2013 Muscle Car and Corvette Nationals- Sleeper 1965 L-79 Chevelle     Gordon Rohde looked over his plain-jane 1965 Chevelle 300 like a proud papa and said “losing just 17 points in judging sure isn’t too bad.” Particularly when you find out this car has a racing history which many times can complicate a restoration. “I left some of the parts on the car from when I originally raced it,” said Gordon. “Just couldn’t see taking them off for a few extra judging points.”   On display at last month’s 2013 Muscle Car and Corvette Nationals, the 38,000 mile L-79 equipped two-door sedan looked almost out of place among the surrounding muscle cars and Corvettes. Plain Jane and super subtle, you bet! Gordon brought it to the Rosemont Convention Center to see how he had done in bringing the little street terror back to life. “Lost some points for some incorrect bolts on the flywheel cover and the homemade driveshaft loop plus I still have the mounting pads welded up front for the tow bar.” He just didn’t have the heart to pull them off.   Gordon knows this...

1959 Devin is the "Bontrager-Wilbeck Drag Special" It was 1962. Dean Bontrager and Jay Wilbeck wanted to go drag racing, but they didn't want to do it like everybody else. They could have gone the way of a “factory-produced” muscle car or even picked up a nice little Ford coupe or roadster to go haul the mail.   But... they wanted to do something different and the Bontrager-Wilbeck Drag Special was born, using the ingenuity, hard earned cash and long hours of both Dean and Jay. They were going racing and this was going to be their “steed of choice”.   Both racers knew going lightweight was going to be key, along with some big time horsepower. They chose a 1959 Devin SS, a lightweight body produced by Devin Cars, a company founded by Bill Devin, who specialized in various racing cars and fiberglass kit cars in the 1950s and 1960s. Devin built a car that had the style, sophistication, and performance of a Ferrari but sold for a lot less. Ferraris demanded a high price due to pedigree, but Devin decided to exploit the market and offer a nearly...

 The Rarest Corvettes and Muscle Cars - The Rarest of the Rare Up Close and Personal! Bob Ashton hit another home run with the 5th Annual Muscle Car and Corvette Nationals held November 23 and 24 at the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center in Rosemont, Illinois. The show, which uses nearly 400,000 square feet of space in the sprawling convention center, again brought together an amazing collection of muscle cars, many of which are rarely seen outside of private and museum collections.   See all the car show pictures right here   If you like what you see here, stay tuned! We'll add more pictures and details to our favorite muscle cars from the show. 1967 Camaro Cherokee Concept Car 1958 Desoto Firesweep convertible   The Muscle Car and Corvette Nationals is the nation’s largest, all indoor specialty show and swap meet devoted to Muscle Cars, Dealer-built Supercars and Corvettes. Ashton is Managing Member of the group of enthusiasts who got together and staged the first show back in 2009, replacing the long running Chevy Vettefest.   1963 Buick Riviera Silver Arrow I   Ashton is a long time muscle car...

Custom Chevy Corvair Even Ralph would Love at 2013 SEMA Show   This is the 5th installment of Best of SEMA Show 2013... Carrie Strange's Corvair, eh FRONT engine Corvair!!     In the early 1990's, "Dare to be Different" was the battle cry of the street machine crowd, and many alternative body styles were sought out and made into some bad-ass rides. From radical little Nash-bodied pro-streeters to slammed Studebakers and odd-year Buicks, it all became fair game.   Tim Strange has built his share of different cars over the years, even a wild, Hemi-powered 1951 DeSoto, so it should come as no surprise that when his wife Carrie wanted a Periwinkle-hued, no make that orchid hued, front engine Corvair that he'd be all over it.   And all over it in record time!   Tim and Carrie built this stunning Corvair in three and-a-half months (between another SEMA build and customer cars, no less!) in their Nashville-based shop, Strange Motion Rod and Custom Construction.     Starting with a Fat Man front stub, Tim built a custom 2x4-inch tube chassis, mounting the side draft-carbed 4.3L V-6 and TH-2004R...

More Custom Vans at 2013 SEMA Show   I already mentioned the "Chrome Gypsy" custom For Econoline van, now it's time for a Dodge and Chevy custom van.   Has the SEMA Show changed their criteria? Are they letting just about anything in the show now? Or... are these some RAD, well done vans that make a clear statement: Custom Vans are back!     First up, a van named, "Van del Oro" and we'd have to agree... Van of GOLD! In the morning sun (unfortunately parked in the shadow of a huge column) this van was glowing. A quick peak inside said the beauty was more than skin deep.     With more gold, and I think a little more metal flake on the interior highlighted by a Mooneyes steering wheel, chrome dash and Moon pedal, there's a clear attention to detail. Upholstery was by Howdy Ledbetter Upholstery and looked clean, custom and comfortable.   Under the engine cover? How about a 380 HP 360 Dodge. Toy's by Tommy and owner ??? (help here) are keeping it in the Dodge family. Thank you for not dropping in a...

Custom Vans at 2013 SEMA Show   Vans. They're not just for living down by the river anymore. (RIP Chris Farely aka Matt Foley)   One of my EASY picks for "Favorite at SEMA" has to be this custom Ford Econoline Van. Not since Church's VanGO has a van made a statement like this. With metal flake shining in the Las Vegas sun, I had to grab some pictures and share. If metal flake's your thing, make sure to look at the other metal flake paint stories and pictures we've done including a "how-to" about spraying flake yourself.     Complimenting the cooper-gold flaked flames and stripes, the gold leaf lettering spelled "Chrome Gypsy Tattoo" a Las Vegas based tattoo and piercing shop. A perfect calling card for the shop, yea??     How do you paint metal flake on a roof with this detail? Standing on a latter for days!!?? Someone lets us know who did the paint... they deserve credit!     Custom details and more metal flake covered the interior. I heard the engine's detailed and flaked too. I'll try to grab a picture tomorrow.  ...

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...

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...

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...

Chaotic Customs SEMA Build - 1940 Ford Pickup   Pictures and words by Karma Carlson   Want to see the finished truck at SEMA 2013? 1940 Ford Hot Rod Pickup at SEMA   It all started with a hole in the hood of a 1929 Model A roadster. Mike Young brought his roadster to Chris & Karma Carlson at Chaotic Customs in Mulvane, KS, to have the hole in his hood repaired after removing a blower motor. The repair turned into a complete rebuild of the car and a friendship was formed between the Youngs and the Carlsons. After driving the roadster, Mike discovered his wife, Glenna, was not a roadster chick. Roadsters in the Kansas heat and wind were not her cup of tea. They decided to build an enclosed car so that Glenna would enjoy riding longer distances to car shows. Mike knew Chaotic Customs was the shop for the job.   Learn more about Chaotic Customs painting skills in this Metal Flake on a budget Painting How-to   Mike had his eye on 1949-1951 Chevy Fleetlines but Chris had a line on a 1940 Ford pickup....

Promotional Corvette Pedal Car at Lambrecht Story by Jim Volgarino Info and some images by John Arnold Models, Inc.   In the mid-1950s, General Motors, along with all the major car companies of the time, was enthralled with promotion. Coming off a decade of world war, the company was letting out all the stops to drive people to showrooms with glitzy ads, colorful promotions and incentives meant to get dealers nationwide excited to put one more GM product on the road.   Nothing represented the promotion mania better than Chevrolet’s Corvette!   Introduced in 1953, the Corvette featured styling cues no one had ever experienced from a US automotive manufacturer. The Corvette was born for promotion and GM wanted every ounce of promotion capital from its little plastic sports car.   But promotion wasn’t just for the adult car jockey who was itching to glide down the boulevard in a low slung roadster. The kiddies were part of the action too.   UPDATE, 9/30/13: Since writing this article about the Kiddie Corvette, we've been contacted by John Arnold, John's company,  John Arnold Models, Inc. does full restorations and offers replacements parts...

1963 Chevy Impala - "Doesn't Run" (You figure it out!)   You saw the only 5 miles 1958 Chevy Apache Pickup, and now the 1978 Corvette Pace car with 4 miles. This 1963 Impala's a beater with 11 miles on it! Look how straight it is!   The Lambrecht Chevy Auto Dealership you learned about here never sold any used cars and kept any cars that weren't sold the year they were new! That's why this great car, a super desirable car even with a 327 and auto trans, is in the Lambrecht Auction.   The interior is just as cherry since the plastic was kept on.     This is another hot item in the auction with bids are up to $26,000!!   Want to own it? Get more details and you've got until 9/27 to buy it here: 1963 Chevy Impala - 2dr 327 V8, auto for sale   Being Sold AS IS and NO RESERVE. For more info and other auctions www.vanderbrinkauctions.com or 605-201-7005.   If you're an Impala fan, we don't have any 63's, but what about this bad-in-black 61 Chevy...