ot rodders have long embraced risk, pushing the limits with untested hardware. The death-defying feats of early hot rodders have been enshrined in the lore of the land but so have the defeats. These days, hot rodding is much safer, and the risk, while significantly reduced, has morphed into a stickier set of inconveniences. Overheating, dead batteries, strange noises, stalling—these are things old cars do when you are planning to do other things. Driving an old car should be an adventure, not a boondoggle with gremlins hiding around every corner. That brings us to the Dakota Digital Chevy installation of their latest RTX gauges in our 1965 Impala.

A fun hot rod adventure starts with cockpit instruments that are readable, attractive, and, most of all, reliable. Aviation learned long ago that wiring and avionics age faster than the machines they serve. Military EWIS studies routinely show that while airframes can run for decades, wiring often fails in half that time due to heat cycling, vibration, and insulation breakdown. The same physics apply to cars, and a 1965 Impala’s original instrumentation is long past its dependable lifespan. The Dakota Digital Chevy installation of their latest RTX Series isn’t just a cosmetic upgrade—it brings improved accuracy and newfound reliability to a vintage dashboard.

he sun hadn’t yet burned off the morning haze from Pennsylvania’s rolling hills when the first rumble echoed across the Carlisle Fairgrounds and the Carlisle Ford Nationals. It began as a distant growl—low, mechanical, unmistakable—then multiplied. One engine became 10, then a hundred, until the air itself seemed to pulse with horsepower.

It happens every June, when Blue Oval fanatics make the pilgrimage from every corner of North America and beyond, from quiet garages to loud city streets, converging on the quaint hamlet of Carlisle, Pennsylvania, for the Carlisle Ford Nationals, which fill the show fields with incredible cars, trucks, parts, and people.

They are lifelong collectors, first-time dreamers, industry and TV stars, and everyone in-between. They bring every FoMoCo make and model—Mustangs and Broncos, F-150s and Fairlanes, Crown Victorias and Cobras, Econolines and Edsels—in all, more than 3,500 vehicles strong.

PHOTOGRAPHY BY THE AUTHOR, BRIAN BRENNAN & TODD RYDEN

t’s been said that the secret to success in life is really a matter of timing—being in the right place at the right time. While it may be a stretch as metaphors go, the same thing can be said about the basic ignition and timing in your hot rod. Delivering the spark that ignites combustion at the right time is the key to performance. The problem is that the right time for it to occur changes with a variety of factors.

Before delving into basic ignition and timing, let’s look at the basic operation of the ignition system. If you’ve ever wondered who figured out how to take battery voltage and bump it up to 25,000 V or more to fire the spark plugs, the credit goes to a guy named Charles F. Kettering. He developed the inductive ignition system first used on the 1912 Cadillac; that basic system is still in use today. In operation, the original Kettering system used a coil (a step-up transformer) to increase battery voltage. Current from the ignition switch passed through a set of points (a mechanical switch) in the distributor, then through the coil’s primary windings, creating a magnetic field. When the points opened, the magnetic field collapsed, inducing voltage in the secondary windings of the coil, which had many more turns of wire than the primary (there was also a condenser in the system to keep the points from arcing). The high voltage from the coil’s secondary windings was delivered to the distributor cap. The rotor sent spark to the appropriate cylinder, and the process repeated as the rotor turned to align with the next spark plug terminal. The amazing thing about Kettering’s ignition system is that the basic concept remains in use today. The one major change has been the elimination of mechanical points that required periodic maintenance. Today electronics do what the points once did, but the function of the basic ignition and timing system remains the same.

heet metal work and fitting of body panels are integral to the metalwork process. Time and patience here lead to superior paintwork and gap consistency. A tremendous amount of work goes into building a car at the highest level, and we’re going to take a deep dive into the recent build of a 1957 Chevrolet Bel Air at Scott’s Hotrods ’N Customs. As with many cars approaching 70 years of service, a few gremlins lurked beneath the surface of what appeared to be a solid car. Fortunately, the team at Scott’s thrives on challenges like this, so they rolled up their sleeves, dug in, and did what had to be done.

The rocker panels on both sides showed signs of rust, so all compromised metal was cut away and replaced with new steel. One key detail that separates a top-level build from an average one is the fitting of body panels, ensuring uniform panel gaps around the hood, fenders, doors, and decklid. Each of these areas was carefully reworked until the gaps were perfectly straight and consistent, and any other minor panel imperfections were corrected at this stage. Once the bodywork appeared complete, the body was media-blasted inside and out in preparation for paint.

he 2026 Medford Rod & Custom Show is just one year away from a momentous occasion, celebrating its illustrious 50th anniversary, and it wasn’t an easy path to get there. Rich Wilson took over producing the Medford Rod & Custom Show in 2015, and I started covering it for Street Rodder magazine and broadcasting Street Rodder’s Facebook Live feeds from there in 2016. It’s been 10 years since live streaming came of age in 2016, and MotorTrend was the only automotive media company included in Facebook’s $50 million campaign to launch Facebook Live. Street Rodder was part of the MotorTrend Group, and all MotorTrend Group editors were enlisted to do live feeds.

In 2019, the Medford Rod & Custom Show joined the nation’s top custom car shows by becoming a Street Rodder Top 100 show. The last year the show was held at the Jackson County Expo Fairgrounds was 2019. The Expo’s main building has a dirt floor covered with canvas. Despite the dust and dirt floating in the air and landing on show cars, the special treatment Rich Wilson gave entrants offset the inconvenience of having to constantly keep a car dusted.

The 42nd Annual Medford Rod & Custom Show, landing on Easter in 2019 for a second time drove Wilson and the show out of Medford in search of an Oregon city more hospitable. As fate would have it, after testing the waters at various venues in neighboring cities for a few years, nothing panned out. And then the big break came. Moving back to Medford, this time without having to be on a dirt floor, the 47th Annual Medford Rod & Custom Show in 2024 became one of the first events to exhibit inside the new 140,000-square-foot, $76 million Rogue Credit Union Community Complex (Rogue X) recreational facility. The following year, the 48th Annual Medford Rod & Custom Show joined forces with the ARP West Coast Challenge Series (WCCS).

uctions can be sensory overload for a hot rodder: rows of sheet metal, chrome, V-8 power, and possibilities stacked as far as you can walk. Every once in a while, if you slow down and really look the right car stops you cold. This 1965 Chevy Impala wagon was that kind of find. This is a muscle car in a “station wagon’s clothing.” When you get the chance, it pays to walk the aisles of one of the many Mecum Auctions.

At first glance, it is easy to see the appeal: fullsize Chevrolet longroof, an ideal project for a road car with room to haul family or your hot rod buddies, swap meet scores, or a weekend worth of T-shirts, tools, starters, and rags. Look closer, and the story gets even better. Under the hood of our 1965 Chevy Impala wagon is the born-with 409/340hp V-8, backed by a Powerglide and a 12-bolt 3.31 Positraction rearend. For Chevy fans, that combination puts this wagon in rare company. This wagon sold for just over $31,000 … think about it. A running project car with vintage looks and power. What a great spot to begin.

Only 82 409-powered 1965 Chevy Impala wagons were built for 1965, the final year for Chevrolet’s legendary W-series big-block. This one is an unrestored, numbers-matching example with the kind of documentation rodders dream about: five original build sheets, the Protect-O-Plate, protection plan booklet, owner’s manual, accessory booklet, AM/FM radio guide, and insurance records and registrations that run through 1983. This is the kind of find that hot rodders get all giddy over as it makes great garage talk with a beer in hand and a slice of pizza in the other (or burger, fries, chocolate shake, you get the picture).