Northern California Car Show - Hot Rods and Custom Cars Story Contributed by MyRideisMe.com member: Nick Koljian "Hellcity316" You ever get an invitation to a party and just get stoked that you are going? You mark it on the calendar and count down the days. "Oh man, 1 more week!" You check your smart phone mid week knowing that it's this Saturday, "Dude, I wonder what's going to be on the BBQ?" Friday rolls around and you're cruising home from work just gassed about tomorrow, " This party is going to rock!" you're so excited that on Saturday morning you're  already up before the alarm goes off. You're on Facebook telling all your friends where to be at. Then, at that very moment you receive text on your phone, you break down to check it and the number's one you don't recognize: 4664. The message reads,"kool-aid will be served...." My alarm goes off and I pop out of bed knowing with a dream like that I must be excited for the show. Today is the Dragoons Car Cult 6th annual Nite Of The Hot Rods @ The Riverview Lodge in downtown Antioch,...

Customs, Hot Rods and Drag Racing in Kansas Story and Photos by: Mark Stacks, Tin Woody Photo This pretty in purple sled doesn't miss a trick. The 32nd annual KKOA Lead Sled Spectacular in Salina, Kansas was hot... figuratively and literally! With temperatures topping out at a very humid 105 degrees, participants earned their dues at this show. Despite the heat the turnout was huge with lead sleds galore. Also, in attendance were hot rods, gassers, rat rods and few other random rides rounding out the diversity. Hot flames on flat black paint were an eye-grabber on this pick-up. Oakdale Park was a wonderful location for the show, with plenty of space all those awesome custom cars. In addition, it offered beautiful mature trees offering up some wonderful shade to escape the heat. Events were not limited to the park, with a parade, cruising, drag racing and after-parties. Good times and fond memories were found by all at this great event. Check out the rest of the photos supplied by Mark Stacks: An early arrival Chevrolet and Ford that couldn't wait to get the party started. A dropped and...

Northern California Car Show - Hot Rods and Custom Cars Story Contributed by MyRideisMe.com member: Nick Koljian "Hellcity316" It's that time of the year again and like a little kid on Christmas eve I'm all giddy with hot rod excitement. The night of July 6th I was very restless. Shuffling around all my camera gear, making sure all my batteries where good and charged and cleaning my lenses... I put a little stack of necessities right by the front door for the morning so I would not forget them. Phone, media pass, gum, MyRideisMe.com stickers and other little survival tidbits that I might need for the next day festivities. You know when you get that feeling that you are forgetting something and you can't put your finger on it? Well, that was the feeling I was having. I looked around at everything and went through my list 4 times over. I made all my calls, got all my gear, the ride is fueled up, went to the bank for some juice. What am I forgetting? Then it dawned on me. I took a look at the clock in my...

Fine and Finished Hot Rod Roadsters Segregation Works Segregation. It's a word with a perfectly bad score for connotation. I'm hear to give it a boost and say... It works at the LA Roadster Show. Over here, a fantastic swap meet when you're looking for that obscure 50s original part for your Caddy... Over there, a car show fit for everyone. Trucks, traditional hot rods, nose up street gassers and even a laid out Econoline van. Then, there's the "real" show... Over yonder... Separated by a walk that your dog would turn down, but featuring a conditioned air main hall filled with go-fast goodies and hot rod art... and of course, the shiny, finished roadster that are, the LA Roadster Show. To get in, you need a finished, glossy painted car and no fixed windows. True roadster and no rats. Thank you, moving along... Skip all this, I just want to see more pictures: 2012 LA Roadster Show photo gallery The AZ Hot Rod Connection (Click to see full size) Making the trip out from Arizona, my home state in case you didn't know... where two fine, real deal hot...

Hot Rods and Custom Cars Search for Cover Well you know how Washington weather is, and this June we'd like to forget. Almost every weekend event it's rained. I Had my doubts about going to Billetproof in Washington, but what the hell , I'm going! A lot of die hard car people drove down friday night, I waited till Saturday morning and headed down. Hour and half later threw a terrible down pour I was there. Once inside I was surprised to see they had moved most of the cars inside. All showed up wipers or not! Check this out the Kid just Graduated from High School and did all the bodywork and paint on this just in time for the show. Way to go Austo! A lot of nice rides made it to the show dispute the RAIN. I told you it was raining right? Umbrella in hand to cover the camera looking for that cool rod. I thought this coupe was cool sitting all alone under cover. Here is another shot No more room inside for these guys , but they didn't seem to care. I left the show early but I...

Hot Rods and Custom Cars from Chopit Kustom (Click to see full size) More from the 2012 LA Roadster Show: As a sequel to the radical 1955 Ford turned bubbletop kustom, I want to show off the other great rides the good folks from Chopit Kustom brought. All three rides, the 32 Pickup, the 53 Chevy Coupe and the "55 Ford" you can barely see in the back were all driven in. After parking and before the crowds, I snapped off these shots. Next time I take my kids to Disneyland, I'll arrange a tour and get to know these guys at their Stanton, CA shop. They're breaking new ground as a three man shop and getting the media attention to prove it. Enjoy! Did you get your own shots of these cars? Let's see them! admin@MyRideisMe.com [nggallery...

Bubbletop Kustom Car - Radical Custom Creation! (Click to see full size) Back at the 2012 LA Roadster Show, I'm doing my best to take my favorite pictures and show them to you, just in case you're outta state, country, or worse... you were one of the vendors I talked to that never get to leave your booth! What you see here is a 1955 Ford. Yep. That's what it started as, but according to Gary "Chopit" Fioto, all that's left is the decklid and hood. Gary, and his sons Nick and Fabian of Chopit Kustom in Stanton, CA built this truly radical creation, completely out of steel In a 3 year build, Beatnik made it's debut at the 2005 Fresno Autorama. So, this car's been on the road for a long time! Gary drove the car in as well complimenting the air conditioning that keep him from suffocating underneath that huge bubbletop. Every other detail of this car's been covered. One of the best places to learn the history of the car and Chopit Kustom is by reading the RM Auction page where it sold for $396,000 back in 2006.  RM's...

Hemi Hot Rod at the LA Roadster Show (Click to see full size - it's huge! Right click to add as desktop wallpaper) Well... you get old and learn slowly. I've learned that I find and shoot so many great hot rods at car shows, like one of my favorites, the LA Roadster Show, that usually they end up wasting away on my computer - never posted. Not this time... I don't know much about this wicked 1932 Hot Rod Ford Roadster except: A tiny sticker on the dash gave away it's a Pinkee's Rod Shop creation - no doubt leading to it's "kill'm with your awesome" stance, fit and finish. See build pictures here at 1932 Ford Hot Rod Roadster at Pinkee's project page. This beast graced the swap area of the 2012 LA Roadster Show on Friday during setup (it can't go into the full-on LA Roadster show yet because it's not painted...) It runs an electronic fuel injected Hemi and monster-cool salt-flat style wheels I didn't get to hear it running... but had a sweet dream about it! The next time you see it, it'll most...

Bring your Money! Hot Rods & Parts for Swap at the 2012 LA Roadster Show Pinkees built 1932 Hot Rod Friday of the LA Roadster Show means swap'n. This year is no exception with cars lined up fer-days waiting to get in and grab the primo swap spots. Just so you know, the gates don't open until 5AM to park and wait for the other, main gates to open at about 10AM (sometimes sooner). Once inside, there's no telling what you might find. Here's my look around with my Pops enjoying the cooler California weather. Featured Hot Rods and Customs at MyRideisMe.com: Here are the follow-up stories from 2012 LA Roadster Show: Pinkee’s Built 1932 Ford Roadster – Riveted and Injected (shown above) Frank Lockhart’s Slick Speedster Reborn - Land Speed Racer with Style Chopit Kustom’s Beatnik Bubbletop – This was a 55 Ford turned 50s Radical Kustom More Chopit Kustom - 1953 Chevy and 1932 Ford Pickup Hot Rods and Customs The first thing you'll find at the LA Roadster Show is problably the most obvious. Like the nasty Hemi powered hot rod above with a severely cool rivet...

Tim Strange's Hot Rod Reality TV  Season 2 Update Back for season 2 is Tim Strange's take on reality TV car building. Tim's a unique guy not short on opinions and always telling it like it is. Sound like every other TV car show? It doesn't to me. I caught up with Tim and asked about Season 2 and the first build of a 55 Chevy Handyman Wagon. To catch up from Season 1, check out our other interview with Tim Strange. Since I'm late getting this story up... watch the build of the 55 Handyman Wagon here Heading into season 2 what was the biggest lesson learned from season 1? Probably the amount of time it takes to set up the shots and set lights. I still get a little crazy when we're trying to get a project done in four weeks, but we sometimes have to stop and set lights for different angles. In the long run, it's worth it when the show is all done. Also the amount of film they record and what they use. Each build gets almost 400 hours of film and edited...

Steve McQueen Charity Car Show As "Lt. Frank Bullitt" Steve McQueen shredded the streets of San Francisco with his 68' Mustang Fastback in THE best car chase scene ever filmed! In just over two weeks fans... Steve McQueen and the movie "Bullitt" will return to Chino Hills, CA for another go round of the "Friends of Steve McQueen" Charity Car Show benefiting the Boys Republic. This year's show spotlights "Bullitt" and will include special events based on the film. So if you're cruisin' the SoCal area on June 2nd, stop by and join 200+ hot rod Mustangs and cool custom cars from the International Mustang Bullitt Owner’s Club and the Porsche 356 Registry, as well as several cast members of the film and even the stunt drivers from the Fox show "Alcatraz". I will also be there with my Mustang, my camera and rockin my MyRideisMe t-shirt and I hope to see you there. - Ben...

Hot Rods, Custom Cars and Rockabilly in Burlingame, CA For all of Nick's great pictures from the show, visit the Hot Rod Car Show Picture Gallery (click to see these pictures full size) The Embassy Suites in Burlingame, CA played host to this year’s 14th Annual Booze, Broads and Hot Rods (BBHR) sponsored by Kool Cat Kustoms and Hermans Barber Shop. The BBHR show has skipped around locations in the past years, due to its rising popularity, originally starting out in South San Francisco 13 years ago. This show has grown over the years to "mark your calendar status" and has also added Rockabilly Festival to its title in recent years. Rightfully so with the talent this show has provided for your listening pleasure. Burlingame is just south of San Francisco and lies right along the bay, so on a beautiful mid-April day like, you will get that soothing, cool breeze coming off the bay all day long. If you plan on attending a BBHR's show, plan for an all day and night affair because when the Bombshells say it's a festival they mean it. The show is slated...