02/05/2008
As usual, there’s a lot of hot rodding activity going on in garages around the country right now. Although we can’t hope to bring you details of everything that’s being pieced together behind closed doors, we can at least provide a
03/04/2008
During research for his book for Haynes Publishing called Crazy Horses – British Drag Racing’s Heritage, motoring writer and past Santa Pod Raceway commentator Brian Taylor became very aware of the excellent condition of
03/04/2008
Leif Tufvesson is no stranger to the world of hot rodding. His Company, Caresto, turned out some very stylish, minimalist modern hot rods using Volvo
10/03/2008
It is often said, “All good things come to those who wait.” In the case of Les Howlett and his recently completed Model A roadster, the wait has been some 25 years, as that’s the length of time since he first made his mark on the UK custom scene.
07/03/2008
I fell out with Boyd Coddington almost from the get-go – in fact, the first time we met, back in 1982, when he brought the Jamie Musselman, AMBR-winning, '33 Roadster to England.
03/03/2008
British hot rodders are a hardy bunch. If you were to ask most motoring enthusiasts if they’d fancy rummaging around a scrap yard during the winter months, you’d probably get a negative response. Hot rodders are not your average car enthusiasts, however, and spurred on by the promise of a bargain,
26/02/2008
Five hundred drivers will be taking part in the inaugural NHRA Hot Rod Heritage Series event which takes place at the 50th Anniversary March Meet, March 7-9 at Auto Club Famoso Raceway in Bakersfield, California.
15/02/2008
Visiting Home Grown Hot Rods is always an interesting experience and even more so in the winter months when there’s not much happening on the street. Seeing three roadsters under construction and Andy Barry’s metalworking skills on Keith Abrehart’s steel three window coupe, made it an inspirational day out.
14/02/2008
The Snake and the Goose – there are no more symbiotic names in the history of drag racing than Don “The Snake” Prudhomme and Tom “The Mongoose” McEwen. According to Mark Vaughn of AutoWeek, “They were the biggest thing in racing in the early ‘70s.”
14/02/2008
A section, housed within the Wally Parks NHRA Motorsports Museum, presented by the Automobile Club of Southern California, is hosting a special Saturday seminar on March 1st, from 10 a.m. - 2 p.m., where the legendary Howard Cams Rattler dragster will undergo a rebuild.
01/02/2008
In 2007, the annual Grand National Roadster Show, located for the fourth year in a row at the Fairplex, Pomona, California, right next to the NHRA Motorsports Museum, clearly enjoyed the benefit of the 75th Anniversary of
29/01/2008
When I was a kid, around 1963, delivering Hot Rod magazine on my paper round, I read a report of the U.S. Fuel and Gas Championships at Bakersfield. I forget now who wrote the story, but it hooked me there and then on front-motored dragsters leaving the line in clouds of smoke with their front wheels high in the air, cranked over at impossible angles. I would have given
18/01/2008
Regular readers may have noticed a couple of existing features written by Karen & Keith Baker, charting specific exploits of their recent tour of California. This week we bring you the concluding part of this series, with a fascinating look at rodding and biker establishments, plus some key individuals
11/01/2008
The popularity of Nostalgia drag racing across the Pond has led to many well-known cars from the past being reincarnated. Funny Cars are no exception, and it would probably be fair to say that the old-time ‘plastic fantastics’ are making quite an impression on fans of modern-day floppers.
08/12/2007
Okay, this is not a story about a hot rod, custom motorcycle, muscle car or any other sort of automobile, but the machine in question does have three wheels, a great deal of horsepower, visual impact and genuinely iconic status – plus it’s not every day you get the chance to passenger in an original B-17 bomber from World War II. Karen Baker takes up the story . . . .
07/12/2007
If you’ve ever been to the annual SEMA Show in Las Vegas, Nevada, then you will know it can be decidedly daunting. With more than 2,000 exhibitors occupying over 1 million square feet of space to cover, that’s a lot of shoe leather!
29/11/2007
Automotive artist Steve Kirk, who many may remember contributed to Street Machine magazine over a 25 year period, has been in touch with news of a special Christmas offer on some of his nostalgia drag racing artwork.
21/11/2007
If you’ve been visiting DRCReview.com over recent months, then you’ll know we’ve been taking a special interest in the rebuild of the 1969 Mondello Matsubara AA Fiat Fuel Altered, which has been expertly handled by Karpo Murkijanian, Pete Eastwood and Derek Bower, also affectionately know as Moe, Larry and Curly or Three Stooges Underfunded Racing.
20/11/2007
On October 30, Jim Peltz wrote a great story for the Los Angeles Times about the city's lost drag strips: Lions, San Fernando, San Gabriel, Fontana, Colton, Irwindale, Saugus, Orange County, Ontario, Riverside, and most recently L.A. County better known to locals as Palmdale.
19/11/2007
Both Carroll Shelby and Steve McQueen have played significant roles in helping to shape the image of Ford products over the years. The difference is that Shelby was employed by Ford to do the job, while McQueen coincidentally starred in a movie where he drove a Ford Mustang.
12/11/2007
With an attendance conservatively estimated at 70,000 over the entire weekend, this year’s Classic Motor Show, which took place at the NEC last weekend, was undoubtedly their busiest yet. “Attendance was up by about 20 per cent on last year and the show seems to be going from strength-to-strength,” says Andy Rouse, Show Manager.
02/11/2007
It seems that both Chrysler and GM are placing something of an emphasis on hot rods at this year’s SEMA show, while Ford has gone all European with customised versions of the Focus.
26/10/2007
Anyone looking for an autumnal hot rod fix would have found just the tonic at the recent National Custom & Sports Car Show "Winter Warmer", which took place at the newly refurbished facilities at Doncaster Racecourse over the weekend of October 20-21st.
12/10/2007
One of the last, big American car gatherings of the year took place on September 21-23, at Billing Aquadrome, when the American Auto Club International hosted its Autumn Nationals.
04/10/2007
Regular readers may recall the first part of Paul and Beth Barrow's hot rod adventure, featured on August 11, which left them stranded in Monaco, well here's the concluding part of their epic journey to Italy driving their just completed Model A.
28/09/2007
Sadly, that's it. The summer's outdoor hot rodding season has come to a close - it's dark by 7.00pm and seems to be getting colder by the day. For many who came to the Bracknell Breakfast Run last Sunday, as well as those who participated in other events occurring over the same weekend, it was probably the last time this year that hot rods and their owners will be assembling
27/09/2007
Mike Taylor’s steel '38 Willys coupe (with '41 front sheet metal) is one hot rod that has made a big impression on the UK scene this year. It’s not that the car hasn’t been around for a while, as Mike purchased it as long ago as 1982; it perhaps has more to do with his decision to add a blower atop that 355 Chevy motor, which instantly added a “wow” factor to the coupe wherever it went.
14/09/2007
Sheffield, well-known former steel producing capital of the UK, witnessed the arrival of a considerable amount of old tin last weekend as the Steel City Cruisers staged their 30th Anniversary Rod Run. Once again, the site of all this activity was outside the city centre, on a sports ground used by the club for the past 15 years.
06/09/2007
It’s hard to believe, but Home Grown Hot Rods is celebrating its 10th anniversary this year. That’s 10 years of creating high-quality hot rods and chassis packages, as well as undertaking a complete range of hot rod fabrication work.
30/08/2007
The 33rd Street Rod Nationals organised by the National Association of Street Clubs (NASC) took place last weekend at the now established venue of Trinity Park (Suffolk County Showground) outside Ipswich.
29/08/2007
Meeting up with prolific hot rodder, Dave Haskell, last week was really like stepping back in time. The last time I’d seen Dave was around 1980, when I was Assistant Editor of Hot Car magazine (selling 150,000 copies a month back then) and had interviewed him about his just-completed Model Y.
22/08/2007
Since the last time of writing, rather a lot has happened to the DRC Review Project Model A, but the most significant fact is that, after two years, it is now a registered, insured, running, driving car. One or two niggling issues remain to be sorted, but we’re effectively there, the only slight
17/08/2007
What a strange feeling to go to Bonneville for the first time in many years and not be racing a car. Well, that’s what I thought, but when I arrived on the salt after an 800-mile drive from Los Angeles, the team of Van Blarcom and Gilmore, who now run the Thacker and Shine Roadster, made all things good by recording the car’s best-ever speed of 210.9 mph.
11/08/2007
Twelve months ago, my partner, Beth, and I took a holiday in the Umbria region of Italy, to check out the possibilities of getting married there. On our return to the UK, we decided it was feasible, but a further part of the plan called for me to finish my Model A sedan for the journey this year.
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