Popular Hot-Rodding had a long run from June 1962 to September 2014.
This magazine focused on the performance side of cars, so it was more technical than most car magazines.
It was also a great source of information and a reference guide to the cultural history behind the more-power guys of the past—the May 1971 issue is a case in point.
Jerry Sutherland
1971 was the dawn of the smog era laws and a Pop Rod Minitest of a brand-new ’71 454 Vette made the case for how these laws affected performance.
The big-block 454 dropped the compression from 1970’s 10.25 to 1 down to 9:00 to 1. This was done to accommodate smog rules and crappy gas—it made the ’71 Vette slower than the ’70 by a few seconds.
Popular Hot Rodding also had a section called Swap Talk where car guys could ask tech questions about various potential engine swaps. This was highly educational because it showed how far builders were willing to go back in ’71.
For example, one guy wanted to swap a 1965 Dodge 361 V-8 into a ’68 Torino. Bear in mind the Torino was a 3-year-old car in 1971, so this would be like swapping a Gen III hemi into a 2023 Camaro.
Ford guys must have hated that swap—or maybe it didn’t matter 55 years ago. The Pop Rod guys said, “In all these years around swaps, we’ve never seen this one” but added, it was “No big thing” to make the swap. They were definitely less judgmental back on ‘71.
The next example made more sense. A reader wanted to plunk a small-block 302 Ford V-8 into a 1957 MGA.
The Shelby Cobra made this swap more popular—the Popular Hot-Rodding guys said this was, “the most common swap of import swaps and it is a keen result”. ‘Keen’ was still used back in ’71–they also said the firewall had to be moved but it “doesn’t bother foot room significantly”. Let’s be honest…people were slimmer in 1971.
A third reader with a ’64 Rambler wanted to swap its tired I-6 (inline six-cylinder) and replace it with a Ford V-8. Again, this tells you how a manufacturer didn’t matter because this was a practical swap—but it still speaks volumes about how a 7-year-old car could get a new heart from a rival car builder in 1971.
That’s how simple cars were 55 years ago. The Popular Hot-Rodding guys called it “an easy swap” but recommended a swap to a C-4 Ford transmission. Rambler guys never weighed in on this heresy.
The next reader made less sense.
He wanted to plunk a late-model Chevy V-8 into a 1965 Mustang. The Popular Hot-Rodding guys were pumped about this project: “Your engine fits like a charm—even the larger 396-454 will go in”. Ford guys in 2026 would be far less enthusiastic about this swap.
The last one was just as mystifying because a guy wanted to put a 427 L-88 in a ‘70 Maverick. The Maverick was only a year old in ’71, so this Ford/Chevy swap was done on what was essentially a new car.
The Popular Hot-Rodding guys threw a flag on this idea because, as they admitted,“The shock towers would be a big problem”. They recommended a Pinto for this swap because it didn’t have the shock towers. They were giving technical advice, but I would have told the guy to buy a 396 Nova and spare himself the pain.
They answered other questions in the May 1971 edition.
A reader wanted to know the difference between a 327 Rambler and a 327 Chevy small-block. The answer was clear: “Entirely different engines with same bore and stroke. Chevy has better ports and combustion chamber, so they develop more hp per cubic inch with a lot more aftermarket parts”.
The last section was called “Couch’s Warehouse”.
Believe it or not, they were selling Mopar 426 Wedge bare blocks for $70.00 and 427 Chevy bare blocks with 4-bolt mains for $125.00.
That summed up the car culture 54 years ago—affordability and wild ideas.
Jerry Sutherland
By: Jerry Sutherland
Jerry Sutherland is a veteran automotive writer with a primary focus on the collector car hobby. His work has been published in many outlets and publications, including the National Post, Calgary Herald, Edmonton Journal, Ottawa Citizen, Montreal Gazette, Saskatoon StarPhoenix, Regina Leader-Post, Vancouver Sun and The Truth About Cars. He is also a regular contributor to Auto Roundup Publications.
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