I purchased “Hot Rod: An American Original” when it first came out because I like cars and I had worked with the author during the 1990’s.  At the time he was doing custom chip layout (determining the exact placement all the bits of aluminum, poly silicon, and diffusion that make up a computer chip).  Layout is as much art as a technical pursuit, and the people doing it are often a mix of the two.  In his spare time Peter was traveling around photographing hot rods for magazine articles, and making a yearly quest to Speed Week at the Bonneville Salt Flats.  He always said we was doing technical work until he could make a living off photography.  So when I heard he had a book out, I figured he had reached that goal.

I will admit that at the time I was expecting a coffee table book with two page spreads and minor notes about each model.  What I found was more written history, particularly at the outset, so it foundered on my shelf with another 8 feet or so of unread books, waiting for the right state of mind.  Recently I found myself with a week of forced vacation and took the opportunity to complete the book.  In retrospect my first impression was way off the mark, as the text was only six to eight pages at the start of each of four chapters.  But it is not a read-in-bed kind of book, you want a comfy chair and good lighting.

I came away with several impressions.  First the people who build hot rods love to use 1930’s vehicles.  This has a lot to do with them being lighter and smaller than post-war examples.  Also, I was surprised by how many people mix and match bodies, engines, and transmissions.  Not just model years but sometimes even brands.  The only common thread is that the body is almost always the oldest  part in the car.  This is quite a break from my sports car world where god forbid there be a ’73 side mirror accompanying a’74 bumper.  There is a whole underworld of people handcrafting parts for these cars, running small shops in tiny towns.  Yet everyone seems to know everyone else.

The book is about half pre-war bodies and half post-war.  I lot of the pre-war cars are pictured at salt flats (for they are truly raced, against the clock).  These cars are customized, sometimes for speed, often to be unique.  None of them are chasing the “bling” factor you see on a lot of today’s auto shows.  Hot Rodding continues to be a uniquely American endeavor.  A mix of individual creativity and cooperation that we need to hold on to in todays turbulent world.