2010 Motorama Custom Car Show Just when you thought the car show season was coming to the end, there's one more you don't want to miss! The Long Beach Motorama, featuring the Showcase of Kustoms, was created specifically to feature the top custom cars being built today. Not only that, but there's plenty of history too. Motorama is modeled after the custom car show begun in 1958 by the Renegades Car Club and  recognizes important builders, cars, and individuals from hot rodding history. To be sure that the Long Beach Motorama draws some of the most impressive custom builds around, it features a Kustom D'Elegance award that'll earn the skillful car builder a $20,000 purse! While the cars in competition for the Kustom D'Elegance award are fantastic, I wanted to give ya'll a chance to see the variety of other cars that showed up. From mild to radical customs, pickups to lowriders - this was a very well-rounded show! Scroll on down through this pick of ten from Mitzi (try not to drool on your keyboard) and be sure to leave a comment below and let everyone know which...

Mazda Rotary Engine Car Show Every year the rotary gearheads gather from all over the globe to attend the so called "Biggest rotary show in the world" at SEVENSTOCK 2010 at the Mazda North America Headquarters in Irvine, California. Since the release of the RX-8, its uncertain what rotary engine equipped vehicle will be produced after the RX-8, and perhaps events like the Sevenstock are an attempt to show Mazda corporate that the Wankel rotary spirit is still going strong.  Sevenstock is also more of a niche venue than your ordinary assembly of piston loving enthusiasts... rotary engines have a special type of bond that adheres to any car loving person. Why is this? Perhaps its the attraction to the free spinning bumble bee rumble, or the simple nature of the compact displacement that drops into almost any type of chassis? Regardless of the reason, it's a legendary engine that's made an immense footprint in the automobile world. The latest of Mazda's rotary creations, the RX-8 were in full effect. The Renesis is a naturally aspirated rotary engine engineered for performance as well as fuel efficiency, but most importantly,...

Car Show Invaded By The Gasoline Girls It was labor day weekend, and you know what that means... leaving LA for the 100 mile drive to Ventura for the weekend. Although the show's been going on for 8 years now, this year its name changed from "Primer Nationals" to "Ventura Nationals"... so don't get confused! Other then being filled with great cars, good music, a pinup contest... it was extra special because it also marked the first official show that me and my girl's car club attended together! I've been meaning to introduce ya'll to them, so no time is better then the present - say hello to the Gasoline Girls! We've been meeting up and getting together to wrench on one another's cars for a few months now  - and having a darn good time at it! Waking up early to get our old cars parked at the show is difficult (especially when there's so many after-hours activities going on!) But its a little easier when there's a pretty Studebaker waiting for you! The show was at capacity this year, with sweet customs like this one from Cole Foster....

Hot Rods and Custom Car Show Pictures Story Contributed by MyRideisMe.com member: Nick Koljian "Hellcity316" The first thing you think of when you hear Skoty Chops name is insane customs. I recently had the pleasure of meeting the custom creating madman and owner of Skoty Chops Customs at the Concrete Massacre Car Show in Redwood City, CA. The first words out of this humble genius aside from nice to meet you was, "Anytime you want have a shoot or use my shop for a shoot, here's my number." I just met the guy and he is offering his laboratory where some of the sickest pieces of steel are conjured up and fabricated. Honestly rod fanatics... I was speechless. So when I heard that Skoty was putting on his Shootout #2 you knew it was one that this lens junkie was not going to miss. There's a few things that are a lock when Skoty Chops puts on a show and at The Skoty Chops Shootout #2 in Redwood City, Ca they held true. The first thing is, you know you're gonna witness some of the baddest pinstripers from the...

Hot Rods and Custom Car Show Pictures Story Contributed by MyRideisMe.com member: Nick Koljian "Hellcity316" Sarahlee, a pin-up gal from the Devious Dolls I shoot from time to time, gave me a flier for a show out in Santa Cruz, CA and said, "You gotta shoot this show!" I thought, "This could be cool, the girls could hang out with grandma in Capitola and could run over and shoot the show." As I was driving I just couldn't get the title of the show out of my head... "Concrete Massacre". To me that's a "not so original" name for what I heard is a cool car show put on by the Alley Boys Car Club. I thought, "How many times have I heard a show called this or something involving concrete?" After dropping the girls off at Grandmas house I headed up Soquel Ave towards the show. Soquel Ave's the main drag that connects Capitola to Santa Cruz. I was still stuck on this "Concrete" thing until I made my left on Encinal St.  and drove by Las Animas Concrete plant... Looking inside, I saw nothing but sick steel!...

Hot Rods and Custom Car Show Pictures Story Contributed by MyRideisMe.com member: Nick Koljian "Hellcity316" It was that time of year again to mosey on down to the wharf and check this years Nite of the Hot Rods car show put on by the bay areas own Dragoons Car Club. You may well know already from my past write up on last year's show, Nite of the Hot Rods is held at the Riverview Lodge in Antioch, CA. Now for those you that are new to MyRideisMe.com let me break it down like this. For the past 4 years the Dragoons CC has been putting on a little shindig entitled "Nite of the Hot Rods". What makes this car show so special is that the lodge is right on the wharf and the show itself is held on a pier. The Riverview Lodge is a bar/seafood restaurant and was built back in 1948. As a staple of Antioch for years, it still carries that beat up Elks Lodge flavor with old wood seating and jacked-up dinning tables... a very cool and comfortable place to hang out or have a...

Bonneville Speed Week 2010 Cruise In at the Nugget Casino The Cruise In at the Nugget Casino is a Bonneville Speed Week must-see.  Let's take a peek at some pictures of the salty hot rods that showed up this year. (Here's pictures of 2009 Nugget Car Show) Flattie powered pickup running a favorite wheel/tire combo, white walls and steelies.  Can't get enough of the salt on top of the rods. We're workin on a post that shows how it got up there! Hot Rod Bread Truck.  Perfect stance for bread delivery, how cool is that?!  I love hot roddin'. The Rolling Bones Hot Rod Shop cars and crew managed to grab the prime parking spot up front.  32's and louvers! Jim Baugh's 33 Ford Sedan drove out from Washington state.  I met him at the Salt Flats Speed Shop Open House.  More coming on this rod soon. This shot gives you a look at the amount of people crammed into the parking lot at the Nugget Casino.  This deuce roadster is beautiful with its blown flattie up front and silver paint that looks almost like metal.  One of my...

Hot Rods and Custom Car Show Pictures As the Doors front man Jim Morrison once put it " People are strange when you're a stranger." Hmmm, lets take a good look at that. "People are strange when you're a stranger." Does that mean you are strange if you like insane pinstriping and you're passionate about hot rods? Is that really a bad thing? Well I know a couple of strangers that would disagree with "people are strange when you're a stranger."  That would be the guys from Strangers Car Club that put on one of the biggest and most anticipated shows in the South Bay every year.  The Strangers CC Car Show & BBQ at History Park in San Jose, Ca. This being the 11th annual show there was some rumors going around that this might be the last one. But no worries that little diddy was squashed quick. This years show seemed to be double in size of last years and always brings out the who's who in the hot rod scene as well as the big names around the bay. Names like builders Alex Gambino and Scotty...

Car Show Pictures: 2010 Goodguys Puyallup Northwest Nationals Our friend Jason Rushforth (Rushforth Wheels) had attended the 23rd Goodguys Northwest Nationals in Puyallup, Washington with his '64 Buick (featuring a brand-new LS2 engine swap!), and he sent along some photos that he and Adam Ramseth had taken over the weekend. As Jason tells us: In addition to getting the Rushforth Wheels company car to the show at the last second, 2500 other folks made it to the Western Washington Fairgrounds in Puyallup, Washington which is the biggest and best show in the Northwest. Weather was perfect all weekend and the big open fairgrounds were packed with all manner of hot rods up to 1972. Here's a few shots from the weekend of cars that stood out but with 2500 cars... there was certainly something for everyone! Brett Anderson scored a coveted Art Morrison Enterprises "Builder's Choice" Award with his home-built, Rushforth-designed and wheeled 72 Camaro: 2-door wagons are so cool, and this slick '57 Ford is no exception! With virtually every segment of the hobby represented, this little pickup has some serious attitude and the wide whites on wires...

Carlisle Car Show: 2010 Truck Nationals The 2010 Carlisle Truck Nationals was, once again, a great event and MyRideisMe.com was there to enjoy the show. Truck enthusiasts from around the country were there competing for trophies and just to hang out with like-minded individuals. There was something for everyone including sky-high monster trucks all the way to frame laying minis. One of the highlights of the show was a display of Vietnam Gun Trucks from the reunion of Vietnam-era U.S. Army Transportation Veterans who were in Carlisle for their meeting known as "The Gathering." All of the vehicles present looked very impressive with their machine guns mounted up high. As a different form of tribute to our soldiers, Malibu Customz had their 2009 Ford F-150 truck that they call the "Freedom Truck" on display. This spectacular truck was airbrushed by Mickey Harris and depicted scenes from all the U.S. military branches. Over in Building Y, Dan Little organized a group of Rat Rodders to fill the entire building with all sorts of creative rides. Some people have an issue with the term "rat rod" but not George and Corey Green. Their entire 1936 Plymouth was...

Car Show Pictures from Germany: I've got the latest scoop from our German Hot Rod informant, Pascal.  The German Street Rod Association (GSRA) is the only German club for street rod owners, which is now up to 300 members and was founded in 1993.  They have a website gsra.de you can check out, but its all in German.  Now, on to the sharp photos by Pascal and the rad hot rods from Germany. It's cool how 20's and 30's traditional hot rods can transcend time in any part of the world, as we've seen from Tano's '26 T Roadster with Olds V8 power to these rods in Germany. One of the traditional type rods that can be found worldwide is the Speed Shop truck.  I wonder if hot rodders from the 40's and 50's knew that their work trucks would be turned into street rods?  It makes sense though, I mean, you can hop up the big V8's they came with, you can slam them, put some chrome reverse wheels on 'em with baby moon caps and white walls, add the name of your speed shop and logo on the door...

Cruise Night: Utah Cruisin Car Show Taking the wife and kids to a local car show is one of my highlights of the summer.  We like to check out the Burger Stop Cruise In that happens the last Wednesday of each month in the summer time.  It's a small show by most standards, probably about 50-75 cars from the local area.  It's cool because its not all Mustangs and Camaros, there is a little bit of everything.  Variety is the spice of life is it not? I've seen this orange/red Model A coupe at this show before.  It also sports tons of Bonneville Salt Flats decals, so I know it gets run hard at the Flats.  Last year he came to the show with the Salt still stuck to the car. Here's the Model A coupe next to a pickup brother, both in a more traditional flavor.  Love the white walls and steelies with the white firewall.  Good lookin'! While the kids were waiting in line for some Clown-made circus balloons, I found a light blue convertible GTO looking showroom stock with some Cragars.  Dig the chrome everywhere. I...