From Mind to Metal Second Edition by Randy Johnson is the definitive, authorized book on the life and work of automotive artist Randy Grubb, who sold his first giant hot rod, the Tank Car, to Jay Leno. Grubb followed that up with a string of hits — the Indy Special, the B-702, Piss’d Off Pete, the DecoLiner, the DecoPods, the Decoson, Bob “Rocket Man” Maddox’s Pulse Jet Lakester, Tim “Frogman” Cotterill’s Rocket 3, the Falconer Dodici, and the new Magic Bus, completed in 2019: All have been appreciated internationally by gear heads, lovers of Art Deco and the Streamline styles, as well as by traditional American and European coachbuilders.

The Second Edition includes a new chapter on the Magic Bus.

Grubb was born into hot rodding, immersed in gasoline culture in Glendale, California, by his SoCal hot-rodding father and grandfather. He earned his degree in entrepreneurship from the University of Southern California before moving to southern Oregon to build his first career in hot glass, making lampwork paperweights. But building and racing autos had always been his passion, so in the late 1990s he set his sights on creating oversize cars based on historical precedents: he calls them rolling sculptures.

The first chapter, “Born into Hot Rodding,” tells the story of young Randy Grubb growing up in Glendale, getting his feel for moving fast through space on bicycles and go-karts before graduating to hot rods and going to USC. The book then presents each of Grubb’s 11 major projects since 2001, culminating in the Magic Bus, his tribute to the Summer of Love in San Francisco, beautifully captured in the photos of Stephanie Carlson.

With sparkling creativity, Grubb details his inspirations from the worlds of racing, automotive design, and surprisingly, hot glass.

Aaron Robinson, executive editor of Car and Driver, wrote the foreword for the book, offering humor-injected insights into Grubb’s motivations for creating his extreme hot rods. Carolyn Pavia-Rauchman, copy chief of Car and Driver, signed on as editor.

Author Randy Johnson has documented Grubb’s sculpture since 2012, often visiting Randy’s Grants Pass, Oregon, garage several times a week. He produced the YouTube video series, Randy Grubb’s Garage, and was able to get the inside story on Grubb by accompanying him on two road trips in the extraordinary, Flash-Gordonesque DecoLiner. In researching the book, he interviewed Grubb numerous times, as well as the builder’s family, and many of his friends and collaborators.

Many of the book’s photographs are by the author and there are exquisite contributions from renowned photographers, including Jarmo Pohjaniemi/Doug Hall of Playboy, Brandan Gillogly of Hot Rod, and auto portrait specialist Ron Kimball. Stephanie Carlson provided her astounding shots for the last chapter on the Magic Bus, as well as the book’s new back cover. The 106-page, full-color book is 8.5” x 11”, with 178 photos and 10 illustrations.

Price includes shipping and handling. Please allow five business days for handling before shipping.