A Necessary Part of the SEMA Show: Booth Babes   Should I bother to write anything? Just enjoy the pictures. Click on any image to see them in their full beauty!   These lovely ladies, at first glance were buck nekkid! In Vegas? Yea, maybe!! But no, they weren't completely, but that didn't stop an enthusiastic crowd of folks stopping by for a pic and a closer look. (it was worth it, don'tcha think??)     Just like last year's SEMA Show, and most likely every year, Giovanna brings talent and suede wrapped exotics. Both suit me just fine!   Follow Joselyn Cano on Instagram here. (you'll be glad you did)   Not to be outdone... (help with a link if you know it)   Like classic Ford Muscle? Got a booth babe for ya...     Or you prefer import models? Kawaii desu ne? Harajuku ni isshoni ikimasenka? I gave her my cheesiest Japanese pickup line: Asa kohi isshoni nomimasen ka?     Rockin' the house!!   I saved some of the best for last... from CB Model your first (or possibly wisest) choice for models at your next...

Top 10 Tips to Survive SEMA   by Karma Carlson of Chaotic Customs We live in Kansas. That’s a long haul to Las Vegas! 1,262 miles to be exact which equals out to 17 hours and 50 minutes of driving. Pull a trailer and travel with two women and that time increases by a good six hours. We installed a 75 gallon fuel tank in the bed of the truck. It’s great because you don’t have to fill up as often. It’s not great because we don’t stop as often. In order to make it from one stop to the next, I forgo all liquids for two days before we travel. Arriving in Vegas dehydrated is never a good idea. (Have you seen that 100 ounce margarita at MargaritaVille? Not the best idea when you are thirsty and dehydrated!)   SEMA is a great place to network, see all the latest products and get new ideas. You can see what other people in the industry are doing and showcase your own workmanship. The best part is seeing the talented builders and innovative ideas that keep the hot rod market fresh...

OPTIMA Invitational Qualifier Lynda Jacobs   It's been my pleasure to work with Optima for their after-SEMA race called the Optima Ultimate Street Car Invitational. What is it? Well, check this out to catch up... Basically, it's a race of the best cars from the SEMA Show floor and qualifying races all over the country.   One racer happens to drive a road hugging, original appearing 1966 Chevelle SS 396 convertible and SHE is every bit the muscle car enthusiast and race car driver you'd ever imagine!  Qualifying at LS Fest, she's the real deal. Meet Lynda Jacobs.     Lynda kindly told us her story of racing and her first muscle car, this black-plate 1966 Chevelle.   Words and Pictures from Lynda...   My husband Chris and I have been married for 15 years. We both had cars and racing in our lives and that also played into our meeting as well. A mutual friend who had a body shop helped make the introduction and the rest was history. We went to Great Lakes Dragway on our second date. Chris has been into Chevelles his whole life. First car was...

Unlimited Everything SEMA Show Pantera   Concept Art Provided by Problem Child Kustoms   Just your standard 1971 De Tomaso Pantera. Well, not quite. Add a combined 10 ka-jillion hours of design study, meetings to select from the many bitch'n ideas presented here, then a ridiculous amount of skill, passion and labor by the Ring Brothers to make this Pantera happen.   This is ADRNLN.   Now that the "cats out of the bag" (sorry, couldn't resist) my good buddy Brian Stupski from over at Problem Child Kustoms shared these design sketches. I guess before we get too far into those... better review what a Pantera  looks like like uncut:     Now compare that to the beast shown at SEMA Show 2013:     Fantastic execution like this doesn't happen by accident! So... light a candle, grab a beer or take 2 minutes to meditate on the best looking Pantera ever. Finished? What design cues would you choose? Scroll down these never seen before sketches that led to the final design. As you can see, Brian's got skills.   Need more info? Let us know? Brian can be reached...

Hot Rods & Race Car Photography from the Bonneville Salt Flats     Don't know about other amateur photographers, but I've learned tons from studying other photographer's work.   I learned from my friend Chuck Vranas' hot rod photography and shared some of his work from years of shooting for magazines like Street Rodder. He's also become a good friend.   Ever heard of Peter Vincent? Vincent is also a well known automotive photographer, and we're in luck! He loves Bonneville Salt Flats, just like we do! I carefully sort through Vincent's work too... I don't want to copy what he does, but observe the style and composition of the photo. I politely ask myself... "What makes this guy famous!?" and know that it's something he's doing better than I am.   It's great to be able to find some many pictures in one place to quickly learn from one of the best! To help announce his new book, I asked Peter Vincent for his thoughts about why he made this book. Here's what he had to say:   "This book was important to me for so many reasons....

Installing Disc Brakes for my Falcon Wagon Cruiser   If you've been to MyRideisMe.com much, you've seen my 1963 Ford Falcon Wagon Build. This might be one of the slowest builds in history, but hey, I'm doing it myself or with the help of friends and my pops. Not often enough, I escape from reality in the smell of grinding metal or the buzz of a MIG. Ahh... you with me?   One project I've wanted to do for a long time is update the front brakes. Trouble is, the disc brake kits for 4-lug cars are usually made from put-together kits with brake parts from a few different cars. For your brakes? OK, well maybe... we've all probably done less-safe things... but I wanted the best for a key safety feature like my brakes. So I got the Wilwood disc brake kit for 4 lug Fords. This kit works perfectly for 4-lug Mustangs as well as Falcons.   If you prefer a video, skip to the bottom of this story and check it out.   This is one side of the kit shown below. One of the best parts? Everything...

Who's Coming and What Radical Race Car are they bringing?   2013 OPTIMA® Ultimate Street Car Invitational: Second Group of Finalists Revealed If you can't find a car to like in this group... you don't like cars! From a BMW M3 wagon to classic Camaros and Mustangs, the OUSCI has you covered. All of these race cars will be seen at SEMA, many of them inside as part of vendor displays. Then on Friday, they'll take to the streets and make the parade lap leaving SEMA followed by a rally-style out to Pahrump, NV and the Spring Mountain Ranch race track where they'll kick things off on Saturday morning. Check out more details below.   The Upcoming Sixth Annual OPTIMA® Ultimate Street Car Invitational to Showcase a Strong Mix of Imported and Domestic Vehicles   OPTIMA Batteries, the global leader in high-performance automotive and marine batteries, gears up for the sixth annual OPTIMA Ultimate Street Car Invitational, presented by K&N Filters and Royal Purple, by revealing the initial list of drivers and vehicles that have been invited to compete in the event. OPTIMA Batteries has long been the battery of choice for many automotive enthusiasts looking for better...

OPTIMA Shootout Qualifiers at Road America Premiere of OPTIMA’s Search for the Ultimate Street Car: Faceoff at Road America Qualifier Event to Air on MAV TV Network   OPTIMA’s Faceoff at Road America Qualifying Event Episode Premieres Thursday, October 31 with more high intensity performance vehicles and nail-biting action Oct. 17, 2012 (MILWAUKEE) – OPTIMA® Batteries, the global leader in high-performance automotive and marine AGM batteries and chargers, is proud to announce the premiere of the OPTIMA’s Search for the Ultimate Street Car series to air on Thursday, October 31 at 6 p.m. EDT and 9 p.m. EDT on MAV TV.   In the premiere, viewers will get a behind-the-scenes look at the action during the OPTIMA Faceoff at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin. This regional qualifying event introduces a diverse range of performance vehicles and the stories behind the passionate drivers as they compete on one of the most historic race tracks in America.   “This episode captures the passion of the automotive community with a great cast of entertaining characters. If you’re looking for fast beautiful cars, then this is your show,” said Cam Douglass director of product development and marketing for OPTIMA Batteries....

Blown Cadillac - Custom Crusin 1959 Caddy   We told you before about the laid out, custom Cadilacs being build out in Lake Havasu by Sic Chops. This beautiful 1959 has a twin cousin 1960 that's also shown here. Learn more about the 60 here: 8.5 Beer Cans Tall! This one has a 600 HP Cadillac LSA under the hood! Look for a feature when I can get my camera near this thing... plus, I want a ride! Thanks for sending over the new pics...

The best Datsun Roadsters, 510's and Z's in Williams, AZ 3rd Annual Multi State Datsun Classic Wrap-up   Story and Pictures by Dale Herseth - All pictures from the Classic Datsun Show HERE   Dale already gave us a quick run-down of the event. If you missed that story here: 3rd Annual Multi State Datsun Classic. After that, I asked him to let us know who won and which cars he liked best. Thanks Dale!   Best of Show: Owners: Ryan and Shaunde Romaine Home town: Winchester, Ca Car: 1974 Datsun Bluebird-U SSS-E   This is a very rare car that was only built for the Japanese market.  In fact it was only built for approx 6 months in Japan.  Even though most Datsuns in 74 were carbureted, this car has factory fuel injection that feeds its L16 (1600cc) engine.  It was a very pristine car and deserving of Best in Show       1st place, 510 category Owners: Randy & Lisa Lewis Home town: Scottsdale, AZ Car: 1972 Datsun 510 Sedan   A very low mile example of a Datsun 510, with a unique story.  Randy purchased this car...

One of the best Datsun Car Shows in little Williams, AZ 3rd Annual Multi State Datsun Classic Story and Pictures by Dale Herseth - All pictures from the Classic Datsun Show HERE   Over the weekend of Oct 4th- 5th, Datsuns from several states including Arizona, California, Nevada, Washington, New Mexico, Texas, Florida and even Mexico migrated to the small town of Williams in northwest Arizona for the “3rd Annual Multi State Datsun Classic” car show.  Williams is a perfect spot for the automotive enthusiast and is right in the heart of old Route 66!  The whole town really gets behind this event and offers discounts at many food establishments as well as souvenir shops.   This year there were approx 80 classic Datsuns in attendance and it’s growing every year.  The organizers of this show are SOCALROC (Southern California Roadster Owners Club) and www.nostalgicdatsun.com.  They do a fantastic job putting on this event which is no small task.  They had T-shirts, dash plaques, awards, raffle prizes, and all the usual stuff that goes with any quality car show!   We drove up from Gilbert on Friday and stayed at a...

New Prestige Pearl gauges from Auto Meter     The good news? Now I know what gauges I want for my 1963 Falcon Wagon project! I knew I'd update what was in my old long roof, but hadn't decided what would work best until I saw these. I'll see them first hand at 2013 SEMA Show and report back if they're as pretty in person as they are here in pictures!  Here's more info in the official press release below... read on!   From Auto Meter:   Introducing Prestige Pearl Instruments from Auto Meter!   October 1, 2013, Sycamore, IL - Auto Meter's newest addition to the highly successful Prestige series join the nostalgia-inspired Black Diamond and Antique Ivory designs offering a pure white dial colorway for greater design possibilities when planning your build's interior. Auto Meter Prestige Pearl instruments are proudly built in the USA, featuring hybrid dials highlighted by embossed spun aluminum accents, traditional arrow-styled pointers and are finished with period correct domed lenses and chrome bezels. The beauty of these instruments is more than skin deep, at their heart are the same performance meter movements found in race cars across...