Now in its 63rd year the Grand National Roadster show, held January 27th through the 29th at the Fairplex in Pomona, California, is one of the biggest in the country. Over 500 cars and bikes were in the Fairplex buildings and Saturday and Sunday hosted another 400 to 800 cars and bikes outside for the 7th annual Grand Daddy Drive-In. We bounced around the different displays that also had cool cars like the bare metal Ford Talladega of Rad Rides by Troy and products like Painless wiring’s new all black rat rod wiring harness. Check out the link to see official results from the show: http://www.rodshows.com/media/press-releases/2012/2012-Grand-National-Roadster-Show-Results.pdf

This guy has a really cool approach to going fast: Leave the engine stock and hop up everything around it. His formula has delivered an 11.62 e.t. at 117 mph from an untouched LS1 in a '99 Camaro. How? Traction, gears, and weight reduction. It reminds us a lot of how Hot Rod used to test muscle cars back in the '60s. The dude is Steven Mashburn of Independence, Missouri, and this SS is his first street/strip car. He got it for $11,000 two and a half years ago, scoring the hard-to-find, one-year-only Hugger Orange paint. This stripper also had perks like manual windows, no T-tops, and a stick. Drag-wise, it's the perfect fourth-gen F-body. When he got it, all it took was Mickey Thompson sticky rubber to get it running 12.85 in the quarter, though a previous owner had installed an aftermarket airbox and a 12-bolt rear with 4.30 gears. It was impressive for a near-stocker but not quick enough, so Steven installed his only horsepower parts, beginning with headers from American Racing (AmericanRacing Headers.com) and 3-inch Dynatech exhaust (DynatechHeaders.com), eliminating the catalytic converters and placing the turndowns ahead of the axle. With a computer tune, Steven says that change made the car about 0.400 quicker in the quarter-mile. Another 0.400 was trimmed with an LS6 intake and another retune, pushing the rev limiter to 6,800 rpm and adding LS6 valvesprings to the stock cam and rockers. The engine makes 317 hp and 350 lb-ft at the wheels at Revline Motors in Kansas City, Missouri.

1980 HOT ROD Magazine Covers

With their standard Blue Flame six-bangers, the '53 to '55 Corvettes could never be called fast--not even remotely quick by today's standards--but that's not what made people love them. At a time when new cars were big and heavy, the Vette, and its Ford Thunderbird cousin, offered a smaller and sportier package that allowed the bucks-up new owner to score chicks at will. Even today, you'll get a lot more looks in an early Vette than you will a new one.

The Premise

Admit it, somewhere deep inside you're either a Smokey and the Bandit guy or a Dukes of Hazzard guy. A Trans Am lover or a Charger fan. You had a crush on either Daisy or Frog. OK, both. But when it comes down to it, you've got to choose sides. We forced people to do just that, putting up the top two pop icons of gearhead entertainment for the vote with readers worldwide. Big-screen action comedy with Burt Reynolds, or little-screen Duking it out Friday nights on CBS? Here's what you said. If you want more, check out HazzardNet.com for all things Dukes-related and FunTrivia.com for loads of trivia on both Dukes and Bandit.

Hot Rod Proven

Cruise-ins and car shows are just glorified parking lots. If you're ready for action and adventure, you might be thinking about trying a little drag racing. There are tracks everywhere, and drag opportunities are offered at many events, such as some Goodguys shows, nostalgia reunions, Holley's LS Fest, True Street competitions within the NMCA and NMRA sanctioning bodies, and even our own Power Tour®. Every track has bracket races, and virtually any car can race. You don't need to be competitive--you can just run at test-and-tune nights to get your personal best times for nothing but fun. Besides, muscle car bragging rights are anchored in quarter-mile times. Even if you spend most of your time at cruises and shows, you'll hold your head higher when you can put an actual number to your car's performance during bench sessions. If you're considering your first street-and-strip project, this issue of HRM is packed with stuff to think about, from the car features about real guys on real budgets to the tribulations of the participants of our annual Drag WeekÖ event. Check out those stories, but first, here are some basics to consider.

There's a time-proven formula for running 10s in a Chevelle: You build a fairly simple 496ci Rat motor. Done. Or you go even milder, then throw some nitrous on it. Easy. But some guys just won't roll that way--"bottles are for babies" and all that. Jake Stelter is that guy. He took the tough road, building a screaming, 8,500-rpm, 402ci, 730hp small-block. His car was all wrapped up for the first time in April 2011, then he subjected it to the flagellation of Drag Week" just five months later. And we love him for it. People say you can't build a let-it-all-hang-out motor and run 4.88 gears with a 6,900-rpm converter on the street. Well, meet Jake.

April Test - P element

1948 HOT ROD Magazine Covers

The Premise

1950 HOT ROD Magazine Covers

1960 HOT ROD Magazine Covers

Aura. We can't think of a better word to describe the sense of time we get when we stumble onto genuine old photos of guys at work in their dirt-floor shacks, home garages, and pro auto shops of the '50s--not so much the posed magazine lead photos, but the true grab-shots of reality in action. We can almost smell the gasket shellac, carb cleaner, and stick-welding smoke. The cosmoline, even. We can feel the quality of heavy, American-made tools in our hands. For our brand of nostalgia, it's as good as pouring over photos of hot rods, any day. Assuming you feel the same, here's a small collection of the best vintage garage scenes HOT ROD Deluxe has offered so far.

1970 HOT ROD Magazine Covers

1990 HOT ROD Magazine Covers

2000 HOT ROD Magazine Covers