Even without the grief of a sputtering economy to inspire me, I often find myself reflecting on the past. Not my own past, mind you; like drinking alone, it’s indulgent and potentially hazardous. No, I like reflectingat least ponderingmore significant historical events.
In that sense, what fortunate times the past few years have been. Historians have seen fit to compile, edit, and tell significant stories of events past. And especially lucky for us, publishers have given these projects wings.
What follows are 10 of the ones that caught my eye. Though the overwhelming majority are original works, the others are reprints. But they’re honorable reprints, reissues of titles whose inventories have run dry as a result of their popularity. Their information is just as valid as it was and rereleasing them gives another generation an opportunity to learn from it.
Each one of these books is an opportunity to immerse yourself in some good-old-fashioned history. Each justifies further reading. In fact, the hard part will be choosing which one you should buy first.
Hot Rod Magazine All The Covers Drew Hardin and the editors of Hot Rod magazine
ISBN-10: 0760338175, ISBN-13: 978-0760338179
Forget awards; the greatest honor a car owner or builder can enjoy is selection for a magazine cover. It stands as a permanent and accessible record of a car’s virtueat least for its age. And of all the magazines out there, the one to whom most other car magazines owe their existence is the greatest cover to grace. We’re sure that more than one soul was sold to get a car on the cover of Hot Rod magazine.
That said, it’s no surprise that someone compiled them in one easy-to-reference tome. In Hot Rod Magazine All The Covers, writer and historian Drew Hardin cataloged each and every magazine cover to datenearly 850 of ’em in fact.
But this book is more. In recapping the covers he tells the story of the magazine itself. How it came to pass and, more importantly, how it evolved to address the times is really the book’s strong suit.
Hardin formatted the book in a general outline format. A decade summary precedes subchapters broken down annually. Each year consists of 12 more subsets, each with at least a caption to explain what its cover image represents.
Only rather than a rundown, these morsels paint a broader picture of the way Hot Rod ran. Born of a movement to legitimize modified cars and the people who built them (and honestly, to make a buck along the way), Hot Rod took shape as a written record of inventiveness and resourcefulness. Whether bona fide race cars or their street-bound interpretations, the cars that appeared in Hot Rod magazineor in this case on the coverwere bellwethers.
By way of interviews with editors both past and present, Hardin channels what’s essentially the spirit of the magazine. This in turn gathers what are otherwise seemingly random photos to create a bigger picturea hot rodder’s quilt, if you will. That the cover is a collage of cover images suggests that the approach was by no means accidental.
The book is a charmer in all respects. Each chapter’s graphics and color palette reflects it decade. Bold images figuratively jump off the page. Hardin’s delivery, like the subject matter, is essential, interesting, and moves along quickly.
Even if you’ve let your subscription lapse, we highly recommend picking up a copy of Hot Rod Magazine All The Covers. It’ll make you remember what made you fall in love with the magazine in the first place.
Deuce: Seventy-five of the finest 1932 Ford Hot Rods of All Time From the editors of The Rodder’s Journal In 2005 a few enthusiasts convinced Ford Motor Company to celebrate the upcoming anniversary of one of its more significant model years. The ’32 Ford, they proposed, deserved recognition on its Diamond Jubilee. As they put it, that car nearly single-handedly changed the worldthe hot rod world at least.