Great American Hot Rods: A Full Throttle Chronicle of Custom Cars from the Street, Show, and Strip

Great American Hot Rods chronicles over 360 amazing cars from the streets, shows, and strips of America. The strict criterion of featuring only pre-1949 cars is observed, but beyond that, anything goes! The author identifies and codifies the four main categories of rod that cruise our streets today. “Hardcore” rods are the purist form of the genre, and set out to recreate the original days of low-budget builds, using junkyard parts, and are resplendent with prime and rust. “Traditional” rods adhere to the styles of yesteryear, but utilize modern parts. “Performance” rods are built using race-inspired components to be the quickest machines around. “Street” rods are built with the best and most modern parts available, and are designed for drivability and comfort, capable of being drive long distances to shows. By contracts, for “Show” rods, practicality takes a back seat to the “Wow!” factor. These pampered cars are even trailered to events to keep them in prime condition. 

As you can see, the world of the rod is a very broad church, where “hardcore” and “show” cars are the complete antithesis of one another. 

Great American Hot Rods is a tribute to the ingenuity of both amateur and professional automotive engineers over the last fifty years. Some of these cars have been rebuilt several times, while others are spookily original, their doors autographed by their famous drivers. Some of these rods are stars in their own right, having appeared in movies such as American Graffiti, or on TV, such as Ed “Cookie” Byrnes’s car in 77 Sunset Strip. Big Daddy (AKA Ed Roth)’s landmark car is also featured. 

All of the featured cars are genuine, living pieces of Americana, and represent a fascinating and worthy part of our fabulous automotive heritage. 

Keith Harman is a seasoned automotive journalist and event photographer specializing in hot rods, classic American cars, and custom culture. He is a regular contributor to Classic American and Custom Car magazines and writes features on cars from all over the USA. Keith also commentates at National Street Rod Association nostalgia drag-racing events. He runs a steel-bodied ’27 Ford Model ’T’ Sedan hot rod. 

Chuck Vranas is an automotive photographer and journalist, and self-confessed hot rod fanatic. Born in 1959 in Boston, Massachusetts, Chuck has been captivated by hot rods since his childhood. Inspired by Norm Grabowski’s “Kookie T-bucket,” thanks to the classic old Life Magazine cover picture, his lifelong dream finally came true in 1995, with the debut of Lady Luck II, his light lavender pearl ’23 Ford T-bucket roadster. Two years in the design and making, it has been shown at major rod events from coast to coast, was featured in the Bruce Meyer Gallery at the Petersen Automotive Museum, and also appeared at the Institute of Contemporary Art in Boston within the Customized Exhibition of “Kustom Culture Art.”

A graduate of Northeastern University, Chuck began covering automotive events 10 years ago for some of the major national and international rodding press, and his Milestones, Features, Shop Tours, Tech Articles, and Event Coverage articles can be read in Street Rodder, Custom Rodder, Custom Car, Mag-Neto and Rolls & Pleats on a regular basis.