I know, Pancakes right?  Crazy!!!  Just keep reading, you'll dig it! I know we have some wagon/hatchback/van aficionados out there.  Our own Pikesan owns 2 project wagons himself. When I'm not blogging for MyRideisMe, I read other people's blogs and enjoy their auto-passion, vehicular photography and car features.  One of the blogs I follow is OMGPancakes Blog.  It's run by Marlon, or "Big Hindu", a college student in Pennsylvania who has a big fat sweet spot for the people movers and grocery getters.  I asked Marlon what's up with the blog name?  OMGPancakes?  What the Hecht?  Well, there really is no one meaning, its just a wacky name that fits perfect for this wacky cool blog and the cars he features.  It's pretty funky, you gotta give it up for that.  I mean, Pancakes?  Okey dokey!  Ha Ha Ha  You go Marlon! Here's crazy big Hindu doing some crazy monkey jump thing.  Ya, he's even crazier about wagons and vans.  He's been blogging for just over a year and his blog is growing every month.  Enough about the man...Big H's own wago-van-box-hauler-thing is a bright yellow Scion xB.  He's a...

You're on Facebook right yall?  No?  Get with the program!  That's how MyRideisMe.com and Pascal Hein got together, through the MyRideisMe Facebook Fanpage.  Go check it out and join our Fanpage, right after you read this cool story of course. Pascal is from Germany and he has shared his classic bimmer he calls "Lemon".  A 1973 1802 Touring model.  Sit back, grab some Kugen (yummy pastries my German grandma Hecht makes for desserts) and enjoy storytime from the motherland.  Take it away Pascal! "My Bimmer was built in 1973. The so called "Touring" was BMWs first try to build a hatchback and also the last try until 1993, when they introduced the compact edition of the 3 Series. Actually people didn't like this concept in the early 70s so just around 30,000 Touring models were produced and just around 970 of them were 1802 Tourings like mine, while there were houndreds of thousands of normal BMW 02 sedans. So in 1984 my father managed to buy this car after he wanted to have one for many years. It had two owners before he bought it and had some damage on the rear...

Japanese Legends...also known as JDM (Japanese Domestic Market) Machines, Japanese Nostalgic Cars, J Tin, you get the picture.  Domestically here in the US of A, we have classics like the 1932 Deuce Coupe, 55-57 Chevy Bel Air, 67-69 Camaro, 64 1/2-70 Mustang, etc. In Japan, the classics are cars like the Nissan Skyline, Toyota Celica, Corolla, Datsun 510 (Bluebird in Japan) and 240Z (Fairlady Z in Japan). JDMLegends is a new shop located in North Salt Lake, Utah.  They had their Grand Opening last July 2009.  So bummed I missed it.  Looked like a nice gathering of Japanese cars!  R33, R34 and R35 Skyline GT-R's in Utah at once?  Cooooool!!! JDMLegends' specialty is hunting down your dream JDM classic (25 years old or older) located in Japan, having it inspected and legally imported into the USA, where it can be delivered as is, or have the JDMLegends' special touch. The owner of JDMLegends is a Japanese car nut named Trey Cobb.  Trey started Cobb Tuning.  Initially a turbo Subaru tuning specialist, now Cobb focuses on ECU tuning for many platforms, including the new Nissan GTR. Above is the engine bay of a Toyota...

The Acura RSX is definitely one of the cars on my short list for fun to drive daily transportation.  They're lightweight, good handling, reliable, fuel efficient and the performance model (Type-S) has a 200hp high revving 2.0L DOHC 4 cylinder using a 6 speed manual.  I've only seen a few RSX's that have really impressed me.  Jose Guadalupe's silver Base model (non-200hp) is one of those and it certainly caught my eye with its aggressive styling. Photos are by FotoSet, djdorifto and Kami Speed.  Click the images to see them Full Size. That aggressive look is courtesy of STANCE.  If you're a hot rodder or custom nut, you already know what Stance is.  The "tuner" cars of today are continuing the Stance trend set by low 50's Custom's, raked 60's Muscle Cars or 80's Lowriders by going with low ride height and aggressive camber and flush fitting wheels.  Jose's ride has -5.5 degrees of rear camber and -4.5 degrees in front.  But why so much camber?  First, it helps get those 9.5" wide wheels to fit under fenders made for 7" wide factory wheels.  Second, negative camber just looks so cool.  To me, big camber is a street car interpretation of...

If you wanna know what "My Ride is Me" is all about, this car shows the spirit perfectly.  This is like the 3rd look for this car in the last year or two from what I understand. This ride is super low, clear coated metal, and a cool tigershark paintjob. The owner of this 5 series BMW, Mike Burroughs, runs StanceWorks website and forum.  I recently picked up some stickers from the site that say "StanceWorks-Low is a Lifestyle".  Cars are more than mere transportation, they can and should be extensions of ourselves, a Lifestyle.  Some may hate this car, but I love it and hope you can appreciate it too.  Whether you're into traditional hot rods, european exotics, aircooled vdubs or muscle cars, "its all about the Stance!"...

Part 2 of Hot Rod Ramblings "Car of the Week", we take a look at some rear wheel drive beauties from all around the world, Japanese, European and even American.  These 5 cars have all been "Cars of the Week" in the last few years for me.  They all have great aftermarket support, wheels, suspension, exterior, engine, etc. and can all be built into multiple different styles, drifting, road racing, street car or show car.  Each has tons of potential to let their owners be creative and make their Ride an extension of themselves. Toyota AE86 Corolla GT-S "Hachiroku" A 1980's Corolla?  You're probably thinking I'm nutty.  I am, I love this car.  Why?  It is probably the ultimate drivers car.  Ever heard of Keichii Tsuchiya, the "Drift King"?  Heard of the Japanese comic book "Initial D"?  Anyway, that should give you guys something to Google today.  I can't spoil all the fun.  But, suffice it to say, it has all the makings of a drivers car:  rear wheel drive, 5 speed manual, high revving 1.6L DOHC fuel injected aluminum 4 cylinder and lightweight construction.  I love the boxy lines of...

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kqjKxDFEK98&feature=related[/youtube] Ok, one of my dream cars would have to be the Mitsubishi Evolution.  The example in this video, The SunCyber Evo, is going after the 1 lap record at Tsukuba, home of Time Attack!  Why do I share this video with you?  A few reasons, but one is a look at how the Japanese car builders and tuners do it up right.  They are serious techies! This is a purpose built car, but it does not compete in a race series.  It competes in Time Attack competitions, also called Lap Battles.  Most of these aero, suspension and engine parts can be bought off the shelf.  The Tsukuba track is for Japanese car nuts the top track in the world, right next to the Nurburgring in Germany.  Time Attack has started to catch on in the US and Europe in the last 2-3 years.  But, the Japanese are tops when taking a street car and making it go fast for 1 lap. Enjoy this video.  A second video can be seen, a part #2, where the car hits the track!  You can get a glimpse into the Japanese tuning world. ...

So, after much adieu, drum roll please....I choose 1st generation Scion xB!  I know, its not a '32 Deuce Coupe or '55 Bel Air, but its a car that I can customize, enjoy owning, put a smile on my face and fit all 4 of my boys to take to Car Shows.  It will give me more opportunities to get into the hobby I love, modifying our Rides.  So, with that, here's to hoping this isn't just the "Car of the Week" this week (its been  days since D day) and to the search in the classifieds for that good clean example to start modifying in about 5 months.  I'm excited!   Look forward to a blog about "xB's of MyRideisMe.com" soon as well.  There's a few other Box Lovers here. I'd like to hear your thoughts on the xB and boxy cars like it, for example the Nissan Cube, Honda Element and Fit, even old school boxes like the 60's Corvair van, the Ford Econoline and even VW Bus....

If you're not aware of hotrodding in Japan, its actually pretty big.  Check out one of Japan's own, the early Toyota Crown that Mooneyes Japan has done up in a cool hot rod style.  Browse around their website, there's some cool stuff to see. Got an in on foreign countries doin' the hot rod thing up right?  Drop us a line in the comments section below so we can check it out!    ...

You never know what might show up at your local cruise-in. I am always on the lookout for something different; something you don’t see every day. On a recent trip to the local Friday night hangout in Charles Town, WV, I noticed a nice looking black import from across the lot. I moved in to investigate deeper and my curiosity peeked even more since it was a right hand drive. It was actually a 1994 Nissan Skyline GTS25t owned by Ric Wells of Berryville, VA. Ric told me the story of how he purchased the car while he was stationed on Okinawa, Japan. After retiring from the Marines he had the car imported state side and sent to a company named Motorex for legalization. Soon he was tied up in the Motorex defrauding mess. It took more than two years before he was finally able to drive the car again. While not a GT-R (which actually makes the car rarer in the US), Ric has modified the original RB25DET motor to put out more than 500hp. Some of these mods include: Greedy intake and plenum, HKS Intercooler and blow...

On the weekend of April 25-27 my family and I headed out to Orange, CA for the 2008 Motorsport Datsun/Nissan Z Show. We met up with a few members of the Desert Z association and made a caravan to Cali. Ryan and I led the way in his 1981 silver and black 280 turbo ZX, followed closely by my dad and mom in his rally orange 1976 280 Z (great year by the way!) . After checking in at the hotel we headed to the “meet and greet” in front of the Motorsport shop. While we were there Christa aka “Z Chick”, told us about a local car show held on the grounds of Ford Headquarters in LA, called “Cars and Coffee” and encouraged us to check it out. She boasted that there would be cars in attendance that we may never have even seen or heard of before and may never again in our lifetimes. She rattled off a list of celebrities and auto industry idols who had made past appearances with their vehicles, and insisted that in spite of the early hour (it starts at 6am!) it...

With Youtube, you can spend all day watching car videos. (I'd never do that!) I found a few about the most amazing production car ever made. The Bugatti Veyron. 250+ mph with air and a stereo. Wow. 16.4 liters, 4 turbos and 10 radiators to keep it all cool. So check out this video from Top Gear. They're at the VW test trace on a 5 mile long straight running the Veyron up to it's top speed. Then, just for fun, check these out. Seems like everyone wants to race the Veyron. Bugatti Veyron vs. Yamaha R1 RACING DOWN...