Meet the Artists and Participate in the Working Studios! Motorburg announced that it would be presenting a “Design Center” attraction at the 2010 N.S.R.A. Nationals in Louisville, KY – August 5th through the 8th. Motorburg.com, the online resource for automotive designers, artists and enthusiasts, with an emphasis on rods & customs, will be heading up this uniquely entertaining venue. Motorburg.com features art and design galleries by an associate group of some of the hottest artists and designers in the industry as well as a thriving Forum of international talent. Increasingly, it’s becoming the “go to place” for an ever-changing array of articles and tutorials for all who appreciate the form and function of the American style of custom built automobile. Motorburg’s associate artist list reads like a “who’s who” of rod & custom art and design and includes: Darrell Mayabb – Thom Taylor – Jimmy Smith – C. Cruz – Greg Tedder – Ralph Burch – Brian Stupski – C. Smith… as well as CARtoon greats Nelson Dewey and Errol McCarthy. The Design Center gallery will display art by these associates as well as prints and portfolios by Motorburg’s...

I think its safe to say that there's a little bit of everything at Viva Las Vegas. So instead of just bringing you back pictures of all the cool stuff we saw at VLV13 - Pikesan, Swanee, and I thought we'd give ya'll a chance to put in your own two cents. So time to VOTE! MyRideisMe's first official, Top 11 Viva Las Vegas Car Show Favorites! We're each including our top three picks (plus one from my Dad, plus Pikesan's added a 4th) ...making for a varied and diverse choice of 11! Leave a comment and vote for your choice! From Kristin & her Pops, Picks and Pics: #1 Suede 1953 Chevy Custom with fade... #2 Suede Ford Pickup with Green Flames #3 (another) Suede 1936 Ford 3 Window Coupe #4 Custom ?? From Pikesan, Picks and Pics: I'm cheating and making it the top 11. Never conform, right!?  I would have ended up with all customs (and what's with the orange theme?) so I picked a pair of hot rods to contend! #5 Pike's Pic of the 1953 Chevy Kustom with fade... (sorry GreaseGirl! This is probably...

We're HERE! After an uneventful drive through the Nevada desert we hit Vegas in the daytime. Not quite as exciting as the nighttime skyline, but who cares! We're here for the hot rods, customs and pinups that make Viva Las Vegas a must every year. Vote for your favorite here. Sunset's a great time to catch photos, even for a hack like me, but my man Swanee's doing his thing for this picture. Several beers later and with a dead cell phone and wireless that doesn't work, we're still getting these pictures and tons more up in the next few days. One of the best parts of the Viva Las Vegas is the pinups. The show's a gathering of all things hot rods, music and vintage clothes wearing girls with bright red lipstick, a flower in their hair and some great expressions on their faces! I'll try to catch this lovely lady's name at the show today. Update... didn't see her again on Saturday. Anyone know her name? Please leave a comment below. I hijacked what looked like a professional photographer shooting another lovely young lady in front of...

Today's Day #1 of Viva Las Vegas - the yearly weekender when hepcats and hotrods invade sin city. Not wanting you to miss out on any of the action, here's a sneak peak! People from near and far are descending in droves. Even more will descend upon the massive car show hosted here yearly by the Shifters Car Club on Saturday. Last year saw some 500+ vehicles show up. I rolled out of bed in the wee hours this morning to meet up with the Throttle Kings for the ride over. Los Angeles to Las Vegas is usually a pretty boring trip. Not when you're on the way to VLV 13 with the Throttle Kings! Great people, a long string of cool hotrods, and making new friends at every stop along the way!! We managed the trip over with only one very small mishap (someone's throttle got stuck...go figure these are the Throttle Kings!) We even got to kick off our weekend party with a pit stop just past stateline -- after you're in Nevada you can  crack open a beer in the parking lot with no worries. Arriving...

Car shows are fun, but I think I speak for alot of car owners when I say: "Get out of the lawn chairs!" Don't get me wrong, time with friends catching up on new projects and great hot rod buys are essential to car shows, but what else is there to do? That's where Autocross comes in... At the 1st annual Goodguys Spring Nationals in Scottsdale, AZ, Goodguys added an event they call the "Street Challenge Autocross".  Goodguys does a great job of setting up a small, twisty race course that's perfect for taking cars normally at home on the the straight line quarter mile and forcing them to go left and right. Up for grabs is a set of BFG tires for winners in a few different classes including Vendor, Hot Rod and Street Rod. (Somebody help me with the classes... they're not listed on Goodguys website) So who was racing? The winner of the hot rod autocross was my friend Doug Jerger in his 1934 Ford Roadster. Doug is the owner and chief painter at Squeeg's Kustoms in Mesa, AZ. Doug's built a couple America's Most Beautiful...

8 Days. 3,500 Miles. 0 Excuses. 1 Lap. 1 Fast Camaro. This can only be the formula for One Lap of America, a brutal competition and that may be THE ultimate test of a street car's performance and reliability as well as teamwork and driver skill. Optima Batteries, Hellwig Products and ISIS Wiring are supporting the "1 Lap Camaro" team in this 8 day, 3,500 mile battle where teams rally around the country competing at some of USA's top race tracks. Dig this PCKStudio rendering of the 1 lap Camaro over the race track locations.  Man that is cool!  I think you'll be able to get that logo on a tshirt. The 1 Lap Camaro seen here is a highly modded 1967 Camaro RS running an LS7 427ci Z06 engine tweaked by the well known Katech Performance crew who preps the engines for the C5R and C6R endurance Corvettes that race and win at Daytona and LeMans. This is a rad Pro-Touring style Camaro real track focus. Dig the front splitter, low ride height, big and wide wheels with grippy rubber.  This thing means business. Keep your eye's peeled on pro-touring.com forums as well...

Goodguys Spring Nationals, March 12-14 Street Challenge Autocross To see all the juicy event details, check below.  What we are excited about and wanted to point out to you readers is the new event they're having this year.  The "Street Challenge Autocross"!  Take your hot rod and bash some cones and yank that steering wheel around and put a hurtin' on your tires and brakes.  Check out these 2 hot rods showing you how autocross is done!   Check out this CRC Vette getting it on in the twisties.  Man that looks fun! ...or maybe Corner Carving Muscle is your thing, check out Bryan Frank's Trans-Am.  I'd love to see some lead sleds or kustoms out on the course.  Or maybe a 32 roadster!  Details of the event below: The Goodguys Spring Nationals is a new hot rod and custom car festival featuring the Southwest’s premier custom vintage automobiles! The event will feature over 2,000 1972 & earlier hot rods, customs, classics, street rods, muscle cars, & trick trucks as well as manufacturer and vendor exhibits, a swap meet and cars for sale area, special “themed” parking areas, model...

Pictures by: Doug Nykanen The votes are in both in Cobo Hall at the Detroit Autorama and here at MyRideisMe.com where you could Vote for your favorite "Great 8" car.  Funny thing is, by 2 votes, the very unofficial voting picked "Gold Digger" same as the judges in Detroit. We'll have more pictures of the Ridler winner and the rest of the Detroit Autorama soon, but for now, here's the shots we have of this beautiful hot rod. At this level, every car is perfect. Without sitting inside or hearing from the builders how they did it or why, or maybe cranking up the tunes, we just get to stare and go... yea, that's extremely well done. Anyone have a picture showing this engine compartment in a little more detail? (I asked, and Kevin from extrudabody.com hooked me up! Thanks to Tammy, the owner for sending it to him) Notice: A total lack of wires, even for what's must be electronic fuel injection.  When's the last time you looked under the hood of a modern car. If you'd remove the over-sized engine cover, you'd see a MESS of wires...

Overcast skies and the threat of actually having to wear a jacket didn't deter a great crowd from downtown Chandler, Arizona on February 27, 2010. For all the pictures I took click here. I figured I'd lead with this Willys gasser. I waited for a few minutes to snap this shot with just a few legs in still walking by. It was pretty big crowd! Even stacked with great cars, I picked this one as my favorite just for it's sheer gasser badness. Those who disagree are simply wrong! While you're looking at this picture, notice the air scoops on the front of the hood. These scoops fed the cross rammed big block Chevy. Cool setup. Besides the Willys that stopped me in my tracks, I found this car. A 1954 Darrin confirmed by trusty Google! I shot one of these up at Barrett Jackson 2 years ago. A perfectly restored piece that went for big bucks and was worth it.  The sliding pocket doors on these are so different, you'll know these when you see'm. Now I've seen 2 of the 435 ever built. An unusual car, no...

Story by: Megan Boyd Pictures by: Doug Nykanen Vote for your favorite in the poll below... then check out the 2010 Ridler Award Winner - Story Here Help Choose the 2011 Ridler Award Winner Here The 2010  Detroit Autorama is off to a hot start in the frigid city of Detroit. The 58th Annual event has once again gathered the best of the best to debut, show, and share their hot rods and customs ranging from the mild to the wild. Make sure to vote for your favorite below. The competition for the prestigious Ridler Award is heating up having drawn contenders from all across the nation, including 2 cars from Washington state. The Great 8 finalists for the award  include the usual Fords and Chevys as well as two unique makes this year-- Packard and Dodge. In addition to the variety of makes there has also been a cross selection of body styles chosen-- a roadster, 2 coupes, a Victoria, a touring phaeton, a two door sedan, and a pick up truck--which could make history as being the very first pick up to win the Ridler Award.  (To learn more about the Ridler Award, click...

The Best of PA Car shows at the Motorama 2010 Mike Smyth’s highly detailed 1930 Ford Streetrod Truck at Motorama 2010 We knew this wasn’t going to be your normal indoor car show when a cloud of exhaust greeted us as we strolled down the main hall at last weekend’s Motorama event. Actually, Motorama isn’t just a car show. It is more like a celebration of all things on wheels. While the wife and I were at the Farm Show Complex in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania for the cars, there was plenty of indoor racing and other activities to keep the large crowds entertained. Racing was everywhere; there was go-kart, quarter midget, and arenacross racing with quads and dirt bikes. While the R/C racers and the Robot Conflict participants may have been driving smaller vehicles, they were just as competitive. Bands and DJs were scheduled throughout the day on various stages to entertain your ears and of course the Miss Motorama contestants made their rounds to entertain your eyes. (Sorry, out of respect for my assistant and wife I refrained from snapping any photos of the ladies. Besides, they were way...

At the Grand National Roadster Show, one exhibition hall, #9 I think, always has a theme.  Last year, it was former America's Most Beautiful Roadster winners. The hall was filled with with AMBR winning roadsters from back when the show was still in Oakland, CA. This year, the theme hall was the "History of the Race Car". I just published another story about the Drag Race cars in this hall, but this one's just about this 1969 Corvette named, "Revolution" and owned by the late Mike Mitchell. In a hall filled with wild race cars, this one, as you can see stands out. The paint is fantastic!  The "Fastest Hippie" theme is carried out throughout the car with the psychedelic rainbow patterns on the side then the jumbo hookah on the hood and the zig-zag man near the cockpit. I bet Mike was alot of fun! (click on these pics to see them full size) Researching for this story, I found a bit more info about Mike Mitchell, and about his passing in 2000. The story's written by Phil Elliot at our friend Draglist.com.  The story's called, "Farewell to...