You're in trouble when you invite Brian Stupski from Problem Child Kustoms Studio to dinner. Brian's used to designing super high-end custom hot rods and concept cars for SEMA, which is all great, but when you ask him for help with your own projects, he doesn't know when to throttle back. "Brian, I don't have an extra $200k!" It's great to dream though! Look what he does when I cut him loose on something near and dear to me. The Nissan Armada. Brian also helped with a blog I wrote for Nissan. I was trying to win a trip to the Lake Tahoe, NV press event for the GTR. You might have read about it in EVERY magazine! I could have driven the GTR on a track. Too bad, my story didn't win, even with this AMAZING illustration. Here's a snippet of the Nissan Blog I wrote. I was trying to describe what I do for Nissan: It's tough to focus; I've had something on my mind since this morning. Then it hit me; I can see it now: Grocery shopping, trips to the mall, the neighbor kid’s hair...

CHARITY AUCTION ON EBAY FOR FRANK WASHINGTON Brenda Priddy Organizing Donations Announcing an ongoing EBay auction of Automobilia (Automotive Memorabilia) donated to raise funds for severely injured veteran journalist Frank Washington. Washington was hospitalized after being mugged while walking near his Detroit home. His injuries required several hours of surgery to repair and he is unable to work while recuperating at home. The entire automotive community has gotten together to raise funds to help with Frank’s medical bills. The auction was started by photo/journalist Brenda Priddy. You can see all of the auction items by clicking the Ebay link below:   http://search.ebay.com/_W0QQsassZbrendapriddycharityauctions. Among the items donated so far are, from left to right: A series of 5 DODGE CHALLENGER PROTOTYPE PISTOL GRIP SHIFTERS from the Dodge Design Studio! Two ORIGINAL framed mid-engine CORVETTE sketches from the CORVETTE DESIGN STUDIO, circa 1973. RARE BMW 'sculpture' / model (circa 1981) donated by Jim Dunne. And a 5-hour BOB BONDURANT High Performance driving class! A $1200 MICHELIN gift certificate. Brenda says she hopes to add auction items daily for the next week or two with all proceeds going directly to the Frank...

…has sadly passed on today at the age of 63.Suffice to say, he was a true giant in the industry, and the first builder to truly inspire me to throw my hat in the ring, and do what I love. His approach and design sense changed forever the direction of the modern street rod and custom car, and will be viewed forever as the benchmark of his era. Cars like CadZZilla are world-famous, and his face was easily one of the most recognizable in the industry. (CadZZilla and the Hirohata Merc at the Oakland Museum of California… sorry for cruddy pic.) (…and speaking of CadZZilla, how ’bout a cool peek at a gathering of great talent during what just may have been the birth of that car? Can you name these guys? –that is a young Larry Erickson on the right… only hint I’ll give) Thanks to a guy who, no matter how hectic his schedule, took time to spend a few moments with me at a show, and review what I was working on at the time. Sadly, as large a page in hot rodding history as he...

Evel Knievel, the man who could make Harleys fly, died yesterday at the age of 69. The recipient of a liver transplant in 1999 had been in poor health for quite a while, suffering from diabetes and pulmonary fibrosis. Everyone, whether they are part of the motorcycle addiction or the real world, knows the name Evel Knievel and can probably even name the place of his worst crash. Caesars Palace, 1968. He certainly came closer than most of us ever will to using up his nine lives and getting away with it. That's what made him a legendary daredevil. So, RIP Evel Knievel. Links of Interest:Evel Knievel's Official Website Knievel article from Australia Knievel article in Motorcycle News The picture on the main page is from the Smithsonian and the copyright allows for the use of it in news reporting. The original source is here:...

Like the better known Volkswagen Typ 1, the Ural motorcycle too has been produced since the late 1930’s and remained relatively unchanged. The staggering defeat of Russia in the Winter War with Finland demonstrated the cost of using obsolete technology in combat. A new motorcycle design was desperately needed considering the increasing momentum towards war with Germany. So, the Soviet army covertly acquired 5 BMW R71 motorcycles in Sweden and took them back to Moscow for reverse engineering. Every detail of the design was studied and reproduced in the 1941 Ural M-72. Thousands of Urals were put into service on the Russian frontlines during World War II. After the war, military production of the Ural was moved to Ukraine from the Irbit Motorcycle Works near Siberia and the original factory was converted to civilian production. Since then over 3 million of the R71-based Urals have been built and can be seen on roads around the world. Yes, they are available here in the United States. What you get today is a shaft driven motorcycle powered by a 750cc air-cooled flat twin rated at 40 horsepower with some pretty unique...

Recently a few friends and I went to Fathers day Roadster show and swap. We were selling in the swap area and had the opportunity to talk to hundreds of buyers. I was selling some small items and a couple of old car bodies and a motor. One of the bodies was a fairly nice and complete 29 Model-A coupe. I had it priced with a marginal cushion for the inevitable haggle session but otherwise fairly priced. Well, every one and I do mean everyone who showed any interest had but one thing to say either to me or their friend, “I saw one on E-bay go for $1000 less than this one”. Let me tell you car swap hunter guys this, STOP DOING THIS! Did you take into consideration when you saw that tiny E-bay picture that you might not be getting what you think you are paying for or that there might be hundreds or a thousand dollar transport fee in store for you. This one you could touch and see and talk face to face to a real person and usually not the guy selling for...

Check out this video that shows the evolution of the GSXR-750 from 1985 to 2007. It's funny how I never thought that bike changed much from year to year but suddenly it looks very different. Perhaps it is like the frog and the boiling water...

It was my pleasure to meet Kirk Wright of Scottsdale, AZ at the Scottsdale Pavilion's show. We started talking about my car, a 27 Ford Roadster and the the 2.3L Pinto motor I run. Then Kirk started telling me about some of his cars. After hearing about the Model T 'banger motors he was building, I set up a meeting at his house to see what he's up to. His card says AAA Typewriter Service on it, so I didn't know what I was getting into. I got into this: If you're into nostalgia racing or old-OLD time hot rodding, or just really into Model T's, then you just spilled your beer. You're looking at a one of kind Hemi headed model T engine. The valve cover is also a unique piece. It's a modified original Ardun valve cover. Kirk added extra room to clear the custom made aluminum roller rockers. Displacing 190 cu. in, Kirk expects this engine to put out about 320Hp. Don't believe it? Kirk's basing that number on another T engine he's built and dyno'd. That's in another T pickup that Kirk's owned since 1951...

Courtesy of Eddy a.k.a. Midnight While studying suspension modifications for the CB900F I found a Dutch motorcycle enthusiast on CB100F.net who has completed (and documented) some of the most unique mods I’ve ever seen on these bikes. His user name is Midnight and he started this project at the end of October 2005 like most of us do, finding a reasonable yet leaky and rusty specimen of CB and getting to work. I usually write too much, so I will let his pictures do the talking. Within a couple of months he had cleaned up the rusty frame, painted the engine, mounted a 900rr swingarm and wheel with a CBR 600 F2 front wheel. Around mid-April 2006, about 6 months after starting, his bike looked like this! Aside from a couple of comments regarding the ride height of the front end, everyone loved the finished product. Now, another thing about Midnight is his uncanny ability to obtain parts for these old Honda’s that are practically unobtainable. Chalk up another first for this guy. I’m not entirely sure who makes that rear end, but it’s pimp. Here is what it...

The Motorcycle Hall of Fame Museum raffled off a 1953 Vincent Black Shadow to benefit the museum. The lucky man from Tempe, AZ bought 5 tickets for $25 and walked away with a legendary bike. It's good to know that it went to a guy who really knew what he was getting. He is a Motorcycle Safety Foundation instructor, has attended almost every AMA & MotoGP race at Laguna Seca in the past 10 years and even took a trip to the Isle of Man. Next year they will be raffling off another 1953 Black Shadow. Go buy some tickets!...