OVERVIEW:
Hop Up magazine popularized the "little pages" (trade-sized or pocket-sized) magazine format (5-1/2" by 8"). It was started by Road & Track magazine staff at Enthusiasts Publications. Louis Kimzey, the art director, observed the popularity of hot rods and customs and felt a need to cover local cars and events. He convinced editor Oliver Billingsley to create such a magazine.

The first issue in July, 1951 was a test run, and about 5,000 issues were printed. August was the first full production run. It was 48 pages and priced at $.15 each. Note that both July and August issues share the same cover as well as the same volume and series number.

In 1952, the Road & Track advertising manager and investor Bill Quinn traded his invested shares for the rights to the Hop Up title, and he took some staff including Mr. Kimzey to form the new Quinn Publishing Company in Los Angeles.

The magazine struggled financially due to its small size and lack of advertisers, so in February, 1953 Hop Up went to a larger print format. Readers wrote and complained about the change, so Quinn assigned Spencer Murray to create Rod & Custom in the small format style. Petersen Publishing, a direct competitor, launched Honk as a competitive response.

Bill Quinn really wanted to compete with and out-do Petersen's Motor Trend, and in June, 1953 Hop Up was co-titled as Hop Up and Motor Life. The content began shifting to new cars, and the March, 1954 issue was the last one with this co-titling. The phrase Hop Up was dropped from the title afterwards, hot rod related content moved to Rod & Custom, and the remains were titled as Motor Life. Whew!!

And in the last twist of fate, Bill Quinn sold Rod & Custom and Motor Life magazine titles to Petersen Publishing in June, 1955.

The table of contents, if available, can be seen by clicking on the icon.

PUBLICATION DATA:
The publisher did not provide circulation data to N.W. Ayer.

CONTENT COMPLETENESS:
A total of 33 issues were printed. All cover images and table of content pages are complete for this title.

Hop Up July 1951
July 1951 Vol 1 No 1
Hop Up Aug August 1951
Aug 1951 Vol 1 No 1
Hop Up Sept September 1951
Sept 1951 Vol 1 No 2
Hop Up Oct October 1951
Oct 1951 Vol 1 No 3
Hop Up Nov November 1951
Nov 1951 Vol 1 No 4
Hop Up Dec December 1951
Dec 1951 Vol 1 No 5
Hop Up Jan January 1952
Jan 1952 Vol 1 No 6
Hop Up Feb February 1952
Feb 1952 Vol 1 No 7
Hop Up Mar March 1952
Mar 1952 Vol 1 No 8
Hop Up Apr April 1952
Apr 1952 Vol 1 No 9
Hop Up May 1952
May 1952 Vol 1 No 10
Hop Up June 1952
June 1952 Vol 1 No 11
Hop Up July 1952
July 1952 Vol 1 No 12
Hop Up Aug August 1952
Aug 1952 Vol 2 No 1
Hop Up Sept September 1952
Sept 1952 Vol 2 No 2
Hop Up Oct October 1952
Oct 1952 Vol 2 No 3
Hop Up Nov November 1952
Nov 1952 Vol 2 No 4
Hop Up Dec December 1952
Dec 1952 Vol 2 No 5
Hop Up Jan January 1953
Jan 1953 Vol 2 No 6
Hop Up Feb February 1953
Feb 1953 Vol 2 No 7
Large Print Format
Hop Up Mar March 1953
Mar 1953 Vol 2 No 8
Hop Up Apr April 1953
Apr 1953 Vol 2 No 9
Hop Up May 1953
May 1953 Vol 2 No 10
Hop Up June 1953
June 1953 Vol 2 No 11
w/ Motor Life
Hop Up July 1953
July 1953 Vol 2 No 12
Hop Up Aug August 1953
Aug 1953 Vol 3 No 1
Hop Up Sept September 1953
Sept 1953 Vol 3 No 2
Hop Up Oct October 1953
Oct 1953 Vol 3 No 3
Hop Up Nov November 1953
Nov 1953 Vol 3 No 4
Hop Up Dec December 1953
Dec 1953 Vol 3 No 5
Hop Up Jan January 1954
Jan 1954 Vol 3 No 6
Hop Up Feb February 1954
Feb 1954 Vol 3 No 7
Hop Up Mar March 1954
Mar 1954 Vol 3 No 8
Last issue