2011 Bonneville Speed Week - What Could Go Wrong? 2011 Bonneville Speed Week sponsored by Spectre Performance Cruising onto the salt for the first time this year at just past 6AM, I'm greeted with this stunning sunrise. My new friends from Spectre have some big, BIG goals, but with a start to the morning like this, I'm thinking, "What could go wrong?" Then, standing in the media line chatting with the Hot Rod Magazine crew, I can just hear a racer explaining, "... and then it spit this out right onto the salt!" I turn around to see him proudly holding what's left of a twisted exhaust valve. Ahhhh... it's like a hot Krispy Kreme doughnut in my still warm coffee. This 1969 Plymouth Barracuda owned by Paul Ogden of Redding, CA looks fabulous in the still low sun. Similar to the 69 Cuda from George Poteet and the Rad Rides by Troy crew, this AA/BGC features an unlimited size motor and retains it's factory shape. Things are looking up! I'm ready for a fabulous day on the salt. It's not too hot, there's some clouds adding variety to...

Bonneville Salt Flats -Breaking Records 2011 Bonneville Speed Week sponsored by Spectre Performance Any time a land speed racer says what they're "planning" to do, they better be smiling! As a warm up for the record breaking session this year at Bonneville, I stole 15 minutes with Amir Rosenbaum, the founder of Spectre Performance and driver of the "SpeedLiner" race car shown above. He was smiling... The plan is to break five records! Record #1 - B/BGS: When the SpeedLiner hits the starting line of the long course on Saturday, stuffed inside the long lean frame rails will be a 434 cubic inch Cadillac motor. For those of you keeping score at home, that's a B-class motor  at 373-439 cubic inches. They're gunning for the B/BGS record of 337.197 mphcurrently held by Vesco Racing's D. Spangler. Record #2 - A/BGS: If things go well, (isn't the "if" redundant!!) the B-class record's in reach because SpeedLiner already holds the A/BGS record at 356.645 mph. A-class allows 440-500 cubic inches, so they're working a plan they already know fairly well. (there's that word plan again!) Record #3 - AA/BGS: One word:...

NorCal Hot Rods and Custom Car Show Pictures Midnight Mass #8 This year I thought I would go against what I was hearing about Midnight Mass and experience it for myself. For some reason Midnight Mass was getting a bad wrap for the past couple of years. Yeah, there has been some drama inside the Poor Boys car club but really, what club doesn't have a little drama here and there. Mostly when rumors are spread it just makes it 10x worse by the time it reaches it's final destination. This year marks number 8 for Midnight Mass and it was held at Gibson Ranch out in Sacramento, CA. Generally, this show is held from 5:00pm till midnight, hence Midnight Mass. Calendar-wise it's also held at the end of July. So if you are not familiar with Sacramento, especially at the end of July, I would like to give you a heads up for future summer shows out in this area... bring a ton of sun screen and enough water to fill a 50 gallon drum! Simply... it's hot. Which is pretty smart thinking by the Poor Boys CC...

Heartbreaker 1964 Pontiac GTO Drag Racer While at Toyota's Irwindale Speedway recently for Amateur Drag night, I came upon this beautiful 1964 Pontiac GTO. Although running in the professional class, this car is built from scratch by its owner, Dennis Jewell. With brand new paint job, this 64' Pontiac is breaking more hearts then ever. But the good part is, there's plenty of substance behind the polish. This GTO is powered by a 604 cid motor pushing out 1100 HP at 7,500 rpm! Aspirated with two 1050 Dominators, it's fastest run has been the 1/4 mile in 8.3 seconds @ 163 mph. I love this cool exhaust exit at the front fender.... and good looking hold-down for its Optima Yellow Top battery in the trunk. Even more, I love that Dennis has built this beauty himself - along with good friend Jimmy Branham's support. For more info, contact: Dennis Jewell (818)...

Toyota's Irwindale Speedway Heats up on Thursday Nights! Speed Fever is a serious thing. Once I caught on, it was only a matter of time before I got interested in drag racing. First I hot rodded my Studebaker. Then I began attending Speed Week each year. Eventually I learned to do a burnout. Why not drag race!? Although it's not time for my own Studebaker to get on the dragstrip just yet, I'm sure it's day will come. First I've got to learn a thing or two about drag racing - and what better way to go to do that than ride along with a pal who's been racing his 1955 Chevy Gasser for years!? When my buddy Stan first invited me to go along with him to the Irwindale Raceway, I didn't realize we were going to actually drive his racing gasser TO the races. But yep, he built this car to drive and there'll be no trailer for him. (Read more about his Chevy here.) Thursday nights at Irwindale is a run-what-ya-brung amateur night with some professional class racers around also. It isn't a nostaglic-class night, anyone...

What To Know Before Selecting Classic Car Insurance For a number of years, I spent thousands of dollars annually on Stated Value Coverage for my classic car, a hot-rodded 1955 Studebaker Champion. At the time, it was my only option because I didn’t qualify for Classic Car Insurance. After getting a car for daily use, I finally qualified for Classic Car Insurance which lowered my annual premium on my Studebaker from $1844/year to only $95/year through Condon Skelly Collector Car Insurance! Here's how I saved $793 with Classic Car Insurance. Want to save that kind of money too?! 3 Things to Know Before Changing Your Classic Car Insurance: I wish I had known a few things before I went through the process of getting car insurance – so I’m going to share them with you now! #1 What's needed to qualify for Classic Car Insurance? The most basic things, as stated on most Classic Car Insurers websites are: Must have another car insured as daily driver. Must have a secure place to park your classic car. (This doesn’t have to be your place of residence. Had I realized this, I...

Classic Car Insurance - Insure 2 Cars and Save! When it comes to insuring your classic car, there are a number of different auto insurance options available. During my adventures getting Classic Car Insurance with my 1955 Studebaker Champion, I’ve learned a lot by trial and error. Wanting your experience insuring your classic car to be smoother than mine, I thought I’d let ya know some of the discoveries I’ve made along my journey! When it comes to insuring your car, there are a few options: Standard Auto Policy This is what most vehicles carry. A standard auto policy  insures your car for its blue book value at the coverage limits of your choosing. It is the type of coverage that you would have for your everyday vehicles that you drive regularly. It is also an option for your classic if you're using it as your primary vehicle. Stated Value Car Insurance Not many car insurance companies offer this. Stated Value insures your car for what you claim its worth is, which should be verified by an appraiser. This figure is about what you would expect to pay for a...

Hot Rod Pinup Ashley Croft I never thought that the jaw harp and watermelons would come up in one of my Pinup of the Month interviews, but alas, I haven't  interviewed Ashley Croft before. With her timeless beauty and fun personality, Ashley is able to create some stunning pin up imagery. If you didn't know any better you would think she stepped right outta the good ol' days. Don't get confused by that, because Ashley has a few ideas in her head about a pretty wild sounding, alternative style photo shoot... it involves an alcoholic drink of a certain color and a bouncy horse... I guess we will have to keep our fingers crossed with that one and hope it comes to life one day. For now, you can check out these photos she has shared with us which were taken by Pin Up photographer Robin Cook. Pin Up modeling has often crossed paths with alternative style of modeling. What would your most crazy, off the wall photo shoot consist of if you had the chance? I do tend to lean more toward traditional pin up themes in my shoots. I love the timelessness,...

NorCal Hot Rods and Custom Car Show Pictures Nite of the Hot Rods #5 107.7 The Bone Rock Girl Brittany Cervantes 11:05 am on Saturday morning I was in the back yard pulling some unwanted weeds and up in the skies were some wicked black and grey clouds just looming over the city of Concord, CA. As I had 10,000 years by High on Fire running through my head and anticipating the sky to rip open at any second I pondered the thought of, "How cool would it be if the weather stayed like this for the show tonight?" Meaning, the 5th Annual Nite of the Hot Rods at the Riverview Lodge in Antioch, CA. The day went on and the thunderhead started to disappear the closer it got to show time. Reason why I thought it would be cool that the weather stayed that way is because the show, like every year is held on the pier at the lodge, but this year there was something different in the air, something a bit weird. Kind of like that feeling you get when you walk into a room and...

Hot Rod Pinup Daisie Fairlane Hot blonde, Check. Hot blonde who like cars, check. Hot blonde who likes to drive and work on cars? CHECK.. This Barris Spokesmodel (as in George Barris) embodies that perfect hot rod pinup persona. Smokin' hourglass figure with platinum blonde hair and a no holds barred attitude when it comes to her rides. She knows what she likes... classics... and she's not afraid to tell you she's, let's say, not a fan of the whole import and "Fast and Furious" scene. She likes to feel steel under the hood and vinyl under her, well, bum. The only thing that might stand between Daisie and her dream car would be Bigfoot himself. Photo shoot Scenario: What do you do with these only props- a car, a paintbrush, some paint... In this scene I picture Route 66. An abandoned gas station in the middle of nowhere. The car is broke down with the hood up. Instead of fixing the car I'm painting the gas station, in the reflection of the car you see me holding the brush and the gas station is back to its heyday... If...

NorCal Hot Rods and Custom Car Show Pictures Story Contributed by MyRideisMe.com member: Nick Koljian "Hellcity316" 2011 Strangers Car Show I would like to start off by saying the Strangers Car show and BBQ is a special show in many ways. One, it's a family show for us here at the N/K residence. The whole family piles in to the wagon and heads down 680 south in route for San Jose's Kelly park. Dave,my bro-in-law and his son roll in for the festivities. It's a family affair gig. We all park it in the same place right behind the raffle booth every year under one of the many shade trees in the park. Throw the blanket down, kick out the chairs and the girls spew out all their toys for the day. Two, it's the headliner of a double dip show weekend. On that Saturday is Gambino's Sit Down custom car show in San Jose which is always a dandy. Then you have the Strangers on Sunday. Which in my opinion is one of the highly anticipated and blockbuster weekends of the summer for shows. Third, it marks my...

1939 Ford Coupe - Nostalgia Minded Business Coupe “High School Hot Rods” have been staples of the car scene since their popularity first took off in the 1950's. Innovative and determined teenagers across the country turned out these cars in their local high school shop class with a single goal in mind – beat anything the rich kids from the other side of the tracks could buy from the local Big 3 dealerships. Ray Southard’s 1939 Ford Business Coupe Deluxe exemplifies traditional high school hot rod styling and how you never forget your first; hot rod that is... Ray spent his teenage years growing up in Reno, NV. At the age of 14, Ray bought a 39’ Ford Coupe shell from a friend’s dad that had been basking in the Nevada sun for several years. The shell only set the young teen back $15, but a long list of parts and time lay ahead. Ray took a job doing parts inventory at a local salvage yard. As any part he could use came through, Ray set'm aside into his own personal parts bin or quickly installed them on the...