Collecting Children’s Auto Racing Books, Part I

Henry Gregor Felsen's Hot Rod Books

Henry Gregor Felsen and the Hot Rod

Where better to begin a series on collecting children’s auto racing books than with Felsen’s Hot Rod series?  There were earlier books for juveniles about automobile racing, but none were as long-lived.  Henry Gregor Felsen (1916-1995) was a prolific author with over sixty books published, along with numerous short stories and even a 1968 stock car racing film (Fever Heat) to his credit.  His writing often drew on his experiences, first in the military in World War II, and later as a race fan and admirer of the wildly customized cars of the post war era.

As he was writing his novels about young men and their souped up rides, the hot rod scene was going full bore in California and spreading rapidly across the United States.  Dry lakes racing, drag racing on abandoned airstrips and dark country roads were popular with the younger generation, just back from the war.   They wanted speed and cars that stood out from the rest.  Blessed with cheap gas and a ready supply of old jalopies, they built their own road rockets. 

That uniquely American car culture of the 1950s is preserved forever in the books of Henry Gregor Felsen.  His heroes were often rebels and his stories did not always culminate in the “happy ending” that was the norm for children’s books of that era. Felsen’s stories realistically reflected the mores and prejudices of the era.

Over eight million copies of Felsen’s hot rod books were sold.  Hot Rod, with its story of orphaned teenager Bud Crayne, remained on the juvenile best seller list for over twenty years.

These racing titles read by young men in the early 1950s and were still popular with their children twenty years later.  Many of these second generation hot rod enthusiasts remember reading nothing throughout the 1960s and 1970s but the latest issue of Hot Rod magazine and Henry Gregor Felsen’s books.  Today, Felsen’s books are being rediscovered by aging enthusiasts, who want to relive what was likely the “golden age of hot rodding” through his stories. 

While most of Felsen’s other juvenile titles enjoy a limited popularity with today’s collectors and remain in the reasonable $5-$20.00 range, his hot rod/racing titles, beginning with Hot Rod, early in the 1950s, are more sought after. 

FELSEN’S HOT ROD SERIES, A BIBLIOGRAPHY

Collectible Felsen titles that are not ex-library copies are scarce, unless they are paperback reprints.   Even the paperbacks are collectible

First editions are:

Crash Club; Random house, 1958

Fever Heat; Dell Publishing, 1954 (under pen name Angus Vicar) – this book was made into a movie, which was Nick Adam’s last venture

Hot Rod, ep dutton, 1950. 

This First Edition paperback sold for $47.00 on ebay 12/07

Rag Top Random House, 1954 Published 1954 as Cup of Fury)

Road rocket Road Rocket; Random House, 1960

Street Rod; Random House, 1953

First edition hardcover books of the above titles sell for $50-100, depending on condition.  50% less if they are ex-library books.  Paperbacks sell consistently well on internet auction sites for $25-40, if they are in good condition.

The Henry Gregor Felsen Collection, all six books, sold as a boxed set. 1990, GP Productions.  Current values, $300-500.00.  These sets are rapidly appreciating in value.  They are $500-600 on eBay and Amazon, with higher values if autographed by Felsen.  He appeared at several World of Wheels events and at a SEMA show.

*Prices given are asking prices on internet venues unless otherwise specified.  

(c)2008, Nancy Schaut