American Icon - The hot Rod

[HarryD]

Has any one been watching this show on HD Theatre?

I find it very interesting. Especially the interviews with the old guys.

[Cornpanzer]

Yes, much better than I expected when I saw the name. The nice thing to me is that they are really honoring the patriarchs of the hobby, not simply promoting existing shop owners. So many times these shows seem like thinly veiled commercials.

I enjoyed the episode where they reviewed the history of SoCal Speed Shop and interviewed Pete Chaporis. About 12 years ago, I was in LA and phoned SoCal to see if I could tour the shop. They were closing for the w-e (Fri afternoon) but Pete invited me to come over on Sat and he would let me in and give me a tour. Got there on Sat, Pete showed me around for a couple minutes and then went to pack up some parts for shipping letting me wander around and take photos. Couldn't have been a nicer host.

Great show IMO

[jjwood]

Yea I watched last night's episodes. Very cool show. I have new found appreciation for Bruce Meyer's efforts to elevate the Hot Rod. Nice props for Boyd Coddington too. I'd like to see an episode showing how Hot Rods have "expanded" into the Porsche world and some of the Porsche hot rods (both 911'a and 356's).

[rcooled]

I've been enjoying this show too. Great seeing all those old film clips and stills from back in the day. They did it right too...talking to several of the "founding fathers" who were right there at the beginning and having them share some first hand experiences. It's nice to see the current Rat Rod movement reviving the spirit of the original hotrodders with their low-buck approach to building now that mainstream 'rodding has gone "Hollywood".

[rcm]

I really like the street rod crowd. Been having some fun.

[enzo1]

cool...

[Mike C]

Heres what keeps the Porsche company in the garage.

[MMARSH]

I love that truck and really dig those cars....

[R K T]

I grew up (literally) at Lion's Drag Strip and hung out with a guy that was always at the track back in the 60s. He painted weird t-shirts and sold them to us kids. His name was Ed Roth! Lots of great memories.
Here's my Porsche garage mate......

[HarryD]

I agree with several of the posters who noted it is great to hear the interviews with the guys that were around at the start. It seems amazing what they did then.

The story and shots that amazes me more than any other is the Belly Tank running at the Dry Lakes. Leather helment, minimal roll protection, primitve suspension and limited crash worthiness and they lived to tell about it. WOW!

[Fritter]

The shows are great! One thing that amazes me is that all these pioneers from the 30s and 40s are still kicking and able to tell their stories, they have to be in their late 80s or 90s now.