Absolutely the worst movie.

The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.

Unshakable, witty and deeply felt, the film will be paying emotional dividends for a long, long time.

It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.

For the final day of the 1958 best movie poll on ICM,I decided to look for one last title to view on YouTube. Looking down the YT page,I found a flick with a short & sweet run time,that led to me starting the hot rod up.The plot:Entering a street race, John Abernathy III runs into a puddle that splashes all over a man. Coming from the upper-class,Abernathy tries to hide as the police treat the puddle as a crime scene. As the police investigate the youth hang outs,Abernathy attempts to keep his driving and Rockabilly-singing identity secret. View on the film:Speeding by at 72 minutes, director Lew Landers & cinematographer Floyd Crosby give the flick an energetic slickness, with regular early Rock numbers being played with "happening" teen parties and limited Hot Rod racing. Kicking off all the trouble by John Abernathy III driving into a puddle (!) the screenplay by Lou Rusoff now has a sweet, sincere 50's innocence, due to the overreaction from the adults on Abernathy and the gang hanging out,now playing with a lightly comedic tone that sets the hot wheels off.

OK, was this a spoof, documentary, parody, comedy? I don't care, it's like some person 2 generations removed from the era used it for an excuse to write up every cliché for some subculture. It's just too hip, let's rumble, to cool Daddy O, to be cool, the moments of Father Knows Best revelations thrown in and you get vomit in the back of the throat.There is really no character development other then moron, senseless, self absorption. More then likely this what the movie was meant to be, I just don't find in interesting, humorous, nor entertaining, the music isn't that good.If you like the Beach Party movies you will like these series of movies, as for me, I kept watching my watch, wondering the run time.

Followers of the late Gene Vincent, one of the pioneers of the Rock and Roll music genre will have lots of reason to watch Hot Rod Gang. For the rest I can say there's hot rods, but only a couple of bad apples among the teens, hardly enough to call it gang.Actually the teens led by John Ashley just want to maintain their clubhouse where they dance, listen to rock and roll, and work on their hot rods. Ashley does all three but he has to keep it on the sly lest his maiden aunts who are straight out of Arsenic And Old Lace find out as they hold the key to his millions. They don't poison people, they're just plain dotty.Can't touch those millions, but Ashley can cut a record or two as a new rock and roll sensation with the help of Gene Vincent to save the club from Dub Taylor the landlord. In the meantime the club is getting a bad reputation from those teens who are into stealing and stripping cars.Some songs by Ashley and Vincent are the only reason to see this drive- in special from the Fifties.

American International Pictures led by cigar chomping Hollywood stereotype Samuel Z. Arkoff produced lots of these teen exploitation B Movies in the 50's and 60's and Hot Rod Gang is one of them. The formula was simple, hot rods, fights, drag racing, girls and rock and roll music. This film has all of that plus Gene Vincent! The story is about John Abernathy III played by Elvis sound alike John Ashley who is part of society's upper crust who has to keep his "hot rod gang" a secret from his family. He meets Lois Cavendish played by Jody Fair who also played the heroin junkie in "High School Confidential" and helps keep his secret safe and enjoys his hot rod gang. The '32 Ford roadster Ashley drives is the Bob McGee/Dick Sritchfield roadster. The '32 Ford roadster that Ashley's nemesis Steve Drexel drives is actually the famous Pete Hendersen roadster which is the car that had the famous race with a quarter horse that set the blueprint for quarter mile drag racing. These two have a "curb race" in the beginning of the film that will make any car buff cringe! By the way, the opening sequence was filmed on Santa Monica blvd in Hollywood. The other '32 Ford in this movie is Tony LaMasa's chopped and channeled green roadster that was the same car that was featured in an episode of Ozzie and Harriet where Ozzie raced it in a Model T. Gene Vincent plays himself and sings 2 songs and tries to help Ashley's singing career but Ashley declines because he can't risk a public appearance because the police(Russ Bender)are looking for Ashley for splashing the stodgy old man in the beginning of the film with his hot rod while racing through a puddle...for reals!!! If anything, it's worth seeing this just to see Maureen Arthur sing one of the corniest songs ever "Choo Choo Cha Poochie" in the pointiest bra known to man. The Ala-Kart, a show winning hot rod built by George Barris is also in the film but only in 2 scenes and for some reason, hardly noticeable.