 12249 Leaven Rd., Livonia,…

Believe It OR NOT Dept.? It’ against the law to drive a dirty car in Moscow. They’ll zap you rubles ($11.50) if you do. But it’s against the law to wash your own car in the city limits (30-ruble fine). And if you take your car out to the country to wash it by a stream or lake, they’ll nail you for 100rubles! There are a few legal “car washing stations,” but only enough to handle one percent of Moscow’s half million cars. And if you wait in line all day at a car wash, they get you for absenteeism from work. Sounds like a no-win situation to us. ’Spose there’s any hot rods in Moscow?—P.G. Rods, Roadsters and Offys What you see here is what Vic Yerardi sees every…

Conversations about musclecars are usually full of “should haves,” “could haves,” and “gee, I wish I’d…” statements. It seems like everyone has his favorite “$5000 Cobra,” “$3000 fuelie ’Vette,” or “one owner, low-mileage Hemi” story about missed opportunities. You could cry about the long-lost deals, but the more sensible alternative is to latch onto the great deals that exist today. The deals on 427 Cobras, Hemi Daytonas, and L-88 Corvettes are long gone, so accept it and seek out the vast supply of musclecars that still can be used for daily transportation. Prices will never be lower, nor will the supply be any greater. Make today the time you “did” instead of “should have.” The purpose of this article is to get you started in the right direction. Our 10…

There are two ways to bake a cake. The “half baked” method, also known as the trial and error approach, usually ends up being quite a trial with lots of error. On the other hand, you can seek expert advice, procure a cookbook, follow its directions—and wind up with a cake as good as Betty Crocker’s. When it comes to automobiles, Chrysler Corp./Direct Connection has been thoroughly testing their performance recipes for years. Unlike other manufacturers, Chrysler tests the best of all available parts and pieces to come up with dyno-proven packages guaranteed to produce results when used as directed. They then put factory part numbers on these parts and carry them on their Direct Connection (DC) parts program, disseminating their availability and intended usage to the public through the…

The weather was great, the location perfect, the participants enthusiastic. In short, the inaugural HOT ROD Super Cruise Northwest was a rousing success, and an excellent windup to HOT ROD’s first full season of regionalized Super Cruises. Located just north of the Portland, Oregon/Vancouver, Washington metropilitan area, the Clark Country Fairgrounds is a park-like setting with gently rolling, semi-wooded hills—beautiful country that’s just right for an event of this kind, with lots of room for expansion. And if the 600-odd cars that turned out for the first-time event are any indication, the Northwest is hungry for a giant cruise-in like this. Participation ranged from immaculately restored supercars to high-tech rods to outrageous Pro Streeters to unusual examples of backyard “engine-uity” in action. Yet despite the wide variety of iron, Northwest…

If you have been to a hobby shop, toy store, or department store lately, you may have been surprised to see our name boldly emblazoned on rows of model car boxes. As announced last October, we recently helped Revell revamp their 1/25th-scale model car line into an impressive lineup of contemporary and nostalgic hot rods. In so doing, we are helping to announce that model car building and customizing is coming back strong. Local clubs are thriving, regional contests are drawing outstanding new work, and there’s even a new model car magazine available once again (Scale Auto Enthusiast, Milwaukee, Wisconsin). We’re not just talking about building model car kits, we’re talking about modifying them—swapping parts, changing the body, custom painting, that sort of thing. In the heyday of car modeling…