HOT RODS, CUSTOMS & DRIVE-INS

Posted on August 10, 2022 by MartynL

Rod & Custom guru and automotive journalist Pat Ganahl has spent his hot-rodding career on the left coast and just posted this short-course on HOT RODS, CUSTOMS & DRIVE-INS. Before social media and cell phones, hot rod and custom car owners communicated with each other at club meetings, shows, drag strips and drive-ins. Drive-ins were where you took your dates and showed off your wheels, finished or unfinished. In some locales, drive-ins were the places to go looking to hook...

CALIFORNIA DREAMIN’: CENTRAL COAST WHEELING WEEKEND

Posted on October 27, 2021October 28, 2021 by MartynL

Who doesn't love a special deal? Perhaps it's CGC’s Jim Palam's years in advertising that was behind his idea to give our readers two-reports-in-one, combining two of the Central Coast's popular car shows – The Solvang Fall Classic & The Montecito Motor Classic – into one feature. It’s a great idea, so here's CALIFORNIA DREAMIN’: CENTRAL COAST WHEELING WEEKEND. Covid changed the 2020 Car Show scene significantly – pretty much eliminating many if not all of the popular gatherings not only in...

ROD & CUSTOM: ART & THE AUTOMOBILE

Posted on July 26, 2021 by MartynL

https://patganahl.com/2021/07/26/unreal-auto-art/

Rod & custom archivist/historian, Pat Ganahl blogs about Charlie Smith’s ROD & CUSTOM: ART & THE AUTOMOBILE that turns as many heads as do iconic show-stoppers. I was going to title this column “The Unknown Artist,” but that’s not true at all. I’ve known Charlie Smith of Kansas City at least since the mid-1980s. I’ve published his work in Hot Rod and Rod & Custom, and you’ve seen it elsewhere. You’ve also seen cars he’s designed, though you might not know it. Just one example is...

FIVE-STAR: THE AMERICAN SPEED SHOP

Posted on May 2, 2021May 2, 2021 by MartynL

If you are truly interested in the birth and evolution of hot rodding, the speed equipment industry and drag racing in America, Bob McClurg’s FIVE-STAR: THE AMERICAN SPEED SHOP is THE book to read! If there’s anyone who should be teaching Hot Rodding 101 at your local community college, it’s Bob McClurg! He’s an accomplished photographer, scribe, author and a true student of the evolution of hot rodding and drag racing - from four-cylinder and Flathead and OHV V8 revolutions, through mo...

ORCUTT DERELICTS: DONUT RUN CAR MEET

Posted on April 23, 2021April 23, 2021 by MartynL

‘If Muscle Cars Could Walk’, blogs our intrepid, photo-journalist, Jim Palam! ‘I was expecting a four-wheeled GTO Goat from Pontiac, not a four-legged Bovidae family member at the ORCUTT DERELICTS: DONUT RUN CAR MEET.’ When a carguy buddy of mine from the Central Coast told me, they were expecting some cool musclecars and other surprises at the Orcutt Derelict’s Donut Run car meet in Orcutt, he peppered that prompt to attend by also telling me there's going to be a beautiful GOAT there ...

’32 FORD: BLUE PLATE SPECIAL

Posted on March 19, 2020March 19, 2020 by MartynL

Veteran hot rod journalist Pat Ganahl uncovers a treasure trove of hot rod features, originally submitted in the 1970s to iconic magazines like Rod & Custom and Rod Action. ’32 FORD: BLUE PLATE SPECIAL is one of the best examples of 1970s rodding. Pat Ganahl blogs about a California blue-plated ’32 Tudor that’s picture perfect. Neal East and Jack Stewart were two of the most prolific West Coast based freelance automotive journalists, specializing in hot rods and customs back in the day. In ...

HOT RODS & MUSCLECARS: ON THE STREETS!

Posted on September 19, 2013May 15, 2017 by MartynL

Mike Matune checks out historic Clifton, VA, when it’s transformed for one day into an incredible car show. Labor Day traditionally marks the end of summer. The kids here go back to school the Tuesday after and hot, lazy days become a distant memory, for at least another year. It also marks the day the Clifton Lions Club and the Custom Cruisers of Northern Virginia present their “On The Streets” car show in historic downtown Clifton. If the red building to the left, top, looks familiar, i...