DAKOTAMOTORSPORTS

Some days you may not feel like getting out in the garage and working on your latest project, but you still want to stay connected to your favorite pastime. Why not check out some of these books where you might just pick up a tidbit or two that may come in handy when you’re next bench racing with your buds!Art of the Hot Rod (Ken Gross, Peter Harholdt) is a gallery of the best of American hot rods. Profiling top builders and featuring studio portraits of their most outstanding custom creations, this book celebrates the uniquely American marriage of mechanical know-how and an inspired sense of style and design. Built from the ground up, pieced together from salvaged parts, rebuilt with classic looks and futuristic technology–these are automotive works of art, as powerful on the page as they are on the street. One reviewer commented that “the closest thing I can compare it to is when I was a teenager with raging hormones and saw my first copy of Playboy. I knew there were some very intriguing stories inside but I couldn’t stop looking at the pictures!”Hot Rod Garages (Peter Vincent) 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. 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 U.S. From individuals crafting the cars of their dreams to prominent shops turning out cool rides for top dollar, these are the builders in their element.SO-CAL Speed Shop: The Fast Tale of the California Racers Who Made Hot Rod History (Mark Christensen) traces the path Xydias took to develop performance parts, build winning race teams, and become a leader in the early days of hot rod history. Accompanying author Mark Christensen’s compelling narrative about Xydias and nascent hot rod culture are period photos from notable personal archives, as well as new color images of classic SO-CAL hot rods. SO-CAL racers dominated early salt flats racing and the shop’s products became must-have performance parts, giving SO-CAL international name recognition.Ultimate Hot Rod Dictionary: A-Bombs to Zombies (Jeff Breitenstein) is not just a dictionary with something for everyone from newbies to vets, but a book that reveals how the customizers have, in fact, customized their lingo. Includes specially commissioned lineart illustrations and cross-references for related or like terms. Perplexed about Peg Leggers? Curious about Crazy Stacks? Every enthusiast group inevitably spawns its own slang, but few are as rich as that which has evolved around the world of hot rods and customs. Once a unique American sub-language, the gearhead vernacular has long since gone global. Containing some 1,700 entries, this first-ever dictionary of the colorful language and phraseology that has developed in the world of hot rodding and customizing features not just terms used to describe the technologies and designs, but also those pertaining to the culture itself.