ight now you are reading the February issue of Classic Truck Performance, making it already feel as if this year is moving along at a rapid pace. As such, we are well into the New Year of 2021 as we begin production on the March issue of Modern Rodding. It’s also been a year since we have had to deal with COVID. I’m sure all of us have in some way made concessions to our daily lives to get through and get through safe and healthy. I will say one of my ways to cope was to spend more time with my 1972 Suburban and fix a handful of little “need to do” items that I never seemed to have time to otherwise fix. Alas, it’s proving to be a great running, driving, and handling truck. So, something good has come from all of this “enclosure” each of us has had to endure.

Back on track with MR and the March issue. Most notable will be the wrapup of the two-part series on Ed Iskenderian, or “Isky” as he’s known. We’ve taken a look at him, his business, and, of course, his roadster, which may actually be the longest existing (and untouched) hot rod on the streets of SoCal to date. What’s always fun with these historical stories are the vintage photos. It’s fun to look at the photo topic and the backgrounds to see if we can get a feel for the way life was back in the “old days.” There’s plenty and you will enjoy the Isky wrapup.

How about a story that should be fun for those of you who enjoy learning about vintage engines? We take a look at two of the most venerable of the vintage engine crowd with the “Elephant” motor, or early Hemi, and the W-motor, or the 409, made famous in song and racing. We take a look at the early Hemi engine family beginning in 1951 with the 331-inch but also the smaller cubic-inch Hemis, such as the DeSoto 241 and 270 blocks. Yet we would be totally remiss if we didn’t touch on the 392, the Hemi that so many of us remember from its total dominance in the ’50s-forward drag racing. To this we add the W-motor that began life as the 348 with Tri-power and then turned into the 409 with dual quads. Now, these were potent powerplants of the day and songs by the Beach Boys sure didn’t slow down their popularity. Nowadays, it’s still a common sight, although becoming more difficult to obtain, to see one of the W-motors resting in a period-correct late-’50s or early-’60s Chevy or between the framerails of an early hot rod. Impressive, to say the least. Ever wonder where the “W” designation came from? Chevy engineers were working on three new engines at the time with the code names “W,” “X,” and “Y.” The X and Y engines were intended to be small-blocks while the W design used an entirely new block and heads. So, there you have the rest of that story but for the rest of the story on Hemis and the W-motor, make sure to tune into the March issue of Modern Rodding.

Should you find yourself needing to upgrade the suspension on your hot rod, even if it is a truck, then the independent front suspension (IFS) story on a Fatman Fabrications clip just might come in handy. Here we take a look at a 1957 Ford sedan that was sent to Kugel Komponents for both a front and rear clip. We captured the Fatman IFS fitted to the 1957 Ford while it was at Kev Elliott’s shop (Kev’s Rod & Custom) as he was performing his sheetmetal magic.

If your current project revolves around you working inside the cockpit, then we have a story utilizing Classic Instruments gauges. Follow along as we visit Hot Rods by Dean and watch Dean Livermore’s staff install a Bel Era gauge panel (cluster) into a 1955 Chevy. Nothing like cool-looking, modernized gauges that still feature the factory vintage look to make “all right with the world.”

As for features, well, there are plenty, ranging from Deuce highboys to ’60s-era Chevy Impalas. One of our favorite March features is the 1932 Ford channeled five-window coupe built in a very East Coast style. You will marvel at just how wide and white those bias-plies are; a Flathead for power and the all-black interior with its striking white piping really gives a custom flare.

That wraps up a quick look at MR for March, but there is plenty more to sit back in your most comfy of chairs and spend an evening enjoying what’s happening in other areas of hot rodding.