Hot Rod

New year, new you, or so the expression goes. Though, I’m typically not one for major introspection at the turn of the new year, but this year does warrant some looking back. This past year was one of many milestones for us here at HOT ROD. Most obvious and most controversial was our switch to a quarterly print production schedule. The dust is yet to settle on that decision, in my opinion. I’d still prefer a monthly magazine, but I do very much appreciate our new look, format, and increased page count. Simply put, the magazine looks and feels better, and that’s a good thing. HOT ROD Power Tour 2024 saw the biggest attendance in the event’s 30-year history. More than 6,000 cars joined out tour of the Midwest last June.…

There’s a lot of existential power in “just because”—the reflexive reply to an impulsive act that seeks neither validation nor approval. When we’re children, “just because” is the answer to why we pushed your little sister to the ground or poured maple syrup down the heating vents. No guilt. No contrition. No second thoughts. “Why’d you do it?” “Just because.” Whether through confidence or plain old thickheadedness, “just because” carries through to adulthood, and believe us, there’s not a second thought in Tony Netzel’s head about his choice of a 1961 Plymouth Belvedere as the foundation for twin-turbocharged Pro Street supremacy. He plucked it from a wrecking yard in North Dakota way back in 1994. He’d gone there from his home in Duluth, Minnesota, to buy another Mopar, but that car didn’t have…

New year, new you, or so the expression goes. Though, I’m typically not one for major introspection at the turn of the new year, but this year does warrant some looking back. This past year was one of many milestones for us here at HOT ROD. Most obvious and most controversial was our switch to a quarterly print production schedule. The dust is yet to settle on that decision, in my opinion. I’d still prefer a monthly magazine, but I do very much appreciate our new look, format, and increased page count. Simply put, the magazine looks and feels better, and that’s a good thing. HOT ROD Power Tour 2024 saw the biggest attendance in the event’s 30-year history. More than 6,000 cars joined out tour of the Midwest last…

There’s a lot of existential power in “just because”—the reflexive reply to an impulsive act that seeks neither validation nor approval. When we’re children, “just because” is the answer to why we pushed your little sister to the ground or poured maple syrup down the heating vents. No guilt. No contrition. No second thoughts. “Why’d you do it?” “Just because.” Whether through confidence or plain old thickheadedness, “just because” carries through to adulthood, and believe us, there’s not a second thought in Tony Netzel’s head about his choice of a 1961 Plymouth Belvedere as the foundation for twin-turbocharged Pro Street supremacy. He plucked it from a wrecking yard in North Dakota way back in 1994. He’d gone there from his home in Duluth, Minnesota, to buy another Mopar, but that…

On today’s hot-rodding landscape, station wagons are not just accepted but embraced as a fun alternative to a standard coupe or sedan. Not too long ago, though, most longroof cars were relegated to being parts donors for their more desirable two-door counterparts. Wagons were designed to be used hard and put away wet, which generally meant being picked apart in a junkyard before a final trip to the crusher at the end of their lives. There are a few exceptions to the rule, namely the sporty two-door wagons of the Tri-Five era that rolled out of the Chevrolet and Pontiac divisions of GM. Those wagons, the Chevy Nomad and the Pontiac Safari, are set apart by their sporty two-door design, with a touch of extra bling. At the time, their expensive…

Dennis Taylor has built and painted hundreds of high-end custom cars and trucks in shimmering coats of metallics and pearls in his time, but it’s his latest creation, a vehicle with nearly three-quarters of a century of weathered patina, that the Arkansas automotive maestro stands back and marvels at most. The project in question, a 1953 GMC “COE” (cab over engine) truck, is a visual masterpiece of creativity and the result of seven years of on-again, off-again effort and problem-solving. These COE trucks, very utilitarian vessels of the era, came in a range of configurations and wheelbases for everything from fuel and car hauling to farming, delivery, and wrecker duty. Dennis always wanted to build a COE, and when he saw one come available on eBay years ago, he didn’t imagine…