In the Summer 2025 issue of HOT ROD, we celebrated home-built cars—built not bought, as some would say—and that is a large part of HOT ROD’s legacy. Since the first issue, our mantra has been to ...

We had to turn around at the light and go back because we drove right past the place the first time. Denny Lesky, owner of Ionia Hot Rod Shop in Ionia, Michigan, gave us good directions, but, with the ...

Internationally renowned builder of bespoke customer cars, Paul Bacon, has completed his most ambitious project yet – a steampunk hot rod built from scratch. The Automatron is a horse-drawn carriage ...

This custom hot rod combines dramatic one-off styling with the unmistakable sound of a massive 9.0-liter V10 engine. The ...

More than 3,000 cars showed up to celebrate seven decades of HOT ROD, including no small number of cover cars and world-famous builds. David Freiburger guided us through the best ones.

Will joined the TopSpeed team over two and a half years ago, bringing his lifelong automotive passion, writing experience, and editorial expertise along with him. Whether classic or modern, American ...

On this episode of HOT ROD Garage presented by Lincoln tech, we deliver the basics of Fabrication! You’ve seen us build all sorts of things in the HOT ROD garage; engine mounts, exhausts, brackets, ...