Speedseekers Photobook: Vintage Drags & More - Book Review

Speedseekers is new book by German born designer and photographer Alexandra Lier. Visiting Speedweek’s salt for the first time, she was hooked. Suddenly a fascination with fast cars, hot rods and customs drove her from her design studio to garages shooting top mechanics and builders or she was off to races to get more pics of the cars she loves. That passion is captured in her first book, Speedseekers

Organized into five main chapters, History, Garage, Speed, Landspeed, and Style & Sound.

That first chapter about history might as well say “vintage drag racing” cause the included photos are a fantastic collection of legendary racers from Wild Willie Borsch to to Big Daddy Don Garlits to a fiery burnoutin his first rear engine dragster by the legendary “TV” Tommy Ivo. I spent over an hour studying the vintage pictures, then explained some of them to my sons: “This guy held on with only one hand!” I can’t get enough of nostalgia drags and the people and cars that made it great (and still do in some cases).

From there, I skimmed over the Garage chapter to check out Speed. Almost as great as the vintage drag pictures in History, the Speed chapter and the following Landspeed pages had more old school 60’s and 70’s style Drag racing shots and were followed by Bonneville shots focusing on the people who went fast. There’s also some great advice found in this picture:

Each section was setup by the near poetic writing of Kevin Thompson… here’s an example:

The hands on the wheel begin to tighten as the blood drains from the knuckles. The muted hum of cruise has become the rising pitch of power. He’s edgy in his seat. Telephone poles and mile markers whip past the side-glass, then multiply and diminish in the rearview mirror. A solitary, oncoming car appears on the horizon, looms, blurs, and becomes a part of the rapidly disappearing past.

Back in the Garage chapter, I spent quite a while staring at two facing pages with old-time magazine covers on them like Hop Up, Motor Life, and even Hot Rod and Custom Rodder. Those old covers and the stories that must be inside make me wonder… they’re like a time capsule!

Don’t pass by this book after a brief glance at the cover. There’s much more to be seen and enjoyed inside for anyone who likes great photos from drag racing’s days gone by, land speed racing, pinstriping and lettering. Check out a very small sample of the pictures supplied by Alexandra and Tom West.

Buy Speedseekers now

The book’s over 250 pages of full color pictures. Here’s just a few more so you know what you’re getting into. Thanks to Alexandra for letting me preview the book.

Beach Hop’s 24 Hour Hot Rod Build

I got in touch with Noddy Watts the man behind “Beach Hop” New Zealand’s #1 Nostalgia festival. I’m saving my pennies (ok, quarters!) to attend this show. He’re what Noddy had to say about it:

“New Zealand is a small country with just 4 million people at the bottom of the South Pacific. Is Hot Rodding known in this island paradise? Hell yeah! One of New Zealand’s biggest Festivals just happens to be the “Beach Hop” - celebration of the 50s & 60s. Over 100,000 people attend the free 5 day event - that is 2.5% of the entire population! A highlight is the 1300+ entered Hot Rods and Classic Cars that take over the town for the week with non stop cruising and car shows - amongst stunning South Pacific coastal scenery - blue seas and white sands. Take a look at www.beachhop.co.nz

Held in the popular seaside holiday resort of Whangamata, the fun never stops with music, kulture, fashion, more music, hot rods, motorbikes, dancing, dragsters, scooters of this golden era. With 100,000 people attending, this is one of the largest events of its kind in the world! Then just to top it off, all proceeds raised are donated to emergency services in the area.

Hundreds of visitors make the 3 hours flight from Australia each year to enjoy the Kiwi hospitality. The organizers want to now encourage visitors from North America to come to one of the most beautiful countries on the planet while being amazed at the thriving car culture down under. Some visitors from the USA told us this year “You can forget every other car show on earth - there is nothing like the Beach Hop!” So the crew have come up with marketing plan for the USA…

Hot August Nights is a “sister” festival so a crew from the Beach Hop will be flying to undertake an exciting challenge. They’ll be arriving at the swapmeet with just their bare hands. 24 hours later they will have built a Hot Rod that they can drive away using parts and tools purchased at Swapmeet. It won’t be a show car and will be traditionally styled. Who knows what they will come up with….. The entire build up will be filmed for a 30 minute documentary on Fox Sports.

Following Hot August Nights the crew will work with a local Hot Rod Shop to get the car ready for a run on the Bonneville Salt Flats during Speed Week. They’re not after a record, just want to experience what it is like to drive a car at the holy grail of land speed racing. Next up, they’re heading for the HAMB Drags at MOKAN for some tire frying action. The Krazy Kiwis will then take the car on a road trip back to California visiting every Car Show they can. The car will then be shipped to New Zealand where it will be auctioned live on the internet at Beach Hop 09 (26-29 March).

So keep an I out for these Kiwis and make sure you say hello - they are a real friendly bunch!

Speed Week for sure. Car number “6942″ - the “Kiwi 24 Hour Hot Rod Challenge”

Look for a follow up to this story as soon as I can get one. Thanks for the lead Noddy and good luck building a car in 24 hours!

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Father and Son Hot Rod Team

Ray and Rory Forbes, this father and son team, came all the way from Reno, Nevada to enjoy the 2007 LA Roadster show. Believe it or not, these guys didn’t get to join the official show because they don’t have shinny paint. I wouldn’t have it any other way! Check out this awesome pair of traditional rods!

Dad’s got style!

This is Ray’s 1934 Ford. Construction began in the 40’s with a top chop suitable for Bonneville, but the project stalled when the men building the car were drafted. After that, the car got passed around until 2 years ago when Ray bought it from a guy who had stored the car for 30+ years, untouched due to health reasons. It was a full build done entirely in the Forbes’ garage on weekends by Father and son. The 34 has an early 60’s 401 Buick Nailhead donated by a friend who was an early 50’s Bonneville racer that ran a 34 Coupe way back when (hence his # on the door, plus the original timing tag!) Inside, it has super rare P-51 stainless seats, custom pedals, an engine turned dash filled with vintage S&W gauges, Schroeder steering and out back a quickchange rear end. To cap it all off almost every nut was safety-wired right down to the taillight mount!

Just add salt.

High School Dream car?!

Can you imagine driving this car in high school? Rory did and it’s the first car he built! This Model A coupe has a generous 6″chop and is covered in louvers. When I asked how many, Rory just said, “A ton!” I especially like the late 30’s CASE tractor grill and period looking engine with finned scoops and matching valve covers. Inside, there’s original Weber Aircraft bomber seats still wearing the original paint with vintage aircraft lap belts. Like dad, black steel wheels with caps roll on bias-ply tires.

This is the kind of story you’ll find at MyRideisMe.com. I hope you’ll check it out!