Hot rodding is largely regarded as being American, but it also has a long and proud history in Australia, one that is every bit as rich and colourful as the history of hot rodding Stateside. Now, with the launch of Australian Hot Rodder it is getting long overdue recognition.

Australian Hot Rodder is a new, premium hot rodding periodical dedicated to Australia’s hot rodding heritage with the aim of telling the tale of this exciting hobby.

Boasting 152 full colour pages, Australian Hot Rodder is jam-packed with great stories and stunning photography on the great hot rods, hot rodders and drag racers that have helped make it the popular hobby it is today.

People like hot rodding legends Joe Pirotta and Charlie Caruana who teamed up in the 1960s to build the Crimson Pirate, a highly polished and plated Model A Ford pickup that swept all before it at shows all over the country.

After sitting under covers for more than 30 years Australian Hot Rodder was able to convince its owner/builders that it should be the cover car for Issue #1.

Lynn Arrowsmith’s channelled ’34 Ford coupe is one of the most beautiful hot rods ever built in this country and we got Lynn to tell us the story of his coupe.

Hot rodders know Ray Charlton as ‘Mr Deuce’, and for good reason. Ray has owned more than 30 Deuces since he first discovered them in the 1950s, and we went for a ride in two of them.

Barry Fletcher thought he was buying a ’32 Ford roadster when he answered a newspaper classified advertisement in the early ’60s, but it turned out to be a 1930 Model A. Undeterred he built Henrietta, one of the most stunning of our early hot rods. Not only did we shoot Henrietta for #1, but we couldn’t resist Barry’s beautiful full-fendered Deuce roadster and shot that as well.

Drag racing has always been an integral part of hot rodding and Ash Marshall was one of the legends of the sport in the early years, becoming the first Australian to break through the 200 mph barrier. Ash now lives in Southern California and that’s where we went to catch up with him.

In a fitting tribute to Ash we also took Scorcher, his famous racer into the studio for a photo shoot. Scorcher was the car he used to go 200 mph, and current owner, Dennis Young, and George Bukureshliev have faithfully restored it to its former glory.

Other great cars to feature in #1 include Norm Longfield’s T-bucket and John Bowker’s timeless channelled ’34 Ford roadster.

We also look at the early days of drag racing, and a couple of the early hot rod magazines published in this country.

Read the full story in Issue 01 >>