We found this beauty that was titled: 1937 Black and Gray Hotrod by Josh Duffy. Photo from tattoonow.com

Google is an amazing creation. Let’s say you get a crazy question that comes to mind… a quick visit to Google and all the mysteries of your question are answered in an instant. We had one of those crazy thoughts recently and took a wonder trip down Google’s yellow brick road (forgive the Wizard of Oz reference but it was Thanksgiving), to discover the latest topic on our brain, hot rod tattoos.

Nice California car scene found on nextluxury.com

We’ve been blessed walking around the various car shows and events with the amount of ink on the bodies of people wandering around the events. Some better than others (tattoos and bodies). Most of the ink that we’ve seen have a personal meaning to the wearer, but not much to do specifically with hot rodding. Always the investigative reporters, our crew consistently asks about the ink and the meaning behind it.

After hearing so many different stories and reasons for “inking up,” it doesn’t take long to start questioning what is the best hot rod tattoo in the world. That question did cross our mind recently and we immediately jumped on the yellow brick road to Google’s land of Oz, in search of the best hot rod tattoo on the internet. 

What we found was some amazing works of art. Ignoring the man behind the curtain at Google (another Wizard of Oz reference), the site led us to Pinterest and the wonderful boards full of skin ink. We found a great hot rod tattoo on illusion.scene360.com from Ukrainian tattooist Denis Sivak. According to the board, Sivak specializes in grayscale and color with special attention to shadows that make the image stand out. Savik’s Facebook fanpage offers little explanation of the tattooist or his work, but there are many more photos of his work on the page.

Denis Sivak’s work that appears to be a 1932 Ford Hi-boy is simply titled “Hot Rod tattoo” on Will Browning’s pinterest board.

Another tat on Browning’s board caught our attention. Simply called “Chevy tattoo,” the design appears to be a 1951 to 1953 Chevy 3100 truck. The vent windows in the door place the truck after 1950 and the two piece windshield was a design feature until 1954 when the truck began using a single wrap around windshield glass. Those identifying marks help us to narrow the model year down to that three-year period.

Will Browning’s pinterest board also gave us this 1951-1953 Chevy 3100 truck.

Cars aren’t the only thing that represents the hot rod culture. Fabricating parts, cutting, grinding, and welding are all a part of being in the hot rod garage. Of course, there must be some rock-a-billy music playing in the background, and it wouldn’t hurt to have a few pin-ups on the wall.

Some tattoos are just so awesome because of the content. Exploded views of components are so popular that almost every gearhead loves to look at them. That makes an exploded view of any component a great tattoo idea. Only the most ambitious would take on a full back tattoo let alone a tattoo of an automotive factory assembly line. Other tattoos are awesome because they look so painful.

Blending some of the best of different worlds is part of what made hot rodding great. This tradition continued in modern literature and films. One of the most iconic 1970’s representation of the counterculture movement was the Gonzo journalism of Hunter S. Thompson. We stumbled onto the work of Freddie Negrete of Good Time Charlie’s Tattoo Land in east Los Angeles.

Known as one of the best Japanese tattoo artists in Los Angeles, Negrete captures the essence of counterculture. Blending traditional Japanese tattoo art with modern techniques can produce an unexpected work of art. Combining this with the counterculture work of Thompson is sheer genius.

Freddy Negrete’s work speaks of counterculture in more ways than one. Photo from S3.amazonaws.com

We’re interested in discovering more of this art form. So, if you have a tattoo, and it relates to hot rods or the hot rod culture, we’d love to see it. Drop us a line or post up a photo on our Facebook fanpage and show your skin art.