This is the original cover, although this is from the twenty-second printing from E.P. Dutton. I get all of my copies from book sales. I used to find them for under a dollar, but the prices have become prohibitive. 

Hot Rod was the first, and I feel closest to it. As the story goes, my dad had not sold anything in 1948. As someone who lives on royalties, that can be pretty hard, and as they were expecting me, my mom was really worried. In December, he was contacted by the Des Moines Safety Council and asked to write about a tragic accident that had occurred in Iowa. Cars at that time were not equipped with safety devices. Teens now had access to cars, and with teenage thinking and bravado  wrecks of that era came with many fatalities. His focus to be on teenagers, defensive driving, and driver education. He wrote the book in two weeks that December.... and thus, Holly and Hot Rod were born!