Hot Rod- May 2007

Glory Days! No not the Springsteen song, it’s the cover story of Hot Rod’s May 2007 issue. It doesn’t seem that long ago that big horsepower was 250. Now you can’t even get a mention unless your engine is putting out over 450 and that’s a beautiful thing. Chevy, Ford and Mopar all have something up their sleeve. The Viper is rated at 600hp, while the Shelby Mustang is over 500hp and the Camaro(I don’t care what people say it’s damn ugly and looks nothing like a first generation Camaro) could have anything the Vette has under the hood.

Of course if you like your sheetmetal more vintage, give a call to Unique Performance. They can build you a Mustang with just about any engine combo you’d care for or a Foose big-block Camaro and coming soon an early ‘70's Challenger. But bring a big checkbook because we’re talking $120,000+ for any of the above. Mr. Norms back with a Hemi powered Dart with some seriously out of place(read ugly) wheels. They kill an otherwise damn cool car. There is a beautiful ‘66 Chevelle that’s as nice as anything around. There is an article on how to swap a modern lump(for our English friends) into a some classic tin.

But don’t be afraid Hot Rod hasn’t forgotten the hot rods. Ray Dunham’s ‘36 Ford coupe struts it’s stuff with chopped top, air bags and a blown flathead. It’ gets your attention in all the right ways.

And there is a nice editorial from David Freiburger about Dandy Dick Landy. We’ll miss him.

www.hotrod.com

Four Wheel and Off-Road- May 2007

You might think by reading the major 4x4 magazines that the world was covered in rock. The vast majority of coverage has something to do with rock. You might believe that if you didn’t crawl you weren’t actually ‘wheelin’. Well I’m here to tell you that the earth is indeed covered by something equally as fun. Mud.

The May ‘07 issue of Four Wheel and Off-Road magazine has a huge mud tire test. Brands ranging from Mickey Thompson to Pro Comp to Pit Bull are tested(no TSL?). There is a lot of good information to be found here, like, how the tires work in the mud might be the main focus but you also find out how they work in the rocks(duh! just kidding) and on the street, since not everyone trailers their vehicles.

There is a nice two page spread on an S-10 Blazer on steroids. Rockwells, Iroks and monster styling make this something I would be proud to have in my garage, if it would fit. An article on swapping your automatic for a manual, a continued look back at the history of Four Wheel and Off-Road, a story about soft-tops for your Blazer, a wheelin’ adventure across Costa Rica in a one-ton Super Duty and a photo spread on our boys in the armed forces getting some serious vehicles stuck.

I really think more mud is in order. Please?

www.4wheeloffroad.com

Gearhead #15

Some magazines seem to be put out to please the advertisers and to make money. Gearhead is not one of those magazines. Having been around for thirteen years, Gearhead has carved out its own unique niche in the hot rod magazine genre.

Issue #15's main feature is coverage of the Choppers Burbank car club’s trip to Japan. How cool is it to get your cars shipped to Japan for a car show? And to top it off you get to go with the king of cool himself Billy F. Gibbons! Verne Hammond tells the tales of being able to cruise through the city streets of Yokohama and the kick ass car show that followed. I am envious.

There is a very cool story on pinstriping legend Mr. J. Man has he done some cool cars in his lifetime. An interview with Pero Deluca of Mad Fabricators Society, the Soichiro Honda story(where did they find the photos of the Jackson Five on mini-bikes?) and to top it off, a way too small story on Sylvain Sylvain of the greatest band ever, the New York Dolls.

Gearhead just keeps getting better. The cd reviews are top notch, the articles are always good and the layout is easy on the eyes. Yes Mike, I GET IT.

www.gearheadmagazine.com

Street Chopper- March 2007

With the chopper craze of the early 00's came a slew of new builders. Most sucked but somebody had to cover every Tom, Dick and Harry that used the word chopper in it’s business name. So came quite a few new magazines, tv shows(God help us) and the like. But one magazine came along that had been there before, Street Chopper.

The March/2007 issue has a beautiful tribute shovel built in honor of the late Johnny Chop. Clean lines, rigid frame and simple paint would make Johnny proud. The most unique article is on the Underground World of Rat Bikes. Love ‘em or hate ‘em their numbers grow everyday. Kind of like a disease but better. The rat bike is an untamed beast. Utilitarian in nature, the rat bike stands out from a crowd with it’s total disregard for being hip. Crappy paint, rusty wheels, duct tape as a structural member, the rat bike apologizes to no one. The article by Mark Masker is entertaining but I’m not quite sure if he appreciates the rat bike or loathes it. He give different examples from the plain rough to the quite odd. Again I’m just sure if he loves them or hates them. I guess in the end it doesn’t matter to the rat biker because he doesn’t care.

There is some coverage of the new line of bikes from Big Bear. Can you call it a chopper if it’s bought from a company? I don’t know. There is a feature on Sean Kinney(of Alice In Chains) Sportster rigid. What was once dull went od green and came out all the better. It’s nice to see a ‘rock star’ shy away from the OCC-style crap.

www.streetchopperweb.com

Four Wheel and Off-Road Readers’ Rigs- Spring 2007

It goes to reason that if you read a certain type of magazine, be it car, bike, or otherwise you just might have one sitting in your driveway or garage. But since you’re not an automotive bigwig, racer, builder, etc. your probably not going to get in a magazine.

Well Four Wheel and Off-Road, like most magazines, have a readers rides section every month that features a small number of cool trucks. Of course they get way more submissions than they can possibly run so they decided to put out a magazine strictly featuring readers’ rides. And they named it Readers Rigs(they must have put a lot of thought into that).

The Spring 2007 debut is a nice start. You get a wide variety of rigs from mostly the western states(they say so in the Trail Mix section). All the big companies are well represented from Jeep to Chevy to Ford to Dodge and so on. The small tech sheet(too small!) gives details on what their running and why. I’d love more detail but space is limited. I also like that they give coverage of everything from trail trucks to show trucks to work trucks. Some are cool, some are boring but there is defiantly something for everybody.

www.4wheeloffroad.com

Traditional Rod and Kulture- Issue #9

Traditional Rod and Kulture just keeps getting better. Somehow they always seem to feature the cool cars that some of the bigger magazines overlook. It’s a good combination of traditional rods, beautiful customs and the occasional tech piece.

Issue #9 starts off with coverage of the 2007 San Francisco Rod, Custom and Motorcycle show. With some of the cars/bikes shown it looked like a can’t miss show. Next up is one of the finest traditional Deuces you will see anywhere. Jack Carroll’s five window coupe is masterfully done. Whitewalls, two-carbed flattie and finely executed chop add up to one killer hot rod. Oz Welch’s chopped Merc shows that taste and custom still can coexist. The Radir Wheels Party looked like a great time, even on a Wednesday. Straight axles and mags galore! Two front engine dragsters, a ‘55 Chevy gasser and another damn nice Deuce coupe round out Issue #9.

Traditional Rod and Kulture is a magazine that is gaining momentum. Oh yeah and the pin-ups are extremely hot. Really.

www.rodandkulture.com

The Rodder’s Journal #32

The 1932 Ford body style was built for only one year yet has touched the hearts of hot rodders around the globe. The Rodder’s Journal Issue #32(duh!) is dedicated to the Deuce. If it’s a ‘32 Ford hot rod, it’s probably covered in these pages.

All the greats are covered, Tom McMullen’s flamed roadster, Pete Henderson’s highboy horse racer, the Berardini Brothers 404, the Doyle Gammell coupe, the Tom Prufer coupe, the Dick Scritchfield roadster and many more.

And everything old is new again, with the introduction of the Brookville all a steel three-window coupe. Its faithful down to the last stamping. Now you don’t have to search the barns and garages of America to get your Deuce lust fulfilled. And you can top off that engine in your new Deuce coupe with the reproduction Stromberg. And these don’t leak!

There is a neat article on the Rolling Bones crew road trip to Bonneville. These guys have redefined the hot rod coupe. A nice nailhead powered Buick roadster! All Buicks all the time. A classic ‘60's influenced ‘58 Imapala., the car that doesn’t need much work to look like a full-on custom.

Twice the pages and twice fun.

www.roddersjournal.com