Hot Rod

Editor-in-Chief @john.mcgann Never in a million years did I think I would be writing the opening column in HOT ROD when I first set foot in the lobby of the Petersen Building as an employee in 2003. Employee isn’t technically the correct term, either

Network Content Director @douglas.glad I am in the unique position that my failures are public and therefore have a little more weight than someone blowing it in the privacy of their own home. Ten years ago, we would detonate an engine or forget how

In the early 1960s, brothers Andy, Vince, and Joe Granatelli chose land-speed racing as the public proving ground for a new generation of Paxton superchargers. Their recent purchase of Paxton Products from the McCulloch Motor Co. brought with it a po

September 1999 (132 pages, $3.95): Fuel economy isn’t a subject that ever excited staff writers at cover-blurb meetings, except those arguing passionately against prioritizing mpg over old favorites like hp, mph, and e.t. A nationwide spike in gas pr

Jon Kaase is an engine builder of a different sort. He bucks convention on a daily basis, motivated only by results, innovation, and pushing the limits of internal combustion. He’s the sort of guy who will stick his finger in an intake port at 7,000

When it comes to NASCAR’s “aero warriors,” the Plymouth Superbird is more famous, but Tom Bailey isn’t a Mopar guy. Actually, he isn’t a Ford guy, either. Bailey’s most well-known for building Camaros. Fast ones, with streamlined composite bodies and

It takes a lot to raise our eyebrows at a first-generation Camaro. We’re not haters of the ponycar icon, we’re just a little burned out, OK? That makes this car all the more special. Because it’s not only a first-gen but a 1969 model—the most done, t

As Yandro Ulloa eases his Chrome Yellow 1998 SVT Cobra to the line, there’s a wicked cackle of burnt gases spitting from the fender-routed pipes. With the transmission in Second, he cracks the throttle, drops the clutch, and warms the tires with a qu

Who was the first to bat 1,000? 1,000 horsepower, we mean. Well, the Napier Cub 16-cylinder airplane engine was said to make 1,057 hp in 1920, and land-speed racers went 203.79 mph with the Sunbeam 1000 in 1927, although it made its 900+ ponies with

One of the greatest things about HOT ROD Drag Week™ is the way racers think up recipes to tackle the bipolar task of the hell week: to go fast as possible while maintaining a semblance of reliability. Drag Week™ challenges builders to find a way to h

Modern Ford enthusiasts will be happy to hear that old-school hot rodding tricks are not dead. Ford has done a fantastic job engineering the 5.0L Coyote engine, which currently makes 460 hp in the 2018 Mustang GT and as much as 480 hp in the Mustang

Check it out! This is a new department where we check in on our ongoing projects and some cool builds we hear about through friends in the industry. Let’s kick things off with a couple of Sketchpad builds that are coming to life and an oddball engine

Q: I will be buying a GM LS376 crate engine, but don’t want power steering. Can the serpentine accessory drive for the new LT-series engines—with electric power steering that has no need for a pump drive—be retrofitted to the LS engine? I’m assuming

LS-series serpentine-belt routing is determined by the balancer and its integral pulley grooves. The FEAD combinations and the listed part numbers discussed on these pages generally assume the use of Corvette-based FEAD systems. They’re the shortest

Concept ONE // 877.337.0688 C1pulleys.com Concept ONE now produces a complete pulley system (above) for the Chevy LT engine family. The LT Victory Series pulley system is simple and can be tailored for any custom application. The design of the Victor

Jacob Davis Network Editor@jacobrossdavis What happened to the days where people built cars with their brains instead of their wallets? I’m all for spending money if you have it, but spend your hard-earned cash in an intelligent manner. So many peopl

Roadkill @davidfreiburger How many cars do you need? The title says it all, where X is the number of cars you need and Y is the number you currently have. Of course, I’m pretty well known for having too many cars, and my count today is between 20 and