It says it all right there under the logo doesn’t it: “Everybody’s Automotive Magazine”.
Looking at this cover from the June 1960 edition of Hot Rod, I believe it. Comet vs. Rambler. Chevys for Indy. VW hop up kits. It’s all in there. Muscle. Racing. Imports.
I suppose on the whole, I appreciate that specific tastes can be catered to in today’s media landscape. But it makes me wonder if automotive enthusiasm has become too compartmentalized… Too isolated.
It’s all too rare a car event where all comers are appreciated as part of a unified whole: lowriders and rat rodders; supercar polishers and vintage chrome collectors; drag racers and import tuners.
When I see this old issue of Hot Rod, part of me is immediately caught up in the frame these fellows are dropping this powerplant into: Marveling that this is all just happening in the back lot and somehow looks as clean as a sterile workshop. But when I see the other feature callouts, it reminds me to step back from the details and the minutia and look at the big picture of people—all kinds of people—just messing about with their cars.
Not a bad way to spend 35￠, eh?
0 replies on “Everybody’s Automotive Magazine”
Hot Rod gave me most of my insight into engine swapping and the Street Rod scene when I was a little kid growing up in the fifties.
A part of my allowance used to go to buy a copy every month, along with Rod and Custom, Speed Age, Popular Hot Rodding and many others.
Most of those original magazines are still with me and in great shape although collecting dust but always there for a trip back in time.
What muscle? – Comet was only available with the 144 six in 1960, and “Rambler” implied another economy-oriented 6 (the only AMC with a V8 that year was the Ambassador, generally referred to as such rather than as a Rambler).
This actually reinforces your point- could you imagine 2012 Hot Rod comparing a Ford Focus SFE with a Chavy Cruze Eco? Or any mag that would, discussing racing parts in the same issue?