But, it's the perspectives offered by its individual contributors that lend this book a particular air of authority. From Alex Xydias' foreword-including his observations of what the postwar hot rod landscape was like-this book takes off. Seven writers (Robert Genat, Pat Ganahl, Greg Sharp, Dain Gingerelli, Ken Gross, A.B. Shuman, and Mark Morton, in order of appearance) tell the story of an equal number of subjects (postwar context, lakes racing, dirt-track roadster racing, drag racing, media exposure, East Coast happenings, and pop-cultural cross-pollination).
While it's the original or rarely seen photos that make this book so compelling for even the most jaded among us, it's the way it's delivered that makes this book a must-have for any new study earnestly interested in learning rod history. Each editor supplies information with the kind of familiarity and context exclusive to hard-core enthusiasts and historical studies. More than just tell you what happened when, for example, they establish a context based on time, culture, and prior achievements. Whenever it's applicable, they reveal what influence a particular event or accomplishment had on generations to come.
With the surge of interest the historical hot rod world has enjoyed in the first years of this millennium, we've seen our fair share of novel and original books that plot our collective gas-powered roots. Few of those books, though, are the archival and expressive tour de force that Hot Rod Roots is. Each of these photos-and there are many in these 175 pages-is a gem.
And, by showcasing the many subtle facets within those photos, the historians and enthusiasts who give these photos context create rich arrangements.
How to find it: American Hot Rod Foundation, (203) 625-4774; www.ahrf.com
What it's called: How To Plate, Polish and Chrome
Who done it: Dennis Parks
What it's about: A book in the Motorbooks Workshop series, it's a tutorial about how to finish metal surfaces or prepare them for further processing.
Notes: First off, a book like this is entirely overdue. Second, its title completely overlooks the large part of the subject therein. A more appropriate title would be how to prep, paint, pinstripe, apply graphics and clearcoat, how to powdercoat, and how to polish metal and plate it when you're done, but that doesn't make for such a catchy title. By that assessment, though, you probably get the point that this book really is a one-stop shopping experience for how to finish metal, though.
Since the common thread of all of these subjects is preparation, Dennis Parks dedicates a considerable amount of this book to the subject. Part of the tutorial is nothing but tools; another bit is tips; a third yet (and certainly not the last) is dedicated to tricks along the way. The paint section alone, at 91 pages long, is a book in itself. While he dedicates only nine pages to powdercoating, it's the only published material this author has seen dedicated to the subject in any given space. While you probably won't learn to become a powdercoater with this chapter, you certainly get a good idea of what separates a good job from a poor one.
Although I admit I'd like to see more than 39 pages dedicated to polishing, plating, and anodizing, there's a considerable amount of material in these pages. Naturally, the buffing chapter is dedicated to metals exclusively; no paint polishing information exists here (although a book on how to polish paint would justify a title on its own right ...).
The real fascinating stuff, how to electroplate and anodize, starts on page 112 and finishes off the book at 140. More than just a few chapters on how to prep metal for plating or anodizing, it's literally a guide on how to plate and anodize at home. The painting section aside (which is good in its own right), these last pages definitely justify buying this book.
How to find it: Motorbooks, (800) 826-6600; www.motorbooks.com
What it's called: Demon Bugs: VW Customs and Cruisers
Who done it: Stephan Szantai
What it's about: It's an international perspective on the ever-evolving world of the VW as hot rod, custom car, and cultural icon.
Notes: Though most wouldn't dare admit it, there's a dark and dirty secret in almost every hot rodder's closet. It's small, looks like a squished-down '39 Ford, and it goes by its initials: VW.
Truth be told, a bunch of us in the automotive performance industry has a history with the little car that brought Germany out of its postwar blues. For example, before Bill Mitchell cast his first cylinder head and before Vern Luce won the Sloanaker Award, they both drag-raced VWs. Among the many How To Hot Rod books that Bill Fisher wrote, the one he did for VWs is likely his best-seller nearly four decades after its first print. Both dragster chassis fabricator Kent Fuller and street rod pioneer Andy Brizio offered T-buckets that used the road-oiling flat-fours for power, and Tom Medley even built one in Rod & Custom magazine. As a broke college graduate, our own Brian Brennan drove a Super Beetle; as a fledgling journalist in the early '70s, one of his first car features for this very magazine was on an oval-windowed Bug.
Meet another generation of automotive journalist: Stephan Szantai. As a member of Der Kleiner Panzers car club-probably the oldest practicing VW performance club and arguably the most prestigious-he's seen some of the finest and fastest flat-fours around. As a journalist for various magazines, including Hot VWs, the late VW Trends, and numerous international titles, he's featured a number of those cars. In the most literal sense, this book is the cream ladled off that heady mix.
What emerges in Demon Bugs is a very representative cross section of the street-based movement's finest cars. Working from the land largely credited for the VW phenomenon, California, he sets the tone by recapping the '60s buggy phenomenon, quickly progressing to a definitive '70s movement that established the VW as a street contender. Marked by the emphasis of speed rather than ornamentation, that Cal Look era as it came to be known serves as a figurative springboard for this book.
Though his travels transport him decades ahead of and oceans away from that Southern California genesis, the roots from those pioneer cars and the people who built them are obvious. There are admittedly cars engineered to do nothing but cruise and look good doing it, but there's a fair share of serious performance cars from all over the world to prove that the domestic hot rod crowd isn't the only one hellbent on going fast.
It goes without saying that anybody already sold on the idea of a Volkswagen as a cool car would find this book interesting, but it bears noting that this is a volume that could change some of even the most stubborn minds. Whether they're built to sprint the quarter-mile or carve road courses, each one of these machines is fully capable of cleaning a big-block's clock. Think of 'em as hot rods for the kraut-and-schnitzel set.
At the very least, leaf through this book if only to see what might be lurking in the next lane over. As someone who made sport out of hunting Detroit's finest with small-bore guns, I can say with decent authority that you'd rather find out in a bookstore than on the boulevard that even the lowliest bug can pack a nasty bite.
How to find it: Motorbooks, (800) 826-6600; www.motorbooks.com
What it's called: Classic Hot Rod Style
Who done it: Larry O'Toole
What it's about: It's an analysis of the "traditional" hot rod aesthetic, a latter-day interpretation of historic practices using new parts and/or cars built with old parts.