Hot Rod Kings: Top Traditional Rod and Custom Builders

Here are the hot rodders we'll worship tomorrow. Kevin Thomson and David Perry venture into the shops of all-steel apostles Cole Foster, Gary Howard, Keith Tardel, the Kennedy Brothers, Jimmy White, Mike Smith, Rudy Rodriguez, Scott Mugford, and Mercury Charlie and offer profiles of todays top hot rod and custom builders.

Hot rodders themselves, Thomson and Perry get to the heart of what makes todays hot rodders go, how they think, who they are, and what makes them builders worth watching.

Born in Binghamton, New York, and raised on eastern Long Island, Kevin Thomson migrated to Austin, Texas, to attend the University of Texas theater program. Punk rock and skateboard culture rendered university irrelevant and Mr. Thomson embarked on a zigzagging musical career. To date he has released seven LPs, two EPs, and several singles under the monikers Nice Strong Arm, Timco, Morning Champ, Touched By A Janitor, and most recently, Enablers.David Perry has been burning film since he was 10 years old. Born in Denver, Colorado, and raised in Southern California, he studied photography at Art Center College of Design. A professional photographer since 1986, Mr. Perry has had his work published, collected, and exhibited across the United States and, indeed, worldwide. Current and past examples can be seen at www.davidperrystudio.com. His commercial clients include Corvette, Toyota, Polaris, Apple Computer, and the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority. Mr. Perry\u2019s other books include Hot Rod (Chronicle Books, 1997) and Bordertown (Chronicle Books, 1998), both with writer Barry Gifford, as well as Hot Rod Pin-ups (Motorbooks, 2005) and Billy F Gibbons, Rock + Roll Gearhead (MBI, 2005), the latter with Mr. Gibbons and Tom \u201cTV\u201d Vickers. Mr. Perry currently resides in Vallejo, California, and has one son, August. In 1999 he helped resurrect the Swanx car club (est. 1956).Billy F. Gibbons, co-founder and lead guitarist of ZZ Top, is also a renowned guitar aficionado and collector.