Thread: Help finding an old book for Father's Day: '49 ford hot rod

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Hello all, I'm trying to find my dad a present for Father's Day.

He's said that if he could have any classic car, he'd get a '49 Ford. I can't get him the car, but I wanted to see if I could get him the source of his inspiration.

When my dad was a kid in the '50s, he read what I suspect was a pulp novel about hot rods. All that I have to go on is that the protagonist had a '49 Ford, and that he died in the end.

I realize that's not much information to start with, but I'm hoping maybe something might strike a chord. Even any leads on where I should start looking would be appreciated. Google hasn't been very helpful, as most of the search results are "how to" stuff, rather than fiction.

Thanks in advance for any help!

Have a great day,
-Austin

Kind of sounds like Thunder Road. It is about moonshiners. Although I know there was a book, I remember the movie with Robert Mitchum as the main character, who died in the ending. In the movie he had a 51 Ford if I remember it correctly. Not sure about the book.

Austin,
It's a total crapshoot for you to find the right book without a title, especially 50 years after the fact. While his story might be Return to Thunder Road (the book the movie was made from) there were way too many hot rod stories in the 50's & 60's to be sure. Can you perhaps find a way to learn the title of the book your Dad liked so much, like "Hey Dad, what was that book you read as a kid about the shoebox Ford where the guy died in a wreck?", or "Hey Dad, did they ever make a movie about that book you liked where the guy got killed in a shoebox Ford?"

He might enjoy a 1/25 scale model of a '49 Ford. Go to ebay and type in this number to see a nice kit....290561249713.
I was trying to help you look and thought I had it when this popped up....read the first couple sentences....
SparkNotes: This Boy's Life: Part Four, Chapters 3
I searched through the first 10 pages of Google with the heading "book fiction 1949 Ford hero dies". If you want to pick up at page 11, go for it.

Originally Posted by techinspector1

He might enjoy a 1/25 scale model of a '49 Ford. Go to ebay and type in this number to see a nice kit....290561249713.
I was trying to help you look and thought I had it when this popped up....read the first couple sentences....
SparkNotes: This Boy's Life: Part Four, Chapters 3
I searched through the first 10 pages of Google with the heading "book fiction 1949 Ford hero dies". If you want to pick up at page 11, go for it.

Tech, your scale model idea is a great one I googled and looked too, but did not get through ten pages before I backed away I remember several by Henry Gregor Felson (one of those names that sticks in your mind) like The Red Car" and "Hot Rod". Several other authors of youth novels, good kid gets into a bad crowd, starts getting in trouble, some incident with a hot rod and good kid saves the day and straightens out forever... Good stories for young gearheads to be. You might contact these guys and see if they know your book:
http://www.hotrodmemories.com/default.php

google new book releases 1950 and you will find a lot of info .......ted

Thanks to everybody for their suggestions, there are some great ideas and leads here. @rspears, I'm afraid that's where I started, but he couldn't remember anything further. I've seen him read two novels on a single plane flight, but he clearly doesn't read for retention.

Thank you all!

I might be wrong, but the book you are looking for is called "Hot Rod" and I don't remember the author's name though I do remember he penned another in the same vein called "Ragtop". Our high school library had both and I read them probably in 1957 or 58.

Amazon.com: The Henry Gregor Felsen Collection (Gr. 9-12 ...
(4 Reviews) This collection of Felsen's six most famous hot rod novels includes; Hot Rod, Street Rod, Crash Club, Fever Heat (rather adult), Road Rocket (his last), and Rag Top (my ...
http://www.amazon.com/Henry-Gregor-F...ction-9-12/dp/...

hope this helps

Exactly charlie, those are the ones I was thinking of