Customer Reviews

Hot Rod

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

It's been twenty years since I read this book and I still remember the ending so clearly it scares me. The story is dated, but has many valuable lessons.

I first found the book among some of my fathers' things and well, I just couldn't put it down. I just finished it and what a book! The story of a 17 yr. old building his own Rod, which was his companion, friend, and enemy. Just him and his ride. Sounds a little like myself. The main character finds the rules of life the only way, the hard way.

I have a few thoughts on this book and why it is a literary treasure. First published in 1950, it was written at a high/middle school level and is an easy read. The story is of a high school boy in an isolated midwestern town. His love is his hand built hot rod. It gives him much joy and is also a source of a lot of trouble. He has girl problems, friend problems, and law problems. He can always fall back on his car. I needn't recount the plot in any more detail, and I don't want to give anything away to ruin it for a future reader.

Although author Henry Gregor Felsen was not a master novelist, he was good. Unintendedly, he wrote a time capsule that captured a unique era in Americana and in our car culture. The War was over and the country was prospering. Car ownership, with its joys and hazards, was becoming accessible to almost all teenagers. This was truly the dawn of the "hot rod" culture, and indeed this title of Felsen's novel was not a household word at the time.

Felsen documents the spotlights, white steering wheels, and squirrel tails that adorned the early rods. The multi-carbs, straight pipes, and 3-speed stick shifts. And the jargon that now sounds so dated, but was so out front at the time. The machines were incredibly simple by today's measure, but even then there was a sort of priesthood of those few boys/men that knew how they worked and could make them run (I intentionally exclude the feminine gender, because that's how it was. Though I never met one, I suppose there were exceptions, just as there is the occasional two-headed cow).

The innocence - no real booze or drug problems. Felsen is accused of being "preachy", and indeed a central theme of the book is the need for a revolution in traffic safety by young drivers. There were no seat belts. Roadway surfaces were narrow and often poor. Brake systems were a joke by today's standards. In the state the story is set in, there was not even a state highway speed limit. Cars were becoming faster - much faster - and a new epidemic was emerging of teenage deaths from high speed crashes on public highways. I did my own "rodding" in the 70's and the teens and fast cars were still then, and are now, a dangerous mixture. Felsen caught on early and used his writing talent to proclaim a noble message. Felsen had an accurate perception regarding the chemistry of a male teenage driver and a powerful car.

History and "messages" aside, this is a fun read. The story is engaging and multi-layered. There was a police chase sequence that even had my heart rate elevated a bit. I first read this book about 40 years ago and was entertained but did not fully appreciate what the author accomplished. This was not written by a 21st century writer trying to recreate what was going on 58 years ago . . . Felsen was writing it as it was happening. Awesome.

Felsen wrote a few other books in this genre including "Street Rod", its sequel "Rag Top" (a great piece), "Crash Club", and "Road Rocket". He also authored numerous other military and juvenile books.

I have a few thoughts on this book and why it is a literary treasure. First published in 1950, it was written at a high/middle school level and is an easy read. The story is of a high school boy in an isolated midwestern town. His love is his hand built hot rod. It gives him much joy and is also a source of a lot of trouble. He has girl problems, friend problems, and law problems. He can always fall back on his car. I needn't recount the general plot in any more detail, and I don't want to give anything away to ruin it for a future reader.

Although author Felsen was not a master novelist, he was good. Unintendedly, he wrote a time capsule that captured a unique era in Americana and in our car culture. The War was over and the country was prospering. Car ownership, with its joys and hazards, was becoming accessible to almost all teenagers. This was truly the dawn of the "hot rod" culture, and indeed this title of Felsen's novel was not a household word at the time.

Felsen documents the spotlights, white steering wheels, and squirrel tails that adorned the early rods. The multi-carbs, straight pipes, and 3-speed stick shifts. And the jargon that now sounds so dated, but was so out front at the time. The machines were incredibly simple by today's measure, but even then there was a sort of priesthood of those few boys/men that knew how they worked and could make them run (I intentionally exclude the feminine gender, because that's how it was. Though I never met one, I suppose there were exceptions, just as there is the occasional two-headed cow).

The innocence - no real booze or drug problems. Felsen is accused of being "preachy", and indeed a central theme of the book is the need for a revolution in traffic safety by young drivers. There were no seat belts. Roadway surfaces were narrow and often poor. Brake systems were a joke by today's standards. In the state the story is set in, there was not even a state highway speed limit. Cars were becoming faster - much faster - and a new epidemic was emerging of teenage deaths from high speed crashes on public highways. I did my own "rodding" in the 70's and the teens and fast cars were still then, and are now, a dangerous mixture. Felsen caught on early and used his writing talent to proclaim a noble message. Felsen had an accurate perception regarding the chemistry of a male teenage driver and a powerful car.

History and "messages" aside, this is a fun read. The story is engaging and multi-layered. There was a police chase sequence that even had my heart rate elevated a bit. I first read this book about 40 years ago and was entertained but did nearly fully appreciate what the author accomplished. This was not written by a 21st century author trying to recreate what was going on 58 years ago . . . Felsen was writing it as it was happening. Awesome.

Felsen wrote a few other books in this genre including one that I have read, titled, "Steet Rod". As good or better.

I read this book in 1975 when I was just getting into muscle cars. It made an impression on me. I have always longed to build a car from scratch. This book made a dream seem within reach for for me when I didn't have much cash. I am presently helping my son restore a 1966 Mustang.

I was happy to find a new copy of Hot Rod for this price. It's one of the best of the car series from Henry Gregor Felsen, and all the books are apparently highly collectible, sometimes bringing a hundred dollars for an old paperback. However, this copy didn't include the lurid cover art shown in the ad--rather than the great shot of Hot Rod kids in action, you get a plain cover with no picture at at--supposedly a school edition. I don't know if someone reprinted these no frills renditions or if someone found a cache of them from the fifties or sixties. While I would have liked to have had the cover as advertised, for me it doesn't matter so much; the text is all there. But if you expect to get the fine pop art cover as advertised, you'll need to look elsewhere.

I have a few thoughts on this book and why it is a literary treasure. First published in 1950, it was written at a high/middle school level and is an easy read. The story is of a high school boy in an isolated midwestern town. His love is his hand biult hot rod. It gives him much joy and is also the source of most of his troubles. He has girl problems, friend problems, and law problems. He can always fall back on his car. I needn't recount the general plot in any more detail.

Although author Henry Gregor Felsen was perhaps not the best of novelists, he was good. Unintendedly, he wrote a time capsule that captured a unique era in Americana and in our car culture. The War was over and the country was prospering. Car ownership, with its joys and hazards, was becoming accessible to almost all teenagers. This was truly the dawn of the "hot rod" culture, and indeed this title of Felsen's novel was not a household word at the time.

Felsen documents the spotlights, white steering wheels, and squirrel tails that adorned the early rods. The multi-carbs, straight pipes, and 3-speed stick shifts. And the jargon that now sounds so dated, but was so out front at the time. The machines were incredibly simple by today's measure, but even then there was a sort of priesthood of those few boys/men that knew how they worked and could make them run (I intentionally exclude the feminine gender, because that's how it was. I suppose there were exceptions, just as there is the occasional two-headed cow).

The innocence - no real booze or drug problems. Felsen is accused of being "preachy", and indeed a central theme of the book is the need for a revolution in traffic safety by young drivers. There were no seat belts. Roadway surfaces were narrow and often poor. Brake systems were a joke by today's standards. In the state the story was set in, there was not even a state highway speed limit. Cars were becoming faster - much faster - and a new epidemic was emerging of teenage carnage on the public highways. I did my own "rodding" in the 70's and the teens and fast cars were still then, and are now, a dangerous mixture. Felsen, early, had an accurate perception regarding the chemistry of a male teenage driver and a powerful car.

History and "messages" aside, this is a fun read. The story is engaging and multi-layered. There was a police chase sequence that even had my heart rate elevated a bit. I first read this book over 40 years ago and was entertained but did not nearly fully appreciate what the author accomplished. This was not written by a 21st century author trying to recreate what was going on almost 60 years ago . . . Felsen was writing it as it was happening. Awesome.

Felsen wrote a few other books in this genre including Rag Top, Road Rocket, Crash Club and Street Rod (I have read Street Rod, which is as good or better than this title).

It has been many years since I read this book as a teenager. It made an impression on me such that I still remember it after over 40 years! Now with my grandson driving my thoughts came back to this book and was pleased to find it listed - now hope I can get a copy for him! I VERY much recomend it for any young person just going "car crazy"!

"Pink! Not on MY car, lady!" Essentially a morality play, "Hot Rod" shows that those crazy kids will come to a bad end, regardless of 9th-inning turnarounds. One can almost hear primitive rock-n-roll as we follow our young hero, considering himself oppressed living in a small town, as he slowly learns how to work on cars from a disappointed mechanic. Enter the perky girlfriend, trying hard to understand. Enter the 'guys', all car-crazy, and the anti-hero, Linc, whose black hotrod personifies evil. Our hero finally builds his dream car from an old Ford, wins a car show, and is driving home in triumph, his girl at his side, when he is tempted to race Linc to the river, where he loses control and flips the car into the river at high speed, killing himself and his girlfriend. As I said, quite the morality play. I read it in junior high, about 1961, just entering my own car-crazy era. Haven't seen it since, but it obviously made an impression.

I First read "Hot Rod" in the library of the USS Princeton back in 1958. I have never forgotten the story and have waited all these years for someone in Hollywood to wake up and make a screen version of this great novel..JR