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Petersen Magazines Overflowed With L.A. Rodders, Racers & Customizers in 1961

Heaven. Granted, the City of Angels ain’t what it was at the turn of the 1960s. Bashing all things Cali is as fashionable today as moving west was six decades ago. Indeed, gearheads elsewhere can now make excellent arguments for automotive scenes wherever they happen to live. Truth be known, high-ranking Eastern and Midwestern executives employed by one of the investment groups that acquired the former Petersen Publishing Company argued that the whole shebang—including the millions of irreplaceable negatives and transparencies in the precious photography archive—rightly belonged on the Right Coast. Their first choice was Florida, insisting that Florida is the California of the 21st-century for all things automotive. They might’ve been right. They’re all gone now (whew, close call!).

While it’s a fact that bare-bones travel budgets usually kept Petersen’s skeleton crews close to home, staffers needn’t have ventured beyond L.A.’s vast city limits to fill every page of every 1961 HOT ROD, Car Craft, Rod & Custom, Motor Trend, Kart, and Motor Life with worthy editorial material. New trends ignited out west were hungrily awaited by millions of monthly readers across North America. Armchair sociologists will be forever debating causation for the hobby’s post-WWII convergence and explosion here. Two of the movement’s main influencers and beneficiaries offered very different reasons on the day that chief photographer Bob D’Olivo captured the mug shots accompanying this article. George Barris and Ed Roth didn’t agree on much else, either, beyond fiberglass sculpting being less expensive than full-custom metalwork; Petersen’s magazines and major car shows enabling eastern builders to close the styling gap with the west; and Los Angeles being the center of hot rodding’s universe.

Another believer was Tom Wolfe, a virtually unknown and entirely nonautomotive New York newspaper reporter whose assignment to cover a local rod-and-custom show inspired a story pitch to Esquire. The editors bit and flew him off to (where else?) SoCal, where HRM’s Tex Smith introduced local heroes and showed Tom around Burbank’s eye-opening Teen Fair. The resultant article, which Esquire titled, “There Goes (Varoom! Varoom!) That Kandy Kolored (Thphhhhhh!) Tangerine-Flake Streamline Baby (Rahghhhh!) Around the Bend (Brummmmmmmmmmmmmmmm…),” led to a best-selling first book that brought widespread fame to the author and two interview subjects previously known only to magazine readers: Barris and Roth.

Nobody working here is old enough to have formed firsthand opinions about alleged regional bias by “those California magazine guys,” but the extent of the state’s influence is unmistakable throughout the thousands of images composed by staff photojournalists in 1961 and considered for HRD’s ongoing series. Skeptics from Someplace Else, USA, who never made the scene, are forgiven for continuing to profess that Southern California subjects, in particular, received vastly disproportionate barrels of ink simply because most magazines happened to be produced there.

“Those people have it exactly backwards,” suggests historian Greg Sharp, a native Angeleno old enough to know. “The magazines were here because the action was here, period. End of story!”

While other carmakers more or less observed the industrywide Automobile Manufacturers Association agreement to avoid sponsoring motorsports or promoting performance, Pontiac Motor Division gained a winning reputation and unprecedented market share by discreetly funneling parts, engineers, and street vehicles to a network of independent skunkworks. Leading the straight-line assault was Mickey Thompson, whose factory involvement is evident in the engines and Pontiac-powered Dragmaster rails crowding his Long Beach facility when HRM photographer Eric Rickman made one of his regular visits. “America’s Speed King” continued repaying his factory favors this season by using eight-, four-, and two-cylinder Pontiac powerplants exclusively to add 14 international and national records for the standing-start mile and kilometer to his unrivaled resume. (See Sept. 1961 HRM; Oct. 1961 HRM, MT, CC & ML; Mar. 2012 & Nov. 2016 HRD.)

Just as Ed Roth’s all-fiberglass Excaliber/Outlaw created controversy in 1959-1960 by redefining the T roadster, this year’s follow-up broke further from traditional hot rods. The Beatnik Bandit began as sketches drawn by regular Rod & Custom contributor Joe Henning in response to Roth’s desire for “something like the Outlaw, only in coupe form.” Less than a year later, Roth’s vision of a futuristic hot rod rolled into the San Mateo (CA) Custom, Rod and Sports Car Show. The one-piece shell wrapped around a shortened ‘55 Oldsmobile chassis and drivetrain. A conventional, functional, lavishly chromed Olds engine by Fritz Voigt (Mickey Thompson’s builder) was revved by a floor-mounted joystick that additionally controlled steering, shifting, and braking. On setup night, R&C staffer Neal East snapped this outtake to the small photo from the same spot that ran in the June 1961 issue.

Ray Callejo stretched tradition, literally, to double his ‘31 Tudor’s displacement to a whopping 584 ci. Yes, this is one Backstage Past image that has already been published, but it’s the only one we found of a homebuilt hot rod too neat to ignore. Although the drag car later earned an entire Car Craft feature, the negatives for those photos presumably remained with freelance contributor Dave Cunningham. Callejo was evidently still working the bugs out of the combination, as the 124-mph top speed reported by CC came previously, with a single 292ci Chevy. (See June 1961 HRM; Oct. 1961 CC.)

Ah, life must have been good for one of Hollywood’s most-eligible bachelors! None of our sources could identify Robert E. Petersen’s apparent date for Motor Trend’s Car of the Year (Pontiac Tempest) reception, though historian Greg Sharp contributed the best wisecrack. Referencing a Jan. 2019 HRD photo of the publisher’s personal sports car nose-down in a neighbor’s yard, Sharp suggested, “Maybe she made up with Pete after rolling the Mercedes down the hill.”

In one historic frame at Motor Trend’s January cocktail party, Petersen staff photographer Pat Brollier captured the most-powerful trio in hot rodding, drag racing, and land-speed racing. Wally Parks (center) was both the president of NHRA and the editorial director for Bob Petersen (back turned). Mickey Thompson, who recently became world’s fastest (406 mph) with Pontiac power and was leading development of the Tempest four-banger for racing, joined the L.A. celebration for the new compact’s Car of the Year selection. (See Mar. 1961 MT; July 1961 HRM.)

Car Craft staffer Bud Lang’s sequence captured Ed Roth’s plastic bubbletop in action during the NHRA Winternationals car show that preceded the inaugural Pomona national event. A remote control box operated the canopy and started the engine. The unquestionable star of the show inexplicably came up empty in judging for the top trophies, scoring only Best Engine Compartment. That slight by NHRA officials was said to inspire Roth’s withdrawal from future competition in favor of guaranteed appearance money and/or free booth space for painting and selling so-called “weirdo” or “monster” shirts. (See May & July 1961 R&C; May 1961 & Feb. 1962 CC; June 1961 HRM; Mar. 2012 HRD.)

Charles “Boogie” Scott’s record-setting horsepower must have impressed chief HOT ROD photographer Eric Rickman, who tracked down the Olds-motivated Deuce in Pomona’s staging lanes for a rare, candid crew shot. (With just 12 frames per roll of medium-format 120 film, action shooters were understandably reluctant to devote film to mug shots unlikely to interest editors.) Also impressive was the long haul from Louisiana in a ‘51 Ford woody tow car by (from right) Henry Penedo, Cliff Smith, Scott, and Gary Lee. Boogie was denied a Winternationals trophy in the A/Altered final round but earned the national e.t. record in 11.15 seconds, while tying the class-record speed of 140.75 mph (See May 1961 HRM). NHRA Museum historian Greg Sharp reminds us that 45 years later, the 70-year-old chassis builder joined Bonneville’s 200-MPH Club in his Gas Modified roadster at 238.508.

A week after becoming Stock Eliminator at the inaugural Winternationals with his ‘61 Impala, Don Nicholson (right) was a logical choice to participate in Motor Life’s test of Chevrolet’s new 409/409 option. Amazingly, the Chevy that he brought—possibly even drove—to Riverside International Raceway was almost certainly the Pomona-winning race car (this license plate checks out). Unbelievably, he allowed a magazine guy to burn rubber and bang gears in it. Note Petersen’s analog “fifth-wheel” data logger and the dust storm stirred up by fenderwell headers. Bob D’Olivo shot the scene and believes the test driver to be former Motor Trend writer Wayne Thoms.

Petersen conceived Motor Life’s awards ceremony as an annual March event recognizing outstanding drivers, mechanics, car owners, promoters, and racing journalists from each preceding season. Neither the awards program nor the magazine would survive the new year, however. The first—and last—Men of the Year lineup included (from left): Carroll Shelby; Henry Banks (accepting for Official of the Year Harlan Fengler); A.J. Foyt, named overall Driver of the Year; Mrs. Robert Bowes (for son Bob Bowes); George Bignotti; Jack Chrisman; Louis Clements; Rex White; Bob Colvin; and Russ Catlin (for writer Max Muhleman). Not shown is Mickey Thompson, honored for his one-way 406.600 at Bonneville. After the November issue, Motor Life—a title intermittently produced by various publishers since the early 20th century—would be absorbed and replaced by a new Petersen monthly, Sports Car Graphic. (See June 1961 HRM & ML; Dec. 1961 SCG.)

This series has spared readers the go-karts that commanded more pages in some Petersen monthlies of the era than hot rods and race cars combined. (You’re welcome!) Two rolls logged into the archive’s film index as simply “Jet Kart” earned this exception. Chief photographer Bob D’Olivo pulled the trigger on color photos for a Kart magazine cover story that none of our collector sources owns (thanks, anyway, Gary Medley and Greg Sharp). All we know is that neither the kart owner’s crash helmet nor his tuner’s crescent wrench dissuaded D’Olivo and fellow staffers from blasting around the company’s Hollywood Boulevard headquarters during the after-hours session in Petersen’s makeshift photo studio. At least Car Craft editor Dick Day donned proper headgear for his turn in the seat.

Before the champ-car industry gradually relocated to Indianapolis, suburban Los Angeles was home to countless open-wheel cars. Even so, it’s hard to believe that two different staffers, shooting for different Petersen magazines, would find such homey scenes on two unknown streets in the same city at virtually the same time—if not on the same April day. Oval-track experts Jim Miller and Greg Sharp each answered our plea for vehicle IDs, and then some. We learned that the Vatis Special was the first of three Kurtis-Kraft J-2 models delivered. At the Brickyard in early May, the brand new car was damaged when Chuck Hulse tangled with two drivers during time trials, repaired just in time for the final day of qualifying, then missed the cut on its only timed attempt. (Hulse also drove the adjacent Kurtis 4000 roadster on dirt tracks this year.) The backyard scene shows camgrinder and Indy veteran Dempsey Wilson aboard the Kuzma-built Casale & Greenman entry that did run the race, placing 16th after its 252-inch Offy’s fuel pump failed on Lap 146 (of 200). The photo archive’s film log reveals that respective Petersen photographers Al Paloczy and Eric Rickman turned their exposed film into the lab just one day apart. (See June 1961 ML & HRM.)

Al Paloczy was hired by Bob D’Olivo as a lab technician but proved capable of shooting creative car features, particularly of customs. Colleague Pat Brollier captured some foolishness while Paloczy was waiting for B&W prints to dry.

George Barris’ signboard insisted that his XPAK 400 “runs on a 5-inch cushion of air,” but spectators at the Tridents Car Club Show don’t seem to be buying it. Nor was satirical R&C contributor Joe Henning. Perhaps biased by his design work and fondness for arch-rival Ed Roth, Henning described a recent Bakersfield show during which George “personally conducted a demonstration of the fabulous air car, during which it rose to microscopic heights.” Harsher still was a subsequent Roth Studios ad hyping Big Daddy’s upcoming Rotar as the “only land, sea, air car to work without gimmicks (no hydraulic jack to make it lift), actually flies!” Barris’ addition of a billowing parachute added drama to the demonstrations, but we have yet to find evidence of the advertised elevation. (See Mar. 1961 CC; May & Sept. 1961 R&C.)

We were seeking some excuse—er, that is, a good reason—to share a negative shot for Motor Life that doesn’t appear in our incomplete collection. We found justification under a May HRM headline that looked like a leftover bit from a goofy April Fools issue: “Tragedy Hits Model Car Field.” The disaster turned out to be the theft of 1,200 cartons containing 15,000 AMT plastic kits of 1961 Ford “customizing convertibles” from a Chicago freight terminal worth $19,000. Coincidentally, when Motor Life visited this unknown factory a month after HOT ROD’s item appeared, the bodies stacking up in front of a lone assembly line worker happened to be hardtop versions of a ‘61 Ford.

Pikes Peak’s big story was the surprising emergence of Fords as contenders in the Stock Car class. Not coincidentally, four of them were freshly outfitted with the factory’s first four-speed transmissions, installed by Bill Stroppe on behalf of Colorado dealers anxious to end GM’s domination on the mountain. Fords qualified 1-2-3, ahead of the favored Chevys, but Curtis Turner (pictured) fell 2.4 seconds behind Louis Unser’s 409 bubbletop on race day. (See Sept. 1961 HRM; Oct. 1961 ML & MT.)

Wally Parks waited until Kent Fuller finished building the first four-engine dragster before banning four-engine cars—all except this one, effectively granting Tommy Ivo an exclusive exhibition act. “NHRA told me, ‘If this thing runs good, we’ll have four-motor cars popping up all over the place,’” Ivo explained in a recent e-mail. What appears to be a suburban L.A. neighborhood was actually an elaborate set on the 20th Century Fox lot (where Century City sits today). HRM’s chosen photo location was the fake street in front of the fake house familiar to millions of viewers of a 1961-1962 series costarring TV Tom and Cynthia Pepper as Roaring ‘20s teens. “It was Eric Rickman’s brainstorm to shoot it on the Margie set and get me grounded from drag racing after [studio execs] saw the car I owned. Nice idea, Eric—not! You might say this was the defining moment when I decided to change careers. I gave up acting for drag racing when the series ended because I never wanted to get grounded again.” A tire-wiper named Don Prudhomme graduated to the seat. The duo charged $500 per local appearance; the kid was paid all of 25 bucks. “Ron Pellegrini took Prudhomme’s place when his now-wife, then-girlfriend Lynn told Don that if he left town again, after touring with me and the twin-engined car in 1960, she wouldn’t wait for him anymore,” Ivo added. “He was grounded! After three years, Pellegrini told me the car was all done, so I sold it to Tom McCourry—who ran it nine more years!” It was restored with the aluminum station-wagon body that Tom Hanna attached in 1966 and resides in a private collection. (See Dec. 1961 HRM; Mar. 2012 & Nov. 2016 HRD.)

The so-called kustomizing kings sat down together with R&C editor Bill Neumann in early December for a lengthy, tape-recorded interview that inexplicably waited until the May and June 1962 issues to surface as excerpts entitled, “Mr. Barris, Meet Mr. Roth.” The show-car world was anxiously awaiting the debut of Rotar, Big Daddy’s answer to George’s much-maligned XPAK 400, and an inevitable battle between so-called air cars. Dig the following exchange: Neumann: Ed, Does Rotar actually fly? Roth: Yes. Neumann: George, does XPAK fly? Barris: Does it fly? It’s an experimental car that will raise in the air. Yes. The same two issues carry a related, two-part episode of Pete Millar’s popular Arin Cee comic strip (starring R&C’s answer to Tom Medley’s Stroker McGurk character in HRM) in which the editor assigns Arin the story behind each man’s desire to reign as the king of kustoms. The last two panels bring the contenders together, suddenly sporting each other’s distinctive style: Ed wears a suit; George has a goatee. Their true motivations are finally revealed at the end: Roth: I wanna be king so I can wear a shirt and tie. All my life I’ve wanted to be like George. Barris: … and I want to be like Big Daddy and grow a beard. (See Apr., May & June 1962 R&C.)

Just guessing, but hard times seemed to be a theme of the company’s holiday party in December. Staff artists produced life-size facsimiles of three bums wearing mug shots of PPC executives. The dummy holding the dismal sales graph appears to be Robert E. Petersen himself. While HRM reported unprecedented sales “crowding 700,000,” a tumultuous year internally saw Pete fold two other titles and replace the entire R&C staff after editor Lynn Wineland, a six-year employee, devoted much of the September issue to a newfound fascination with skydiving.

Mr. Petersen obviously got with the poverty program, panhandling for spare change while wearing a signboard showing discontinued magazines. The dapper dude at left looks like ambitious Dick Day, who’d advanced from contributing cartoonist to current Car Craft editor (later becoming a PPC publisher and vice president).

One of the last “car” features shot this year captured the much-anticipated, ill-fated Rotar. Here, Ed Roth shows the after effects of cramming a six-foot-four Big Daddy under the tiny bubbletop for Bill Neumann’s camera. Powered by dual, unmuffled 650cc Triumph engines sitting on their sides, the remote-controlled hovercraft would soon debut in a Pasadena show and remain a major attraction for two show seasons. Unlike Barris’ XPAK 400, Roth’s version proved adept at rising 4 to 5 inches while “blowing up girls’ skirts,” Roth noted proudly. The fun and the “air-car war” stopped suddenly in Detroit when an oil-starved crankshaft failed at full throttle, blasting bits of aluminum fan blades and plastic into the crowd, seriously injuring at least one bystander. (See Aug., Sept. & Dec. 1961 R&C; Apr. & June 1962 R&C.)

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