2012 Norcal Car Show "Year in Review" Words & pictures by: Nick Koljian (About Nick) (click on any picture to see it full size... you really should!) Part I As 2012 passes by in the side mirror, 2013 is jumping up on us like a dog in heat. And with the passing of 2012 we saw some pretty amazing shows. Some big, some small, but all good. For 2013, I'm looking forward to bigger and better shows for Northern California. I'm looking forward to shows I've been to year-in and year-out and, of course, some of the newer shows that are making a name for themselves in the car show season. The bay area never ceases to amaze me with its bold paint, fine lines and outstanding collection of customs and classic rides. So let’s throw it in reverse and take a look back 2012. February 2012 The Sacramento Autorama Baseball has it's opening day, here in Northern California our car show season starts with the Sacramento Autorama at the Cal Expo Fairgrounds in Sacramento, CA. This show is a circus of custom rides beyond anyone's imagination. Inside, you...

Mike Ryan and his Freightliner Drifting! 10,000 lbs and over 3000 ft-lbs of torque. This was one of the highlights of the Optima Ultimate Street Car Invitational. Follow along as Mike get's her sideways at Spring Mountain Ranch. (Click to see any picture full size) If you listen closely, you can hear Chad Reynolds from Bangshift.com quietly whimpering in the passenger seat as they use every bit of the track drifting out of this turn. I had to share this one too: The aftermath of one of the smokiest burnouts ever. Laying on the ground, now in powder form is the handmade Michelin X-1 tires abused regularly by Mike and his Freightliner. Overkill with a side of crazy. I love it. Last thing... Here's a video of Mike Ryan warming up for a Formula Drift event with drift champion Samuel Hubinette. Worth a watch as Mike works the bugs out and gives a Make-a-wish child the ride of his life. [youtube]http://youtu.be/Iw0e6aBfNiI[/youtube] How can you not like and share this? See all of the 2012 Optima Invitational Stories & Pictures...

Top 25 and Can Tow the Other Cars! (Click to see any picture full size) I give you a bitch'n five-pack of race inspired (ok, they're pretty much full on race cars except for the Blazer) of 70s Chevy C10 trucks! As I said, the Optima Invitational was a diverse event, filled with the coolest and fastest cars from SEMA, and not just late model Camaros and Mustangs. I've seen some great looking C10's bagged and laying frame in Arizona, but I haven't seen any that could hold their own at the local SCCA autocross! In a social media experiment (or maybe I just don't have much info) I'll try and get the owners to fill-in the details on their trucks. I've got some Facebook or email contacts, so wish me luck! -UPDATE! Got info from Rob MacGregor and Curt Hill. Pictured up top and right here is Phil Gerber's 1970 Chevrolet C10: Phil yank'n and bank'n on the autocross Phil drove to a #12 finish and was the "Top Truck" in the competition. Congratulations on some skilled driving and a great looking truck! Next, pictured above and with his...

1966 Mustang Fastback - Pro-Touring on a Budget   One of the hightlights of the Optima Ultimate Street Car Invitational (aka OUSCI) was meeting Ron Schwarz, the owner of this extremely well done - homebuilt - 1966 Ford Mustang fastback. Sporting all the pro-touring trim, MyRideisMe.com featured this car long ago as part of a how-to story: Build A Pro-touring Mustang for $5000   The key point was, as you can imagine, "Do it yourself".   With a few stickers, new wheels and a new, budget blowing LS motor, Ron's Schwarz's Mustang now cracks the wallet closer to $15,000, but I'd guess is still many thousands on-the-cheap compared to the other competitors at the Optima Invitational. Unbelievably, Ron finished 33rd in the Design challenge. I don't know what those cats are looking for, but this was a ground up car featuring only what's needed to go fast. Other than that, Ron finished just outside the top 20 on the Hot Lap Challenge and the Speed Stop Challenge, but did bring home a top 20 in the Autocross.   At least he can say he tied with the Lamborghini!  ...

More than just Camaros and Mustangs at the OUSCI (Click to see any picture full size) If you're in the corporate world, you've heard about diversity. You've probably had some training on it so you can be more sensitive or some other nonsense like that.  The way I see it, different strokes for different folks and that's never been more true than in the rides we choose. Am I right? At the Optima Ultimate Street Car Invitational (damn that's a long name!) the race car diversity was on overload! Shown above, all racing in the same event: 3rd place finishing 2003 Mitsubishi Evo (yellow one barely visible), 1967 Pontiac, 2013 GTR, , a 2012 Audi RS5, 2012 Fiat Abarth, 1986 Porsche Carrera, and some others you'll see in another photo. Right up front and a great example of diversity is the Pontiac. How often do you see this motor at an SCCA race? This blown 1967 Pontiac Firebird owned by Mike Ardito made hot laps on the track, did the autocross, the road race... and I think held it's own in the performance and design competition! Todd Faust's 1966 Mustang leads the...

At Speed and Sideways at the OUSCI Your guide to all that was GREAT at the 2012 Optima Ultimate Street Car Invitational. (Click to see any picture full size) Well... drowning in too many pictures of great looking and performing rides, I've spent too much time trying to make a great summary of the post-SEMA Optima race aka the OUSCI. So rather than attempt to dazzle you with my witty, yet descriptive account of the race, I'll let my photos speak for me. Let me summarize: Great racing, I'll be back! I'll list all the stories about the race here as I write them, so check back and please share with other fans. Dream Ride - Optima Invitational Raced Twin Turbo Lamborghini Road Racing and Autocross Diversity Training Thanks to Optima Back and Still under budget Pro-touring 1966 Mustang Fastback Top 25 Finishing, Pro-touring Styled Chevy Trucks Drifting a 10,000 lb Freightliner  For the pictures here, shown above, in his GM performance packed 1967 Camaro is event winner Mark Steilow. I'm planning a more detailed story about Mark and his ripping fast Camaro, so for now, enjoy the hard-chargin,...

My Ride in an Lamborghini Superleggara Ever been to SEMA? Then you've dreamed. When I stumbled upon this stunning orange Lamborghini in the Optima Batteries booth, was I dreaming to ride in it? Nah, probably not. There'd be no way... how could I make that happen? It's more of a fantasy... not something that'd happen to me. Well it did! So what did I see in the booth? Allow me to elaborate: This is a 2011 Lamborghini Gallardo. To be more specific, it's the Superleggera version.  Superleggera refers to the special lightweight construction thanks to carbon fiber used all over the place. (you'll see it in every picture... click to see any pic full size) Let me say a little more... this is no ordinary Lamborghini Superleggera (like they could ever be ordinary!) This one's had the 5.2L V10 it normally runs (only 562 HP and 0-62mph in 3.4s... phffft!) replaced by a twin turbo setup by Underground Racing. When the driver tunes the ECU to the highest setting of, "Are you kidding me" this potent supercar rocks 1500 HP on 116 octane. Yes. Details from Underground Racing here....

Homebuilt and Driven Hard 1968 Camaro Words and Pictures by Joe Casvin (click on any picture to see it full size) Most people just use their garages to store the stuff that just kind of builds up throughout life. Treasures like newspapers from 1976, a ten-year-old brand new exercise bike, or even a dingy and probably nasty smelling old cooler. You know, shit house door of a tuna boat smell? Jeff Chipman’s garage, however, had a far better hand to be dealt. Jeff used his garage to transform a bare 1968 Camaro shell into something that is both frightening and beautiful. Not an easy feat for your average Joe in your average two-car garage, and when you compound that with the fact that this is Jeff’s first ever attempt at building a car from the ground up... Well, you end up with something that is truly special and unique. “My first rig was a 1950 Chevy pickup I got when I was 15 years old. I started doing stuff to it after I got it. I’ve been messing around with cars and bikes all my life, just customizing them...

Galpin Auto Sports Ford Greats at SEMA 2012 (Click to see any picture full size) Click for everything @ 2012 SEMA Show from MyRideisMe Wondering what this is? I was too! Turns out this is one of two cars built for the United States Air Force as part of the 2009 "Super Car Tour", a new recruiting tool. The other car built was a Dodge called "VAPOR".  Think something like this would help a gearhead sign up for service? Flat but pearly paint covers the Lambo style doors, APR custom wide body kit and Galpin Auto Sports (better known as GAS) carbon deck lid. The overall look was speedy and ready for flight. Especially... Inside where the magic is! That's a real jet ejection seat sitting right in the middle of the car. I suspect the flight stick doubles as the gear shift and the steering wheel is just barely seen here with the X-1 logo on it. Better hang on too, there's a 500HP Ford Racing 4.6L under the hood. This is wild! Call me crazy, but I'd still rather have the original, "Barn Find" 1965 Shelby GT350...

1965 Dodge D200 Crew Cab at SEMA 2012 (Click to see any picture full size) Click for everything @ 2012 SEMA Show from MyRideisMe Rugged and stylish with BRUTAL torque and room for the kids and toys! That's the ICON 1965 Dodge D200 Crew cab truck found at the Optima Batteries booth at the 2012 SEMA Show. This truck rocks! From every angle, this Dodge D200 is striking! I've been a fan of Dodge D200 trucks since I saw this at Goodguys a few years back: Dad's Old 1965 Dodge D200. While not a crew cab, it's a great looking custom truck. Sneaking a peak at the build card, this is the ICON D200 Reformer. I don't know about "reform" it makes me want to be bad! The D200 crew cab body rides on a 2006 Dodge 3500 truck chassis and runs the Cummins diesel, but with a little help from the Banks crew to the tune of 975 ft-lbs of torque! That's riding on a Kore Baja Chase suspension with 37" BFG's and Hutchison bead lock wheels. Inside, it's just as trick. I had to look this up,...

Custom One Off Wheels at SEMA 2012 (Click to see any picture full size) Click for everything @ 2012 SEMA Show from MyRideisMe Let the debate begin! To me, this was the hottest wheel I saw and if there's one thing more common then wheels at the SEMA Show, I don't know what it is! So why is this my pick of SEMA? They're one of a kind, one off wheels - nobody else at the SEMA Show has these wheels (or ever will) They're on  on a bad ass car - 1951 Mercury Custom Tons of thought, above and beyond selecting from a catalog, went into the design Disagree? Cool. Do your thing, but dig this first... Start with a fairly blank canvas: 20x 8.5" Centerline Smoothies shown here. Then, let Max Fish, owner at Bio Kustumz hand- mill the wheels -- that's right, on a manual Bridgeport mill -- to the design you see here. Max is a guy I gotta meet some day. His company slogan is, "We suck less" and he wears it proud in this video where a radiator hose coupling comes off his lathe. Now Max...

Ferrari, Lamborghini & Porsche Flat and Sexy (Click to see any picture full size) Click for everything @ 2012 SEMA Show from MyRideisMe There's a few booths at the SEMA Show you should never miss. One of them's Giovanna's. Much like last year, their booth is a vast expanse of white carpet frequented by fans of the brand, I'm sure, but primarily by folks looking to get close to the Ferrari, Lamborghini, Porsche and McLaren  exotics on hand. That's why I was there! Shown above is the Lamborghini Aventador LP900 "Molto Veloce" by DMC. Need to know more? Here're the details on the DMC Molto Veloce Package. I got my first ride in a Lamborghini as part of the Optima Ultimate Street Car Shootout. More on that later, but it was an Underground Lamborghini Superleggera putting out 1500 HP on C116 racing gas. OK, maybe I stopped in to say hello to the friendly booth girls too... Pictured here is the Ferrari F458 Spider. Exotic car, beautiful girl, how can you go wrong? Ferrari, Lambo's and the like aren't my area of expertise, so if they're yours, check out GT...