# O/T Bookstore find--Hot Rod!



## ParkRNDL (Mar 20, 2002)

Pretty sure that many of us here are the right age to remember Henry Gregor Felsen. I think I've even mentioned him and his books here on the forums over the years. So look what I found at the local used bookstore today:










I read his novels in late elementary and middle school, and never forgot them. I won't say they got me hooked on cars, as I had the bug already by the time I started kindergarten, but these books certainly added fuel to the fire. The ones I remember reading are Hot Rod, Street Rod, and Crash Club, and I have a vague recollection of one called Boy Gets Car, which apparently also went by the name Road Rocket. Now, scouring the intarwebs for copies of these as an adult, I learned two things: One, I missed a good one called Rag Top (aka Cup of Fury), and two, his books are apparently hard to come by and pricey when you find them. So I was stoked to find this one in with the cheap used paperbacks. It's been added to my cherished collection of '50s and '60s cheese-dog car books written primarily for boys not quite old enough to drive. 










So am I the only one, or are some of you guys hoarding old hot rod books like these that you acted out at age 10 with your Thunderjet Hot Rods? I'm seriously considering modeling some of the cars in the books as Tjet bodies...

--rick


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## DesertSlot (May 8, 2009)

That's cool! I remember that book Hot Rod. LOL


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## eastside johnny (May 13, 2008)

I still have my copies of his books (with rubber bands wrapped around to hold them together!) Prior to those "Hot Rod" books he also wrote Fever Heat under the name Angus Vicker. 
If not for these books and the old Illustrated Speedway News and comic books, I never would have read anything as a kid.


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## 440s-4ever (Feb 23, 2010)

About 2 years ago Henry's son was working on getting those back in print


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## ParkRNDL (Mar 20, 2002)

440s-4ever said:


> About 2 years ago Henry's son was working on getting those back in print


Yeah, not long ago I found and read a really long thread on the HAMB message board about it, but I'm not sure that it ever happened.

--rick


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## ParkRNDL (Mar 20, 2002)

must be time to dust off this old thread again...

found some new (old) ones to add to the collection.










the two in the back aren't quite the same genre as the other stuff I've been collecting, but I think they are a neat complement...

any of the new guys have some of this stuff?

--rick


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## aurora1 (Oct 6, 2008)

Loved the Black Tiger books as a kid. They did not ignite my love of cars but they sure fueled the fire. Read them all a number of times in grade school. Liked the Hot Rod books too.


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## SplitPoster (May 16, 2006)

When I emptied out my storage unit I can across a Gene Olson book, "Bucket of Thunderbolts," got it when I was in the sixth grade I think. Re-read it and loved it, makes me want to hunt for some more now! Had to read it like I was too young to drive, let alone race, but that's OK. Remember ordering those books from the sheets they passed out at school?


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## travis1960 (Apr 25, 2004)

In Jr. High my English teacher Mrs. Eva Lois McElveen made me read Hot Rod for a book report. It gave me my love of reading that I still have to this day. I have hundreds of books.
I was lucky enough to acquire an autographed boxed set of his books. He was a great author. 





































:dude:


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## ParkRNDL (Mar 20, 2002)

WOW. That box set is a treasure... both in collectible value and in what it represents. Great stuff!

The ones you other guys mentioned--the Black Tiger books, Bucket of Thunderbolts, like that--are all on a list I keep in my phone. I pull it up every time I get to spend time at a used bookstore. That's how I found the last three.

--rick


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## gonegonzo (Jan 18, 2006)

I too read those books . I haven't thought of them for years . With your post you have rekindled an interest for them and I'm going to keep my eye opened for them to buy .

Thak you for the inspiration .
Gonzo


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