NHRA Pro Mods at Speed in Pictures I've always liked Pro Mod racing. Who wouldn't? I haven't posted on MyRideisMe.com about these blown and bad, funky-stretched and sleek bodied racers because, well, I ain't had a chance to FEEL them ripping by at an NHRA event. That's where my buddy Jim stepped up to help me out. Jim shoots for Optima Batteries, especially for the Optima Top Fueler driven by Dave Grubnic. When Jim asked if I wanted pictures from the St. Louis race, I said OH YEA! Before checking out these at-speed pictures, enjoy a couple fun facts about Pro Mod engines: Supercharger power adder Limited to 526 cubic inches Minimum weight 2,650 with driver Run on methanol Turbo power adder Limited to 540 cubic inches Max size of 88 mm each Minimum weight 2,650 with driver (same as for Supercharger) Runs on high octane racing gasoline Nitrous Oxide power adder No max displacement! (gulp) Minimum weight 2,425 with driver Runs on high octane racing gasoline These engines make 2500 to 4000 horsepower propelling the cars in the five second 1/4 mile realm. It wasn't long ago that...

Photos by the great Peter Vincent Amazing Bonneville Salt Flats Streamliner Set to Run 550 mph   Five-hundred-fifty miles per hour. Yes, you read that right! This air-slippin' hot rod's set to demolish the "fastest wheel driven, piston powered" car record by 100 mph.   Here's a few details to wet the appetite: Does it look long? It should. It's 43 feet long. (13.1m) and only 3 feet high (0.91m) Frontal area is an anemic 8.61 square feet (0.8 square meters) with an included angle of 1.5 degrees Power comes from two Dodge V8 Hemi's boosted by Whipple Superchargers Fueled by alcohol, there's 2500 horsepower on tap... EACH. Power is applied by two B & J 4-speed transmissions - shifted simultaneously- by steering wheel controls   This is the Marlo Treit and Les Davenport "Target 550" streamliner. A Few of the Crew   Marlo Triet the project coordinator and from what I can see, the "ring master". On the salt at Bonneville Speed Week 2012, Marlo was tough to corner as he answered questions from curious racers, spectators and media. As I took pictures, Marlo was being filmed. From the "Crew"...

Bonneville Racers and Hot Rods on the Salt Have I said it enough times that people found on the Bonneville salt are just cool? Each year I come away from Speed Week with a few more friends. That's sort of amazing since I run around like a wild man shooting pics and trying to get feature stories... but I try, every once and a while, to kick back, have a beer and try to enjoy it all.   This year, I got to know Holly Martin, mostly through her photography. I like to study the angles, the light and the subjects of other photographers to learn from them and hopefully add something new to my own shots. I'm dig'n Holly's work!   Click here for all of MyRideisMe.com's Bonneville Salt Flat coverage.   So I asked Holly to share some photos and she generously did.  I then asked her to write about her Bonneville experience... She was shy about sharing it, but I think it came out more like poetry than a bio. Get to know Holly a little here: (and let her know what you think of her shots!)  ...

Custom Mini Bike Show in Phoenix, AZ Story and Photos by Rob Zoller A brisk 90 degree day in the Phoenix Valley pulled the hibernating zealots from their AC’d lairs to attend the event of the year. We rolled in and were pleasantly surprised to see the event already up and rolling. There was a “Mini” swap meet which drew our immediate attention and after a few great scores we turned our gaze onto the plethora of “customcool” mini bikes. There was everything from the mild to wild with Ron’s yellow racer taking top honors for speed demon, there were choppers and bobbers, stocks and mods, all were welcome. Of course we eventually wandered over to the park just across the street for some spontaneous drag racing and exhibitions of speed which drew the inevitable attention of the Phoenix PD… Everyone scattered except for the sacrificial lamb, I won’t divulge his name (Chip). We were pleasantly surprised to find that we were welcome to peruse the parking lot as long as we didn’t touch the grass… GAME ON! There will be a follow up show and drag race in...

Classic American Sports Car - AMC AMX I was looking through my buddy Mike Gulett's website called MyCarQuest.com when I found this beauty of an AMC. It immediately reminded me of this concept drawing: While not the same car, both show that the AMC make needs a little love! The drawing is hot rod art straight from the  mind of my buddy Brian over at ProblemChildKustoms.com. He called it, "Let them eat cheese" Mike's MyCarQuest article explains: The AMX could be bought with a 390 cid V8 that produced 315 hp, 325 hp or 420 hp depending on the options. The AMX appealed to both muscle car lovers and sports car enthusiasts. The result may have been confusion in the market place. While Brian takes a different route detailing the build and says, The concept: A '74 AMC Hornet built with a nod to the Mulholland road-race crowd of the '70's. A tube chassis with a 9-inch center section IRS and Corvette-based front suspension allows the car to sit right on the ground, and the full 'cage helps everyone inside feel safe as the world rushes by in a...

Cadillac's Top Model - Eldorado Biarritz When I saw this sexy Cadillac for sale at Auctions America Auburn Fall Auction - sorry, we missed it, it was Labor Day weekend... I immediately thought of a couple other Custom Cadillac Biarritz stories I did. Before we get to that, what's up with this award winning "Champagne Iridescent" Caddy? The experts predict the sale price at $80-100k. Here's what that gets you: By the 1960s’ Cadillac had claimed its supremacy as the flagship line for General Motors and bested the rest of its competition in the luxury car segment. Although the Eldorado line was heavily equipped with many luxuries that were standard on most models, it is worth mentioning the accessories that complete this outstandingly restored Biarritz. This particular car includes all power steering, brakes, windows, seats, top, antenna, plus Cadillac Air Suspension, cruise control, air-conditioning and much more. It is finished in Champagne Iridescent with complementing gold leather interior and black vinyl top. It is powered by a 390-cid V-8 with a Hydra-Matic Drive transmission. Most importantly, this example benefits from a no-expense spared restoration and is the recipient of an...

Ford Falcon 2 Door Wagon - Can you see the vision? See it? No? Fine, I'll help with your future hot rod vision... What do you see? Junky old Falcon wagon? That's it? Notice it's a 2 door? That's much more desirable to most... what else? It's very straight, I can't see any cancerous rust from 6 feet away. Anything else? Yea! It's complete! From this pic, this would be a car I'd like to see and know more about. And you can! This low mileage dreamer is for sale Sept 21-22 by Auctions America at their Bennett Collection Auction in Rollinsford, NH. I imagine that we've still got a few non-believers. Fine... take this! Same car, I think it's even the same color. The only difference (you can't see) is this one's an original V8 car. But look how plain this baby is! No side trim at all, just like the un-optioned beauty in the first picture.  I wrote about this Falcon and called the story: When Bone Stock Marries Plain Jane - it's a completely, and near perfectly, restored 1965 Falcon wagon done by a chrome restoration specialist...

Hot Rod Pinup Kelly Lindahl Continuing to get to know hot rod and pinup model photographer Trent Sherrill, let's get to know his girlfriend, pinup model, hair stylist and makeup artist out of New York: Kelly Lindahl. Describe the best date you ever had. My Best Date was when my boyfriend Trent, flew into NY then took me to Yankees Stadium, (which I've never been to a baseball game ever) but we got sushi. then we walked around NYC even though I live/work here it was nice to spend time with him and show him around a bit. How about the worst date?  One time I was on a date and the guy I guess "googled" my parents name, I guess he got their names off my Facebook , he thought he found out what they did for a living, it was creepy, never saw him again. What's your favorite car ever and what's your favorite that you've actually owned? I like 1964 Impala's, really anything that’s a lowrider, or I really like low, big kustom cars. For my favorite car I’ve owned, it has to be my Jeep. It...

Hot Rod Pinup Jenna Sherrill When I first met Trent Sherrill by finding one of his "liked" hot rod or pinup photos on Facebook, I checked out his other pictures and found this one: After seeing the tag, I asked Trent, "Is that your sister?!" Turns out this lovely girl is, in fact, Trent's sister Jenna Sherrill. As much talent as Trent shows behind the camera, Jenna's making it easy on her bro by looking fabulous! We're getting to know Trent a little better by asking his sister and next, his girlfriend Kelly Lindahl (another rocking pinup) a few questions. Once you get to know the girls, I'm sure you'll love them like Trent does. Thanks guys! Describe the best date you ever had. The best date I ever had was when my fiance and I were first together. He drove me to Avila Beach in his 1957 Plymouth Savoy. We stopped in Pismo Beach to get some clam chowder from Splash Cafe and then headed to Avila. He bought me a wide brim sun hat and laid out a Mexican blanket on the beach. We ate our chowder...

SpinTron Roller Tappets, Rockers and Friction Testing From our friends at Goodink and Jesel, here's your chance for an inside look into the highest performance race engine component development and the special equipment needed to break records at Bonneville or in the NHRA. In this case, it's a dyno, it's got a laser... it's SpinTron! - pikesan Story by: Ray T. Bohacz Jesel, one of the best competition valve train specialists to emerge in the past thirty years, owes much of its supremacy to extensive developing and testing of its competition parts. The test machine is a SpinTron. The parts being tested are principally roller tappets and rocker arms. “Ten or twelve years ago when I first pressed the SpinTron into action,” says Danny Jesel, “my immediate response was one of shock—the racket it generated was incredible! I just wasn’t expecting the opening and closing of two valves to be so loud, and initially I thought something was broken.” Once Danny Jesel became accustomed to the commotion, his next challenge was grappling with the phenomenon known as "lofting". Lofting occurs when engine speeds increase, usually above 4,000rpm, causing the...

Drive your Hot Rod! Nebraska to Utah in a Model A Roadster Download image for your iPhone here.   Nick Hoesing's a cool guy. We met at Bonneville Speed Week 2009, my first year there. He was cruising a great looking 1962 Ford Galaxie he'd driven from Omaha, Nebraska to the Salt Flats in Utah.   As friends on Facebook, I caught a glance of the model A roadster he was building, but hadn't made it over to the HAMB for a full look. I wish I had before I shot these pictures because I missed some fine details of this roadster. I'll write a brief history of the build, but you should read the 40 or so pages of posts at the HAMB where Nick supplies details and photos of the build and fellow HAMBers encourage him and help when needed. That's a community to be proud of.   Build of Nick's Model A Hot Rod   In the shortest summary of Nick's supreme one-car-garage hot rod build... Nick started with a 28/29 Ford Model A Roadster body, then added a Blackboard Hot Rods 1932 Ford frame. The...

Motorized Bike Sets Records at Bonneville Salt Flats Photographer turned record setter turned friend. It's Gunther Maier on his "Sportsman Flyer" replica 1910 Indian board track race bike.   Photos in this story are © Keith Berr www.keithberr.com. Thanks Keith! Click to see this shot full size and check out the chain. Not sure how fast Gunther's going here, but it it's a great snap!   I posted this photo of Gunther enjoying his time in impound at Bonneville Speed Week 2012: Little did I know that Gunther was the guy who'd supplied the best pictures shown in the feature story about Jeff Brock's 1952 Buick Super Riviera race car. Turns out Brock and Gunther are buddies and were pitted right next to each other on the salt!   Gunther told me, he's part of the RED RACER Team running a new production of an Indian board track racer form the 1910. The bike is the coolest and is made by Sportsman Flyer. (worth a look, or get your own kit!)   Gunther's team runs in the SCTA's A-PF class with a 175cc engine. With some success I might...