Hot Rods and Racing Cars #21

A nineteen-year-old racing prodigy named Ed Hammond has been tearing up the competition in a sleek American-made Eliot, but his car's owner worries the kid's raw talent is overshadowing the machine itself. When the scheduled driver for Pike's Peak—the ultimate test, a grueling 12½-mile mountain climb with 160 hairpin curves—falls ill, Hammond finally gets his chance to prove he's not just a boy wonder, but a driver who understands the car and the mountain as one.

When a loud-mouthed competitor called the Buzz Bomb rolls into the Alhambra drag race with a flame-throwing hot rod and a chip on his shoulder, "Hot Rod" King smells trouble—and he's right. As mysterious tire blowouts plague the competition throughout the speed trials and elimination races, "Hot Rod" and his pal Hank must uncover who's sabotaging the field before the final race begins. What they discover challenges everything they thought they knew about winning and sportsmanship.

Matt Brady, an engineer with a passion for racing, builds his own competition sports car when his company passes on his designs. With help from friends during a vacation, he transforms his vision into the Brady-Evans Special and prepares to challenge Mr. Whitney's professionally backed "White Comet"—driven by national champion Joe Dare—in the Chelsea Airport Road Race. When race day arrives, Matt must navigate treacherous conditions and fierce competition to prove his underdog machine belongs on the track.

Jim Benton arrives in the small town of Hilton determined to keep to himself, but a reckless encounter with a rival racer named Norm Vincent sets him on a dangerous path—one that earns him respect from the local hot-rod crowd, but at a cost he never anticipated. When jealousy, pride, and a refusal to follow anyone's rules but his own lead to a serious accident, Jim must confront what it truly means to be an outlaw racer in a town that's starting to see him differently.

When spoiled Ralph Colton's expensive convertible fails to earn him respect among the town's hot-rodders—or the attention of the girls—he recklessly pushes his car to dangerous speeds to prove himself, with tragic consequences. After a serious accident, Ralph discovers that the very hot-rodders he'd dismissed as reckless are the ones who save his life, and his father learns there's more to safe driving than the car itself. When Ralph recovers, he'll get the chance to build and drive a proper hot rod—if he's willing to learn the right way.