HOT ROD Mavericks
The Builders, Racers, and Rebels Who Revolutionized Hot Rodding
Published on 27. March 2025
Book
Hardback
192 pages
978-0-7603-8734-4 (ISBN)
Description
Produced in cooperation with HOT ROD magazine, HOT ROD Mavericks takes you on a rollicking look back on more than a century of trailblazers, risk-takers, hell-raisers, and forward-thinkers.
No aspect of automobile culture embodies the DIY spirit like hot rodding. From prewar pressed steel and milled four-bangers to modern machined billet and 800-hp behemoths, the story of hot rodding has been the story of can-do iconoclasts who did for themselves what Detroit wouldn't do for them. Longtime hot rod and custom car historian Tony Thacker crafts an illustrated history that leaves no camshaft unturned.
Just some of the 50-plus movers and shakers profiled are:
Pioneers of the speed equipment industry like Barney Navarro, Ed "Isky" Iskendarian, and Vic Edelbrock
Postwar racers and builders Alex Xydias, Mickey Thompson, and Ak Miller
Quarter-mile dragstrip heroes such as "TV" Tommy Ivo, "Big Daddy" Don Garlits, and Shirley "Cha-Cha" Muldowney
Kustom kulture icons Dean Jeffries, Ed "Big Daddy" Roth, Von Dutch, Sam and George Barris, and Gene Winfield
Thacker also includes latter-day innovators who kept hot rodding a going concern, like Pete & Jake, Boyd Coddington, and Chip Foose. HOT ROD Mavericks is accompanied by exceptional images sourced from Motor Trend Group's archives at The Petersen Automotive Museum.
Celebrate the rebels who revolutionized hot rodding with this authoritative and visually engaging history.
No aspect of automobile culture embodies the DIY spirit like hot rodding. From prewar pressed steel and milled four-bangers to modern machined billet and 800-hp behemoths, the story of hot rodding has been the story of can-do iconoclasts who did for themselves what Detroit wouldn't do for them. Longtime hot rod and custom car historian Tony Thacker crafts an illustrated history that leaves no camshaft unturned.
Just some of the 50-plus movers and shakers profiled are:
Pioneers of the speed equipment industry like Barney Navarro, Ed "Isky" Iskendarian, and Vic Edelbrock
Postwar racers and builders Alex Xydias, Mickey Thompson, and Ak Miller
Quarter-mile dragstrip heroes such as "TV" Tommy Ivo, "Big Daddy" Don Garlits, and Shirley "Cha-Cha" Muldowney
Kustom kulture icons Dean Jeffries, Ed "Big Daddy" Roth, Von Dutch, Sam and George Barris, and Gene Winfield
Thacker also includes latter-day innovators who kept hot rodding a going concern, like Pete & Jake, Boyd Coddington, and Chip Foose. HOT ROD Mavericks is accompanied by exceptional images sourced from Motor Trend Group's archives at The Petersen Automotive Museum.
Celebrate the rebels who revolutionized hot rodding with this authoritative and visually engaging history.
Reviews / Votes
"It is not often that one manages to come across a book that is a genuine pleasure. Tony Thacker manages to provide just such a book with Hot Rod Mavericks: The Builders, Racers, and Rebels Who Revolutionized Hot Rodding. Highly recommended." * Speedreaders.info *More details
Language
English
Place of publication
United States
Publishing group
Quarto Publishing Group USA Inc
Illustrations
color photos
Dimensions
Height: 284 mm
Width: 242 mm
Thickness: 21 mm
Weight
1180 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-7603-8734-4 (9780760387344)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
E-Book
03/2025
Motorbooks
€38.99
Available for download
Person
Tony Thacker is the former executive director of the Wally Parks National Hot Rod Association Museum and the author and co-author of several previous books on hot rods and customs, including Hot Rods by Ed "Big Daddy" Roth and SO-CAL Speed Shop. He lives in Southern California.
Content
THE PIONEERS
Without Whom There Would Be No Hot Rods
Henry Ford: Win on Sunday
Barney Oldfield: The Driver
Ed Winfield: The Tuner
Eddie Meyer: Family Affair
Frank Kurtis: Indy Legend
Veda Orr: The First Woman of Hot-Rodding
SCTA Letter of Veda Orr
Early Speed Shops: Bell Auto Parts, Lee Chapel, Jim Harrell, and Karl Orr
Wally Parks: The Organizer
Vic Edelbrock: Industry Leader
Hot Rod vs. Horse
POSTWAR BOOM
The Dry Lakes and the Founding of an Industry
Don Blair: The Longest-Lived Speed Shop
Bill Burke: Father of the Belly Tank Racer
Bonneville: The Great White Dyno
Alex Xydias: World's Fastest Hot Rod
Stu Hilborn: Fuel-Injection Pioneer
Barney Navarro: Pushing the Flathead's Limits
Robert E. Petersen: Mr. HOT ROD
Ed "Isky" Iskenderian: The Camfather
Kong Jackson: The Distributor
The Birth of Drags
HEYDAY
The Rise of Drag Racing and Kustom Kulture
C.J. "Pappy" Hart: The Father of Drag Racing
Robert "Jocko" Johnson: Streamlined Baby
Mickey Thompson: First to 400
Joaquin Arnett: The Bean Bandits
The Chrismans: First Family of Hot-Rodders
Ak Miller: Bonneville to Mille Miglia
Max Balchowsky: Junkyard Dog
Sam & George Barris: Kustom Industries
Gene Winfield: The Kid from Modesto
Dean Jeffries: The Kid Striper
Ed "Big Daddy" Roth: The Crazy Painter
Von Dutch: The Inventor of Modern Striping
Grabowski and Ivo: Anyone for T?
HOT RODS GO MAINSTREAM
Speed and Style
Carroll Shelby: King Cobra
Phil Remington: Mr. Fix-It
Brock on Remington
Art Arfons & Craig Breedlove: The Fast Set
Zora Arkus-Duntov: The Father of the 'Vette
Bruce Meyers: The Little Manx
Roland Leong: The Hawaiian
The Engine Builders: Keith Black, Ed Donovan, and Ed Pink
E.J. Potter: The Michigan Madman
Paula Murphy: First Over 200
Shirley Muldowney: Heart Like a Wheel
Bob Muravez: a.k.a. Floyd Lippencotte, Jr
Tony Nancy: The Loner
Larry Shinoda: Rods, Vettes, and 'Stangs
Don Garlits: Big Daddy
Jim Nelson & Dode Martin: The Dragmasters
MODERN RODDING
Everything Old Is New Again
Jim "Jake" Jacobs: Car Crazy
Pete Chapouris: The California Kid
Lil' John Buttera: Craftsman and Innovator
Boyd Coddington: If You Can Dream It
Chip Foose: Son of Sam
The Artists: Larry Erickson, Thom Taylor, and Steve Stanford
Al Teague: Mr. 400
John Force: 17-Time Champion
Mel Stultz: The Race of Gentlemen
Jessi Combs: World Changer
Acknowledgments
Image Credits
Index
Without Whom There Would Be No Hot Rods
Henry Ford: Win on Sunday
Barney Oldfield: The Driver
Ed Winfield: The Tuner
Eddie Meyer: Family Affair
Frank Kurtis: Indy Legend
Veda Orr: The First Woman of Hot-Rodding
SCTA Letter of Veda Orr
Early Speed Shops: Bell Auto Parts, Lee Chapel, Jim Harrell, and Karl Orr
Wally Parks: The Organizer
Vic Edelbrock: Industry Leader
Hot Rod vs. Horse
POSTWAR BOOM
The Dry Lakes and the Founding of an Industry
Don Blair: The Longest-Lived Speed Shop
Bill Burke: Father of the Belly Tank Racer
Bonneville: The Great White Dyno
Alex Xydias: World's Fastest Hot Rod
Stu Hilborn: Fuel-Injection Pioneer
Barney Navarro: Pushing the Flathead's Limits
Robert E. Petersen: Mr. HOT ROD
Ed "Isky" Iskenderian: The Camfather
Kong Jackson: The Distributor
The Birth of Drags
HEYDAY
The Rise of Drag Racing and Kustom Kulture
C.J. "Pappy" Hart: The Father of Drag Racing
Robert "Jocko" Johnson: Streamlined Baby
Mickey Thompson: First to 400
Joaquin Arnett: The Bean Bandits
The Chrismans: First Family of Hot-Rodders
Ak Miller: Bonneville to Mille Miglia
Max Balchowsky: Junkyard Dog
Sam & George Barris: Kustom Industries
Gene Winfield: The Kid from Modesto
Dean Jeffries: The Kid Striper
Ed "Big Daddy" Roth: The Crazy Painter
Von Dutch: The Inventor of Modern Striping
Grabowski and Ivo: Anyone for T?
HOT RODS GO MAINSTREAM
Speed and Style
Carroll Shelby: King Cobra
Phil Remington: Mr. Fix-It
Brock on Remington
Art Arfons & Craig Breedlove: The Fast Set
Zora Arkus-Duntov: The Father of the 'Vette
Bruce Meyers: The Little Manx
Roland Leong: The Hawaiian
The Engine Builders: Keith Black, Ed Donovan, and Ed Pink
E.J. Potter: The Michigan Madman
Paula Murphy: First Over 200
Shirley Muldowney: Heart Like a Wheel
Bob Muravez: a.k.a. Floyd Lippencotte, Jr
Tony Nancy: The Loner
Larry Shinoda: Rods, Vettes, and 'Stangs
Don Garlits: Big Daddy
Jim Nelson & Dode Martin: The Dragmasters
MODERN RODDING
Everything Old Is New Again
Jim "Jake" Jacobs: Car Crazy
Pete Chapouris: The California Kid
Lil' John Buttera: Craftsman and Innovator
Boyd Coddington: If You Can Dream It
Chip Foose: Son of Sam
The Artists: Larry Erickson, Thom Taylor, and Steve Stanford
Al Teague: Mr. 400
John Force: 17-Time Champion
Mel Stultz: The Race of Gentlemen
Jessi Combs: World Changer
Acknowledgments
Image Credits
Index