HOT ROD Garage

HRG is back and so is our 80/90s Super-Truck, the granddaddy of go-fast SUVs, our '92 Typhoon!! Rod knock will be a thing of the past as Alex and Lucky refresh the drivetrain and pit it head to head against today's top-of-the-line, ultra-lux, supercharged people-mover.

Last year's newly minted annual holiday, HRG Day, was a wild success for everyone but the Bonemaro, the Crown Hic and the Savoy. All three came home hurt, and Hot Rod detectives Alex and Lucky are on the case to find out why. But more important, they're out to serve justice by finally putting a quarter-mile time on the Red-Eye-powered, big-tire Savoy.

Alex and Lucky explore new territory in the world of land speed racing and continue down a well-worn path with the Bonemaro. But more than the cars, this one is all about goals: setting personal targets on the dry lake beds of El Mirage and (fingers crossed) breaking personal bests running the Bonemaro into the nines.

After years of living a very polarizing existence with an electric motor swapped between its frame rails, Alex and Lucky have finally been given the go-ahead to bring Project X back to its glory days as a gas-huffing machine. As a long-running test mule of the latest trends, there is no better way to bring Project X back than a simple 1,000-hp crate 632 from GM.

Our long disappointed Grand National has finally earned its keep here at Hot Rod Garage. With whiff after whiff at the dragstrip, we pulled out all the stops, called a few friends, and finally got to the bottom (end) of what's been holding us back. But with a proper foundation intact at last, there is no longer a question of what's wrong, but rather why stop now?

Roadkill Nights is back, and so is our '55 Savoy! We're heading back to Pontiac, Michigan, for all the street-legal drag racing action on Woodward, but this time we're competing in the Big Tire class. That means faster cars, better drivers, and a real need to step up our game.

Who doesn't love a '79 Trans Am? We do, and so does Derek from Roadworthy Rescues. He also seems to like us just enough to let us play with his 'Bird when he was done with it. The only problem is the little engine fire that ignited on its way over to us. So before we can get to our plans of big power and smoky burnouts, we have to re-roadworthy Derek's rescue before we can live out our smoky dreams.

Our '32 Roadster land speed car is finally starting to take shape, and it's ready to take its maiden voyage down the dry lake bed of El Mirage. That is, of course, if the lake bed stays dry. Weather aside, our flathead V-8 sings the song of our forebears in celebration of 75 years of Hot Rod magazine.

Can a dime-a-dozen Beetle be called a hot rod? That's the question Alex and Lucky set out to answer as they take a well-worn Beetle and start it down the road to a Cal-look cruiser. They're cheap, easy to modify and have parts support galore. So you tell us: Is a Beetle a hot rod?

An all-wheel-drive sport truck should really have all of its wheels driving, right? That's the goal this week as Alex and Lucky upgrade our Typhoon trans and everything from the transfer case forward, bulletproofing parts until the next one fails! Now who's got a lead on a good turbo upgrade?

We may have killed Derek's Roadworthy Rescue'd Trans Am last time, but we're here to make it right -- and to make it better! Enter 455 upgrades for power, a T-56 for shifts, and EFI for all of those hairpin turns, and we've got ourselves the Trans Am of Burt's dreams!

We're losing the shop, so we have one last, very cool project: a push truck for our Land Speed Roadster! A '57 Chevy panel truck makes the perfect base to clear the HRG Speed Shop's shelves, and it's exactly what you'd see pushing cars on the Salt Flats in the '60s. Not to mention it won't hurt to have it as we move into the new shop.

HRG Day is back, and it's officially annual! Your new favorite holiday is still full of friends, horsepower and tacos, and this year we're lining up all the newest members of our fleet for dragstrip duty. Watch the episode this year, then come be a part of it in person next year, because HRG Day is here to stay!