The ability of U.S. car enthusiasts to satisfy their need for speed changed dramatically in the late 1940s as car-crazy veterans returned home from World War II with formal mechanical training, courtesy of Uncle Sam. This is the story of how one such veteran, an ex-B-17 airman named Alex Xydias, established the SO-CAL Speed Shop and helped transform hot rodding from a scruffy, underground, outlaw sport into a defining part of postwar American culture.
Mark Christensen has written several books, including The Sweeps: Behind the Scenes in Network TV and Build the Perfect Beast, as well as two novels, Mortal Belladaywic and Aloha. He is a former media columnist for Rolling Stone and his feature stories have appeared in The Los Angeles Times Sunday Magazine, Playboy, and Wired. Christensen lives in Long Beach, California, near the heart of the original hot rod movement.