Wednesday, March 17, 2010

Raiding Dad's Stash

Ugggghhh...I wanted to have a nice big post for y'all, but honestly, I'm currently knocked on my ass with one of the worst mega-colds I've ever had. I went through 3 rolls of toilet paper blowing my nose today, and there's no sign of letting up. I've got each nostril plugged with toilet paper as I type this. Charming. Blaggghhh, I hope I can make it to the Andre Williams book reading and show in Detroit on Saturday! Anyway, needless to say, this update has less research, a little less rambling, but my head hurts so bad I couldn't even work on artwork I NEED to get done, today, so fuck it.

In today's post, I bring you some old "Rodding and Re-styling" magazines. These all belonged to my dad when he was a teenager in the early 60s(he turns 65 this week). When he went into the army in '63, they became my uncle Christopher's. When Christopher got killed in Vietnam in '68, they got stored and forgotten about in a closet at my grandmas house(talk about hoarding awesomeness...I still cringe when I think of the things that got shoveled into a dumpster by my folks when she died!). These were unearthed when my grandma died, and given to me. I still love flipping through these things as much as I did when I was 11. There's probably 50 in all. Here's a few favorites...


This killer '34 Ford roadster was built by owner Don Vargo, and the famous Alexander Brothers of Detroit. The Alexander Bros. also built the '32 Ford on the cover of the Beach Boys "Little Deuce Coupe" LP.



This is the most famous car in the bunch...Ed Roth's Beatnik Bandit. Maybe the coolest show car in history. The Beatnik Bandit survives to this day...you can see it at the National Automobile Museum in Reno, Nevada. Look out for more on Ed Roth, and the underground monster hot rod culture he created, in future updates.



This '56 Oldsmobile was, according to the article, built by a 21 year old for $3500...That wouldn't cover the upholstery today.



That red Henry J is UUUUGGGGLLLLLYYYYY! But it was built for only $200!



...I have no idea why this totally bad ass '34 Ford truck wasn't on the cover instead.



I had a blown up version of this cover on my bedroom wall when I was a kid.



This was a '56 Corvette. I kinda like it...but I think given the choice, I might take a stock '56 Corvette instead.



Those Harley fenders look as strange on this '32 Ford Coupe as the googie print upholstered wheel cover does on the '32 Ford roadster.



Speaking of being sick, this '39 Bantam dragster is pretty SICK!....



...But not as sick as this hemi-powered Ford!(and neither is as sick as how I feel!)



Here's more...To cool!



I'll post more car magazines, both more from my dad's 60's stash, and some I've bought over the years, in the future. But now it's time for some cold medicine and bed.

1 comment:

  1. Sweet! I love the old magazines. I have a huge stash of Car & Driver magazines from the 50's all the way to the 70's. I scored a Craigslist post for auto magazines and out of the 300 or so we had to take, about 50 of them were the super old ones. I re-free'd the awful 80's & 90's mags. I love that these have been in your family, too cool. I hope you get to feelin' better, you could always say hello to my little friend....Nyquil and just pass out for a while!

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