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HOT ROD GARAGES
My thoughts; While “Hot Rod Garages” is not exactly a book on drag racing, it is on the subject from which drag racing was born. Hot rodding has been around as long as the automobile and this book highlights the shops and abilities of some of the very best in the field. It is an enjoyable read with some super photographic work by the author. While personally, I would like to have seen a little more in-depth text on the builders featured in the book, it is still a very good book and I would highly recommend it to anyone interested in hot rodding in it’s most detailed form. One of the best sections of the book focuses on a true “legend” in the world of drag racing, Pat Foster. You will see here a few shots by the author of “Patty” in his natural habitat, his garage. While Pat is no longer with us, his legend will live on and be talked about anytime a few “gearheads’ discuss the subject; I am including a few passages from the chapter on Pat, but the other builders featured, which includes pat’s son, Cole are equally interesting and well done.
Peter Vincent wrote, Pat told me a story about when he was testing one of the first rear-engine dragsters. He made a couple of passes and said it felt good, so he put his foot fully into it on the next pass, only to leave the ground at some 240 miles per hour and hit a power pole alongside the strip, breaking the car in half (see sidebar). “Big Daddy” Don Garlits, who was just starting to run with the same configuration, called Pat in the hospital. Pat told him to run a wing to keep the thing on the ground. Garlits took the advice, stayed on the ground, and had a successful campaign.
We had built the car with as much static weight on the rear wheels as possible and chose to not run any wing or wings until it became apparent it needed them. We prepped her for an all-out attempt (after Woody, Leland, and I deemed the handling would be sound, of course). Well, long story short, she handled like a dream, on a string, moving HARD the first half, and she settled in for a run to the eyes. About 50 feet before the first light, that bitch went straight up (first blowover?), got up on a short single wheelie wheel, launched HARD right (left tire caught the pavement first), and cleared the right-side guardrail by 5 feet! Problem was, there was a light pole just outside the guardrail. I impacted the pole at 220 something, and it tore the car off at the rear of the cage and sent Leland’s engine out through the parking lot full of spectator cars and clear onto Willow Street! Oh yeah, I was still at the bottom of the light pole; those sudden stops are hell!
So as you can see, I feel this is a book for the library of anyone who is drawn to the power and beauty of the Hot Rod. Order your today and after you finish it, drop me an e-mail at 1320history@charter.net and tell me your opinion George Crittenden About Peter Vincent
Peter Vincent’s
work has been featured in more than 20 galleries around the
You’ve seen the hot rods and custom rides,
even looked into the hot rodding lifestyle, but what about where it all
starts—in the garages humble or grand where countless hours of machining and
wrenching, welding and shaping, elbow grease and inspiration bring a hot
rodder’s vision to life. In this book, acclaimed hot rod photographer Peter
Vincent takes readers into the shops and garages of more than two dozen rod
and custom builders across the
For the hot rod builder, a working environment takes on a whole new meaning; and here, in fascinating pictures and words, readers learn how shops and garages inform and reflect each custom creation. The book offers an intimate look into the garages of legends like Pete Eastwood and shop such as Rolling Bones; celebrated builders-for-hire like Vern Tardel, and Cole Foster; and top-of-the-line shops such as Brizio Street Rods and Steve Moal’s operation. The result is the next best thing to being there—a book that vividly summons the nature of these spaces and the cars they produce.
Publication Date: the book is scheduled to hit shelves on May 2, 2009 ISBN: 978-0-7603-2696-1 Price: $40 US Trim: 9.25 x 10.875 Page Count: 224 Images: 125 color / 100 b&w photos
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