Hot Rod Car Magazine - Stories & Articles, Pictures, Reviews, Kits. All about Cars

love cars. Always have. From the moment my mechanic dad sat me in his lap and let me steer his 1958 Ford Ranchero I was hooked. In large part that explains this publication.

Dad tried to steer me away from the family business and in a way he succeeded. Instead of turning wrenches I took a shot at turning phrases and became a journalist. After a few years as a sports reporter/photographer for a couple of newspapers, I became the editor of a twice-weekly newspaper in Nanaimo, B.C. In 2001, I began writing a column called, My Car. . . .with Terry Denomme which featured local hotrods, classic cars, street rods, muscle cars, British cars - you name it. It was an instant hit and became syndicated in four Vancouver Island newspapers (Campbell River Courier Islander, Alberni Valley Times, Cowichan Valley Citizen, Harbour City/Oceanside Star). Writing the column did a couple of things; it turned a passion for all things automotive into an obsession and showed me a single weekly column would never do justice to how huge this hobby is in Canada. There are too many great cars with untold stories.

When I looked around I saw a landscape dominated by American magazines filled with American cars, American advertising and American opinions. Don't get me wrong, I appreciate and buy those U.S. magazines and at the time there really wasn't a Canadian based hot rod magazine that at least in looks and layout, matched the U.S. literature flooding the market.

So, in June of 2005, with the very important blessing of my wife Patty, I launched Canadian Hot Rods & Classics. In October of 2006, after nine issues of too much work and too little sleep, I decided it was time to ditch the day job and give the magazine my full attention. Yep, I'm that crazy and that passionate about the hobby and I try in each issue to convey that passion to the readers.

In 2008 we dropped “Classics” from the title and became Canadian Hot Rods which just clarified what our focus was from the beginning.

Now, I’m more of an enthusiast than an expert (though tech and build articles will certainly be guided by professionals). Project Budget Rambler — a 1963 Rambler Classic 770 wagon with a SBC and 4-bar rear suspension — is our first magazine project car and the second is our ’57 Ford faux Sedan Delivery nostalgia gasser. You can follow them step by step each issue of the magazine.

With each turn of the wrench and each article written I learn more and more. I've got a lot of catching up to do, but I never enjoyed university or college as much as I enjoy the lessons I learn each night or Saturday afternoon spent tinkering with my cars.

So, where does this magazine draw the line when it comes to feature content? Well, as the gearhead in charge Canadian Hot Rods will certainly reflect my tastes, which include almost anything with wheels but leans towards, traditional rods, muscle cars, street rods and customs.

That said, I'd like to let the readers dictate, to some extent, the content of this magazine. This publication welcomes your contributions, stories and photos. Monthly features such as Rearview Mirror and Readers Rides depend on it. In some cases, we'll even pay you to contribute.(Contact us about freelance rates).

If you have nothing to offer us but your opinion, that's fine because we'd love to hear from you and put your letters in the CHR mailbag.

I hope you enjoy Canadian Hot Rods. Creating and nurturing this magazine has been a blast in the same way going
0-60 in the five second range in a T-bucket is a blast - which is to say thrilling and terrifying at the same time.

Our goal is to become Canada's monthly gearhead chronicle of record. We need the support of Canadian gearheads to do it.

Terry Denomme
Publisher/Editor
Terry Face time

The cars that got away...

The ’67 Impala was a driver bought shortly after I starting writing the My Car.....with Terry Denomme column. Never did much with it but change the wheels, rebuild the carb and replace a rusty hood. Did put a power seat rack in it from a ’67 4-door parts. Lack of cash meant it became someone else’s car instead of the big block, 17-inch wheel resto-mod I envisioned. The ’62 Bel Air “bubbletop” is the car that continues to haunt me to this day. Bought it in 1987 from a police officer in Scarborough, ON. He grew up knowing the original owner and always wanted the car. He finally got it, but lost interest and sold it to me. It was a less-than-50,000 original mile car with original paint, 283/2-speed ‘glide and a back seat that looked as if no one had ever sat on it. Still had the B&A Chevrolet emblem on the trunk lid. (A big dealership in Toronto area at the time.) Did paint it, but had to sell it to pay for a year of journalism school in about 1994. Still hurts — a lot. Last I heard it was in Stratford, ON. My first car was a 1972 Cutlass S holiday coupe. Loved that car. It was the colour of a bananna with brown rally stripes — yeah, I know pretty yucky. But loved it anyway. Sold it when I started university. All the pics I had of that car went through a dog’s digestive track.