1948: A Magazine Gives Hot Rodding a Voice

In the years after World War II, "hot rodder" was often a term of suspicion in newspapers. Reckless street driving made headlines, and the hobby's organized side — timing associations, technical rules, safety inspections — got far less attention.

In January 1948, Robert E. Petersen and Robert Lindsay published the first issue of Hot Rod magazine. Its early pages covered dry lakes results, technical how-to articles, and the cars and people of the Southern California scene.

Building an audience

The magazine connected enthusiasts far beyond California. A builder in the Midwest or the Northeast could now see what was happening on the lakes and learn how it was done. Petersen Publishing went on to become one of the largest publishers of special-interest magazines in the country.

Decades later, Petersen's name became attached to another institution: the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles, which opened in 1994.