Hot Rod Year 1981 Magazine Back Issues

Robert E. Petersen launched Hot Rod magazine in 1948 to coincide with the first Southern California Timing Association (SCTA) Exposition in Los Angeles. This magazine closed a needed gap in hot rod coverage after the demise of Throttle magazine at the start of World War II. It gained success quickly, and many imitators followed. Petersen's success allowed him to launch Motor Trend and many other titles. The first magazines were 9" by 12" and were bigger than the popular pocket- or digest-sized magazines that came later. The size was reduced to 8-1/2" by 11" with the October, 1949 issue. This magazine marks the beginning of a golden age in automotive publications, and it set the style for much more to come. Hot Rod has always been a generalist rodding magazine, successfully covering all aspects in the world of wheels from hot rods, customs, muscle cars, drag racing, dune buggies, vans, etc. Like other Petersen titles like Car Craft, in the mid-1960s content began slowly shifting away from pre-1948 vehicles and instead embraced Detroit classics from the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s. This fact is represented by the re-grouping of the title into the performance & muscle genre for all issues from 1965 forward. Rod & Custom was a sister magazine in the Petersen empire. When it ended for a second time in May 1974, it was folded into Hot Rod magazine.