By: Phil Salvatti
Los Angeles has always been a hot spot in the heart of hot rodder’s and the hot rod writer’s community. With the many classic hot rod runs, weekly car shows at 50’s style restaurant hops through out the southland, the opportunities to mingle with other enthusiasts, get suggestions 
for improvements, talk shop for building and maintaining classic roadsters or write about their cars are endless.
For new hot rod enthusiasts just beginning to get their feet wet, where to begin exploring the wonderful world of hot rods and classic cars? One of the first important things to be aware of is the difference between classic roadsters and replicas. The hot rod writer’s community includes Blog’s and forums as a great way to get immediate questions answered by the backyard pros and the many magazines that have been around for years to completely fin in the gap.
What’s your goal? Classic roadsters are maintained from their original conditions, or rebuilt/repaired using original parts. As genuine classic parts may be difficult to obtain, these tend to be much more expensive to purchase as a finished product. The building process, for those who are interested in building or repairing their own classic hot rod roadster can also require a lot more money and effort to recreate the “real deal.”
A replica may still have some classic car parts, but is often rebuilt using what is available to look, sound, and run like a true classic. For all but collectors who are set on genuine classics, a replica can often be a better deal in the long run.
Benefits of Classic Car Replicas
● Easier to obtain parts for construction
● Much more cost effective in the building stage and long term
● Less worry about repairing and maintaining decades of wear
● Can be built to look exactly like the real thing!
Can customize options that don’t “belong” in the real thing; for example, if an enthusiast loves the model of Corvette released in one specific year, but the authentic models were only released in one color.
Enthusiasts and purists have differing opinions on whether classic roadsters should be lifelong projects, restored simply for show, or rebuilt to cruise through LA in style. Regardless of the end goal, the pursuit of a classic car is an adventure!
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Hot Rodding is subject to interpretation, That’s what makes it what it is=Great!
At present time there are many projects that are being built and finding their way onto the streets of Los Angeles, as well as around the world!. With out the efforts of magazine editors like R&C’s Bud Bryan in the late 60’s early 70’s The Street Is Neat phrased coined by The Likes of Tom (Stroker McGurk) Medley,Tex Smith and many others, this whole R&C world could have gone the way of the backyard go-kart.
Many cool cars were being built in the late 60’s,but too few garnered any real ink. Shops like Blair’s Speed Shop-Pasadena,CA. were selling Gasser Kits like gang busters and Gratiot Auto Supply in MI. sold speed equipment when young men were having to leave these shores to fight a war. It’s amazing that it all survived. Guys like Gene Scott sold what had become known as Obsolete Ford Parts as well as creating an after market that is now a billion dollar industry,mind you-not his shop alone,but his was one of them.
Many hair Pin Radius Rod Kits came out of PSI and many Bell Super Axles were sold as well as Mor-Drops. A whole lot of enging mounting kits were sold and many shock mounts.brackets to boot.
many Alumini graduated from the School Of Scott, And became leaders in the industry. Jim Ewing,Victor Leon=Original Super Bell Axle Co. Monrovia,CA. circa 1975, Vic went on to create Magnum Axle Co.
Eric Vaughn=Real Wheels Pasadena-Vaughn Machine Works-Monrovia,CA. Bill Vinther=Temple City/Prescott,AZ. Dick Scritchfield-Scritch’s Body Works=Glendale,CA. Bill Burke-San Gabriel, CA.
That’s just a few from the late 60’s early 70’s. Well american Grafitti hits the screens as does Happy Days TV series and a made for TV Movie called The California Kid.. Well that was just one after another cool deal and Hot Rodding,Nostalgia, 50’s Hot Rods and Drive In restaurants just were never the same.
That was a time that I feel defined me. I loved cars of all kinds,still do ;). I’m sure that many others were taken by this new lease on Hot Rod Life, but just as it begins to catch on Petersen Publishing pulls the plug on R&C right after a very cool year of issues. I treasure those issue for their content,as well as their ads. If you lived in So-Cal, these shops were right in your back yard. I rode my bike to many of them I wished that I could have that black 34 3W Coupe which I eventually built a version of.
I met many of these Hot Rod Heros, some dissapointed me others still impress me. Met many friends and continue to do so. The 80’s came around and all looked doom and gloom, we just experienced our 2nd gas crisis within 5 yrs. Performance was down in most production cars as was there style and Rod mags were pushing alternative fuels such as LPG and Diesel as well as water injection, V6’s and Turbo Charging for smaller cubes was all the rage and I went out and bought the best gas guzzler I could find to go to High Scholl and College in a 68 GTO Conv wit a stick.
By late 82 Things were seriously on the upswing, heck a Primered 32 Tudor was even put on the cover of Hot Rod mag (Now combined with Rod & Custom). The CA. Kid was back in Temple City and lots of dust was soon to stir in the Hot Rod World. Guys like Lil John Buttera created a cottage industry of Billet parts. Boyd Coddington jumped on the bandwagon and marketted the snot out of it,(Made enough money to leave the house that the Mouse Built).
Guys like Big Daddy Ed Roth could leave places like Knotts and Car of The Stars and go back into what made him tick. Guys like Norm Grabokski soon were back in the mags and even had the cottage indtustry rod companies donate parts.labor and whatnot to build him a Kookie II. Tommy Ivo’s T gets restored by Hot Rodder Ron Jones for a current owner and Ivo gets to relive these glory days of Hot Rod and Drag Racing.
By November of 88 Rod & Custom was back! 2 diverse tastes were on that cover in front of that rented barn and props. Flames on a deuce and Porche Indian Red paint was brushed on a 28-9 tub.
Less is more is what became “in” on the pages of all of the mags and soon many cars built with whatever one could find was what and is still being seen to this day.
Guys like Foose,Taylor,Erickson and others penned what the Grand National Roadster Show and The Detroit Auto Rama judges wanted to see as a show stopping rod. They created “New” History and even though many of the shops that I valued reading about with their ads in those early mags are going away or have gone I have learned a great deal and value that knowledge daily.
Words of hot rod wisdom, there Kevin. Brilliant.