The long tradition of hot rodding started the first time a car owner decided to make his car go faster. No one knows exactly when that happened. It is known that the long tradition of hot rodding is the most popular aspect of the collector car hobby. In the beginning, engines were small and bodies were heavy, so hot rod builders lightened their cars as much as they could and tweaked the engines to squeeze out additional horsepower and speed. Customizing nowadays is much more involved, but the premise is still the same... make it go fast. Now, however, they also make them look great. Doug Mitchel captures nearly 40 of these vehicles in his new book, Anatomy of the Hot Rod (Krause Publications, May 2007). He met with dozens of builders and owners to learn their story and to get to know their hot rods. His book features 400 photos of hot rodded and custom pickups, roadsters, coupes, convertibles and sedans, ranging from the late 1920s to the mid 1960s.

The street rod and custom market has been steadily increasing, with a 56.4 percent upswing between 1997 and 2005, according to the Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA). Retail sales in this area nearly hit $1 billion in 2005. Magazine readers with the most discretionary income are ages 40 to 58 and make up almost 53 percent of subscribers to Hot Rod, Popular Hot Rodding and Rod & Custom magazines. Anatomy of the Hot Rod pays homage to this hobby and introduces readers to some greatly talented builders, while telling the story behind each vehicle and providing contact information of the builders.

Who is the author? Doug Mitchel is an accomplished author, photographer and historian with more than 15 books to his credit. His most recent titles include Anatomy of the Chopper, Standard Catalog of Harley-Davidson Motorcycles, Choppers Field Guide, and Honda Motorcycles: The Ultimate Guide. He resides in Illinois

For more information, please visit www.krausebooks.com and be sure to tell 'em ESM sent ya!