Johnny Hunkins: What HOT ROD Means to Me

LOOKING BACK

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HRM: What does HOT ROD represent, in your opinion?

Johnny Hunkins: HOT ROD is unlike every other car magazine-and I've worked for a lot of them in that it is about inclusion rather than exclusion. When other magazines singled out one make of car, one era of car, or one build style of car, HOT ROD always embraced them all. For all the grief we get about favoring one brand or another, HOT ROD is universal. There's no drawing of a line in the sand and saying, "If your car isn't old enough or isn't this brand, or that style, you're not in our club." This has not always been an easy road to follow as passing fads have sometimes played an outsized role in deciding the content that magazines publish. And where are those magazines today? They're gone. They weren't inclusive enough and didn't have the remit they needed to survive. HOT ROD is like that old comfortable pair of jeans that always fits and always feels good in any situation in any era.

HRM: Prior to being on staff, what was your impression of Hot Rod?

HUNKINS: Most of my 30-year career has ironically been spent competing against HOT ROD, first as the editor of Popular Hot Rodding. then as editor of Car Craft. Other stints working for Muscle Mustangs & Fast Fords, GM High-Tech Performance, and Mopar Muscle magazines meant that I always had a close eye on what HOT ROD was doing; HOT ROD was alternately a bellwether or an acid test for me, so I'd have to say it played a North Star role. Prior to working in the industry, HOT ROD played an important but subservient role to the influence of Super Stock & Drag Illustrated and Cars Illustrated, two magazines that themselves were alternative responses to the strong influence of HOT ROD.