Book Review: Hot Rod Mavericks – HOT ROD HEARTS

Book Review: Hot Rod Mavericks

HOT ROD HEARTS

This coming August we’ll commemorate the end of World War II. And while it may pale in historical comparison with VJ Day, the division of Europe or – within that same decade – the Marshall Plan, the days and months immediately following the end of World War II also saw the rebirth of the American hot rod. Its ascendance before World War II and revitalization in the postwar period are ably chronicled in HOT ROD MAVERICKS, some 200 pages of people and their automotive passions compiled by author Tony Thacker. 

As you’d glean from the book’s title, Thacker’s focus is on both the men and the machinery. And as you’ll know if you’ve ever strolled through a Cars and Coffee, the cars are great (and typically far better than the coffee), but the men and women connected to those cars are the better story. Thacker covers too many personalities in these 192 pages for there to be any true in-depth biographies, but the wide-ranging subject matter is a great overview for someone reading Road & Track in the ‘60s and ‘70s, and only now wishing I’d picked up the occasional Hot Rod.

And speaking of…HOT ROD MAVERICKS is produced in cooperation with Hot Rod magazine, which gives it not only content, but also provides an in-the-day experience often missing from historical retrospectives. To be sure, the first pages of the book, chronicling the early days of rodding, can’t rely on Hot Rod; the magazine, co-founded by Robert Petersen, didn’t begin publishing until the late ‘40s. And notably, the book starts with a brief bio of Henry Ford, whose automotive biography began while tinkering in a small shop behind his home; Henry was well known for his racing successes long before the Model T. And his oh-so-accessible Model T became the backbone of the prewar rodding movement.

For those of you prone to dropping names, no one does it quite like Mr. Thacker. As the subtitle suggests, HOT ROD MAVERICKS is a compendium of the industry, devoted to the ‘builders, racers and rebels who revolutionized hot rodding’. Even the casual enthusiast will recognize the bigger names, which include – among the ‘pioneers’ – Frank Kurtis, Wally Parks and Vic Edelbrock. In the postwar boom, where the work took place in small industrial strips and its validation was achieved on California’s dry lakes, Alex Xydias, Stu Hilborn and Ed Iskenderian are immediately (or maybe eventually…) recognizable, while Bill Burke, Barney Navarro and Kong Jackson are less well known, but no less compelling.

Tony Thacker’s rolodex is certainly diverse. Following Henry Ford is Ford’s 999 pilot, Barney Oldfield. Brothers Sam and George Barris are profiled immediately after builder/racer Max Balchowsky. And Max would have certainly been one of the inspirations behind Carroll Shelby’s Cobra, and a contemporary of Zora Arkus-Duntov. The breadth of hot rodding is evident when Bruce Meyers garners a profile, along with Roland Leong and Tony Nancy. 

It’s the breadth that keeps the rods rolling well into the sport’s second century. Nothing speaks to that better than the Grand National Roadster Show, held annually at the Fairplex in Pomona, CA. With all the angst that comes with the reporting on the decline of new car shows throughout the country, know that this annual celebration of the hot rod continues to grow – and inspire – in its 75^th year. While the front pages and business pages discuss the whys of AI, people young and old continue to pursue their passion with welders, grinders and paint booths, rolling onto highways and byways just to get their emotional motors running.

At a time when the benefits of a 4-year degree have become suspect, and our country needs more people capable of doing things with their hands, HOT ROD MAVERICKS could serve as a guide for the guy or gal with an interest in automobiles, but not quite sure where to direct that interest. It details a fascinating history, and might very well provide a directory to an inspired future. 

HOT ROD MAVERICKS is published by Motorbooks, an imprint of Quarto. Its 192 pages will cost you $40 in the U.S., $53 in Canada. That’s before, of course, the tariffs…