The First 50 Years Of R&C

Bathing Suit Review: The October '90 "Bathing Suit Review" issue was classic Ganahl R&C. When every other mag was running cheesy bikini issues, R&C published these "long-lost" black-and-white, vintage-style photos of swimsuit models posing with a variety of vehicles. It was perfect.

Americruise: Forty years after Hirohata's road trip, R&C was still all about driving your rod or custom. In 1993, we invited our readers on one of seven road trips from various points in the USA to Springfield, MO. We named the tours, and the car show in Springfield, Americruise and have been doing it every summer since.

Old Is New: Baskerville, ever the champion of traditional rods, identified Newstalgia as a new styling trend. This alternative to high tech combined a less-customized, more-traditional look with modern mechanical benefits. Ray Lark's '33 highboy made the January '94 cover as an example of the Newstalgia movement.

Gray Baskerville: As of this writing, it's been a year since we said adios to "ol' Dad" Gray Baskerville. His words, photos, and enthusiasm have influenced Rod & Custom magazine since 1972. In fact, we really could've used his help with this article. He was one of a kind. We miss him.

Sketchpad: The Sketchpad feature that Joe Henning inspired in the '50s, and Tom Daniel developed in the '60s, has been maintained by a number of artists, most notably Thom Taylor and Steve Stanford. Stanford's '49-51 Ford and Taylor's '50 Buick were part of a April '95 story on the "Top 10 Customs."

Modern Customs: Custom cars continue to move in several different directions at once. The past few years have seen a surge in the popularity of traditional sleds, as well as a very recent return to one-off Roth-style kustoms. Another direction is toward modern customs, such as John D'Agostino's '57 Caddy, which was featured in September 1998.

100 Best: In December 1998, the staff decided to select the nicest cars they'd seen throughout the year and feature them together in a gallery called "100 Best Rods & Customs." It turned out to be a lot of work, but worth the effort. The annual presentation continued through 2001.

Asphalt Ego-Rama: The idea was based on R&C's desire to put people's rods and customs to the test--the old Rod Tests taken to the extreme. You guys were eager to participate, and the first two Asphalt Ego-Rama competitions were overwhelming successes. Ego-Rama '01 coverage ran in January 2002. Last year's event was covered in the last issue.