Mike “Blackie” Gejeian lived a life worthy of several people. He experienced the Great Depression, survived WWII, and became a ground-breaking hot rod builder, dry lakes standout, show promoter, NASCAR driver, and yes, even a farmer. Gejeian hailed from just outside Fresno in central California’s San
Writing about legends of hot rodding comes with a definite demographic risk. And lately it seems many of our legends are crossing the finish line, moving onto the great car show and drag strip in the sky. The latest, Ed Pink, arguably the most successful
In our modern era of hot rodding, the late George Poteet commissioned some of the most influential customs, race cars, and street rods of all time. He was a visionary, a trendsetter, and a hard-nosed racer all at the same time. In his comprehensive retrospective on
This is a special, if sad, Legends of Hot Rodding column, as Gene Winfield, whose customs and film creations dazzled literally hundreds of millions of people over seven decades, passed away on March 4, 2025 at age 97. Known to manyu as “Windy,” Winfield built not
Editors Note: Interview conducted and story originally published in February 2019 In Southern California, rods and customs enjoy a symbiotic relationship with the film industry. Movie directors are drawn to automobiles as cinematic and graphic devices. At the same time, a host of SoCal customizers have
As a future hot rodder, Rich Guasco was born with a significant home-court advantage – his family owned a wrecking yard. Guasco, son of Italian immigrants, grew up during the early ’50s in Pleasanton, California (where Goodguys Rod & Custom also later came of age). As
All automobiles, whether it be a hot rod, a custom, a production car, or a Bonneville streamliner, begin with a design. It could be scribbles on a napkin, a drawing on an artist’s sketchpad, or an intricate blueprint created on a CAD computer program. Before
We profiled the prolific, wacky, and brilliant automotive journalist Gray Baskerville a while back. But Gray did more than pen memorable pieces in Rod & Custom and Hot Rod magazines, he also owned – and drove! – a full-fendered ’32 Ford hot rod roadster. The
Sometimes, to recast a cliche, the spanner doesn’t fall far from the toolbox. In other words, who you came from influences who you become. A genetic imperative, as the scientists say. One clear example of this truism is Roy Brizio, the esteemed hot rod builder from
The 1936 Ford falls between the 1929-1934 models favored by go-fast hot rodders and the classic, swoopy 1939-40 editions. Still, as hot-rod fodder, the ’36 Ford was no slouch. Case in point – the legendary custom three-window Calori Coupe, built by Jack Calori, has been
