Category Archives: Hot Rod Magazine

Lightning Bug – EMPI Icon Comes Home

As Chris Ashworth was showing us around Romance With Rust–his Orange, California, fabrication shop–we scarcely noticed the blue VW Bug rolling chassis that was sitting right in the middle of the shop. We don’t have anything against VW Bugs, but his other projects commanded more of our attention. Just as we were wrapping up our visit, Chris asked us if we’d be interested in the VW. It was, after all, the Lightning Bug–the first all-motor VW to break into the 10s. That got our attention.

Lightning Bug - EMPI Icon Comes Home

After acid-dipping the car to reveal bodywork hastily repaired after several meetings with the wall, Chris Ashworth got the metal back into shape before it was sprayed bright metallic blue like its 1972 livery.Campaigned by the Schley Bros., the Lightning Bug made its first 10-second pass on October 6, 1972, almost 29 years to the day before we visited Ashworth’s shop. Shortly after, the car was sold to Diego Forbes in Puerto Rico, who painted it yellow and raced it as El Guineo. The Schley Bros. bought the Bug from Diego in 2010 with the goal of restoring it to its 1972 glory. When the car is finished, it will visit the Bug-In in England and tour Europe before being enshrined in the NHRA museum. See more at Hot Rod Magazine.

What Are Classic Car Magazines?

Hot Rod Power Tour

There are many magazines where you can find all the information about classic cars you are looking for. The only thing you need to do is to pick one. These publications offer you details about vintage car restorations and the newest cars available on the market.

One of the oldest American magazines is Hot Rod. This publication talks about hot rodding and it is published since 1948. The founder of this magazine was Robert E. Petersen, but today Hot Rod Magazine is published by Ron Burkle, who bought it in 2007.

The magazine organizes the “Hot Rod Power Tour” every year since 1995. More and more people have started to participate at this event each year. In time the show has become one of the most expected automotive events and in late May or early June, for six to eight days,  people can see the most amazing hot rods.

Automobile Quarterly Magazine is owned since 1962 by the company with the same name and is one of the American classic car magazines. The publication is known for its racing excitement, concept cars or modern collectibles described in its pages. This magazine can be considered the most complete encyclopedia of automobiles, because it uses both original full-color pictures and rare black and white photos. The articles published in this magazine provide you information about famous people in automotive history, competitive cars and races or about automotive art and collectibles.

Another classic car magazine is Car Craft, which is devoted to auto racing and cars. It was published for the first time in 1953 and the motto of the magazine is “Loud, Fast, Real”. The motto describes very well the orientation of the staff towards automobile building, the publication being considerate a “car guy’s” magazine. Often, Car Craft presents cars that can be named ugly, rusty or sometimes illegal.

Hemmings Motor News fits in the category of classic car magazines, appears monthly and offers information to classic and exotic sports car collectors. It’s the oldest publication of its domain. The first number of this magazine was issued in 1954. The magazine contains almost 80 pages filled with editorial content about collector car shows, classic cars, historic racing cars, sports cars and many other types of automobiles.