How rare is your chance to lay hands on a car a rare and historic as the CSX2601 Shelby Daytona Coupe? I had a chance thanks to the folks at Mecum Auctions, but the great people of Maricopa county thought it better for me to be in jury duty. Here's Mecum's press release and info about the car. They also provided a fantastic gallery of pictures. I'll be watching to see how high into the "8 Figures" this car rises. 1 of 6, fully restored, arguably the most famous/historic of the six, this American Legend has it all! Phoenix kicked of the national tour in style over at Bob Bondurant's Racing school of High Performance Driving. After carefully pulling the car out of the shipping truck, Bondurant relived the 1965 FIA clinching victory in Reims, France by taking a hot lap with the near priceless car. Special thanks to David NewhardtPhotography and Mecum Auction for these pictures. [gallery =20] MECUM AUCTION PROUDLY PRESENTS AMERICAN RACING'S CROWN JEWEL 1965 Shelby Daytona Cobra Coupe Beat Ferrari to Capture First U.S. Victory in World Manufacturer's Championship MARENGO, Ill. - High performance collector...

Now this is what NASCAR should be! Imagine going 179 mph in these cars! (that's what the movie "track announcer" said) Those brakes and all that weight running that fast! This clip is from the 1965 film called "Redline 7000" There's a pretty well done crash stunt for the time. FIRE FIRE!! [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hR1SmKihPtQ[/youtube] Yes, that is Mr. Sulu! Here's part #2 (not sure how related it is to the first part...) [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wsbJ2-PdCk4[/youtube] Then for something totally unusual, but still somehow related to this post... I give you, "Speed Lovers"...

Couresty of Ford Media and PCGCambell Two years ago this month, the drag racing community lost John Force Racing Mustang driver Eric Medlen in a tragic Funny Car testing accident. In the aftermath of that accident, John Force Racing and Ford Racing banded together to form The Eric Medlen Project, with an eye on finding and improving safety innovations for the sport. Along with the NHRA, John Force Racing and Ford Racing have instituted a series of safety measures ranging from significant Funny Car chassis modifications to the instillation of the Ford Blue Box (crash data recorder) on all nitro cars. This important work continues and This Week In Ford Racing recently caught up with 14 time Funny Car World Champion John Force and with Pat DiMarco, Ford Racing Vehicle Dynamics and Electronics Supervisor, for an update on The Eric Medlen Project and ongoing safety developments. JOHN FORCE – GTX Castrol Mustang-- CAN YOU GIVE US AN UPDATE ON THE ERIC MEDLEN PROJECT? “Our shop is out here in California, 50,000 square foot, but most of the race teams are out in Indy, the Ford Motor program is in...

Thanks to many friends of mine and the support of generous parents, it was the kids that won at the "Home Runs, Hot Dogs and Hot Rods" show in downtown Mesa, Arizona on 2/28/09. One set of winning, smiling kids were the ones that enjoyed 4 hours of non-stop action running down the 50 foot track during practice among the car show hot rods. By the time racing action started, they had nailed the timing of the Christmas tree's amber-amber green start. My boys know the drill, so more than once you heard, "You got smoked!" Next time, bring your kids to the show! Now you've got something to enjoy with them that'll get you out of your lawn chairs! The second set of kids that won we'll probably never meet. A rare few will ever know the courage needed to be so different on the outside but remain a smiling, energetic kid inside. I hope other folks were inspired to give to the Progeria Research Foundation like I was when I read Amy Foose's story. As the younger sister of famed designer and builder Chip Foose, her life...

Trying something new here... is it helpful to the MyRideisMe.com readers to have all of the blogs I think are interesting/cool/worth a look all located on one page here? You'll be leaving my site, but that's ok... I don't have all the info or answers, so go ahead!...

If you're a fan of NHRA drag racing, then there's a great chance you're a fan of John Force Racing and his team. As a Ford fan, (don't forget, Pop's was a Ford Mechanic for 25 years) I've been following Force for as long as I can remember so when I got the chance to interview co-crew chief Austin Coil, I jumped at it. Meeting with Austin Coil in the small town the John Force Racing trucks make was awesome. Cruising past the beast Force pilots down the strip as his crew finished prepping for Saturday at the Firebird Race, then stepping into the trailer you often see on TV was unreal. I carefully tried to keep my grin from extending past my ears as I sat down with Coil. Without his trademark toothpick, Coil smiled alot and seemed to be winding down from Friday's session that saw all of John Force Racing cars in the top half of the field. Coil's easy going manner and obvious passion for racing and technology made this interview a breeze. I just had to keep up... WHAT’S CHANGED THE MOST ABOUT FUNNY...

Most times it seems like nobody'd notice anyway, but I've been slacking on blog writing lately cause I'm working on my Diecast Drags track. I posted about it in the discussion forum. Did you see it? The Diecast Drags, or some might say, "Hot Wheels" track is brought to you MyRideisMe.com and supporting the Progeria Research Foundation (http://www.Progeriaresearch.org) The track is 2 continuous lanes that measure 50 feet! I roll it up when I'm done. The entire track lifted off the ground on a support platform to give a gradual decent and super high speeds! Racing will feature an electronic finish line and a "Christmas tree" start that gives an edge to the better reaction time. This promises to be more fun than Pinewood derby racing because it's easier to get started and the fastest car might not always win! Of course from the trial run 2/21 at the local, "Cruise in" called the "Mesa Pavilions" at Power and Hampton (Kmart parking lot) the kids could care less about the start! They just want to see who won and the small jump we had setup at the finish line!...

Written by: Erock805 (Erick's Garage) It opens like a shot, not knowing the music, it felt like motor head, loose, violent, and melodic and real…what you see is what you hear…a front engine rail blitzing through the lights. Smoke and raw fuel and flame blasting from the pipes…you can almost feel it in your chest. The track lights lit up the night just like you remember they did. You can almost smell the nitro... Perfect! At this point, I am not even thinking about the pleasures of the flesh I am about to witness. All I can think about is the first time I heard that sound, felt the thunder and cried in joy as the fumes burned my eyes… David Perry…creator of Hot Rod Pinups, the DVD, my new hero. Then came little Ruby Rae, and a song that defined what I was witness to…a real live girl. Ruby quickly reminded me what I was here for. I’m watching a pinup video... a first for me. Sure, I've watched a ton of hot rod flicks, and gasser movies, they usually have a couple models, but never a video...

When you intend to compete for America's Most Beautiful Roadster (the AMBR) at the Grand National Roadster Show, you're asking for trouble. The time, planning, design and let's face it, high octane dollars required to build an AMBR contender make it a mission for only the top shops in the country. The folks at The Hot Rod Garage asked for "Double Trouble" and that's what they got by ignoring the lessons learned by recent AMBR winners. Past winners were modern-style show cars with custom milled billet goodies, one-off hand made body panels and alligator skinned interiors. Not for the guys at Hot Rod Garage, for them, it wasn't enough to make a show car, it had to have "Show & Go!" The trouble first started when Steve Kormondy had a Brookville roadster body and an all aluminum, brand spanking new Ardun derived flathead sitting, waiting for the right project. Deuce roadster body, Ardun flathed... yea, that's trouble! Not long after, Steve and the rest of the gang at The Hot Rod Garage out of Sand Springs, Oklahoma decided to pull in hot rod designer and illustrator, Jimmy Smith to...

Found a really entertaining website called Fail Blog: failblog.org. I grabbed this video from their youtube gallery and I doubt it'll be the last. Just kick back and enjoy! [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C6BidDtffG8&eurl=http://failblog.org/page/18/&feature=player_embedded[/youtube]  ...

I'm proud to be a member of SEMA for the excellent work they do to educate hot rodders and custom car folks of all kinds about legislation that's counter productive or just plain wrong for our hobby. I received this notice that the "Cash for Clunkers" part of the economic stimulus package did not make it to the final draft of the package. Congratulations to SEMA and everyone who wrote their local politicians. The idea of paying people to get rid of their older, less gas efficient rigs is just plain dumb. Did anyone else see the movie, "Bruce Almighty"? What was the one thing God could not control? Free Will. The same is true for car/truck buyers! People buy what they like and always will, especially when it comes to their ride. My Ride is ME! Whenever you can go down the the dealership and pick out a 18mpg+ rig that can tow the boat and race car your hard work has provided for you and your family to enjoy, then go for it. But until then, politicians, STAY OUT OF MY GARAGE! I'll do a better job...

Following up on Dwayne Vance's new book called: The Hot Rod Art book: Masters of Chicken Scratch, I caught up with Dwayne at the Grand National Roadster Show in Pomona (damn that was a good time!) The book will be officially released on February 10, 2009 and judging from the buzz at GNRS, the books already of to a great star! There were about 100 advanced copies available at the Grand National Roadster Show, but they sold out! It's no wonder when 8 of the 13 artists featured in the book were at the show and ready to sign their pages of your brand new book. Several artists stopped by and checked out my book at the show including: Chip Foose, Steve Strope, Carter Hickman, Eric Black, Larry Wood, and many others to check out the book. The book's also going to be featured in Rod and Custom magazine as well as Hemmings Auto news. For those of you that have not yet heard of this "Hot Rod Art Book", it is a unique book of over 100 pages of beautiful hot rod art from thirteen very talented artists...