Slick 1956 Buick Special from the Valley of the Sun In case you didn't know, My Ride is Me has a meaning. Everybody's ride tells you a little something about the owner and every owner has a story. Ed shared this story for MyRideisMe.com about his 1956 Buick Special after I took some photos at the recent Cruise on Main Street in Mesa, AZ. It's a beautiful car, so I'm happy to share this brief story and pictures. Enjoy Ed's story of this custom Buick.   Written by "Special" Ed (click to see his custom garage)   There is a story with this car. (Isn't there always?) I had a blue and white Buick when I was 19, and was devastated when a drunk hit me in the rear and totaled the car. I paid $375.00 for it and had to borrow $200.00 to get it.     25 years later, while living in Detroit, I asked my brother-in-law (who was in the car business in Chandler, AZ) to keep an eye out for a clean AZ '56 Buick. I've owned several street rods and always had a soft...

In addition to the sleek new set of 26x10" wheels and tires from Dubs, I'll also be installing a new LT1 fuel injected crate motor to replace the pinto power! Check out these new rims! (They make spinners look like 13"Centerlines!) Gonna be ROLLIN baby!! go back Oh, and APRIL FOOLS! (did I get'cha? Please leave a comment) (MyRideisMe.com is not receiving advertising money from Dubs, I just thought this was outrageous and a good prank for April...

For more information on the November 8th, 2008 Memories on Main Street cruise, go to the Mainstreet Garage. While most parts of the US are still half frozen, Mesa, Arizona launches the first big cruise of the year (and first minor sunburn). Brought to us as, "POP's Memories on Main Street" by the Prostate Checkup All Sports Foundation, it was a good time had by all and we had near perfect weather for it. Cruising between Country Club and Mesa drive with parking on Main Street and in the several nearby city lots, for the $5 per car donation, I think everyone had a place. I was expecting a few more cars, but there was no lack of quality. Main street was lined with lawn chaired folks cheering for the next guy to, "light'm up!" I'm pretty sure Mesa PD did just that cause most burning rubber was followed closely by howling sirens. For the most part though, I think every had a good time enjoying their cars and making new friends. I know I did. Here are a few of the cars I especially liked. Most of the...

This blog, "Mayhem on Main Street" Rampage Altered Wheelbase Dart Hits the Highway was written by Steve Magnante. He took the photos too! Rather than trying to run down every driver on the information superhighway, the guys from Moparmax.com, MaxChevy.com and Dragracingonline.com pulled over to share a story with MyRideisMe.com. All three online magazines are great... That is if you like wheels up racing action! Take a look and tell'm MyRideisMe.com sent ya! Now for some altered wheelbase fun! Begin Mayhem on Main Street When is a car buildup finished? To some the answer to that question is never as continual upgrades are expected for as long as they own the car. But for me, I m the type that pretty much has a vision of what I want the car to be, how I want it to run and what I want it to look like. So when it is finished, I m the first to know. But in the case of the altered wheelbase 63 Dart I ve been chipping away at here for the last year or so, I m breaking my own rules. I've performed...

…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...

Damn slacker! Oh well, better late then never. I did take quite a few shots at in the Suede Palace at the 2008 Grand National Roadster Show in Pomona, CA. For those of you who missed it, the Suede Palace is a show within a show featuring vintage hot rods and customs that pushes back against the modern looking 20+ inch-wheeled billet monsters of the main hall. Some might say that's where all the "rat" rods are, but look closely, there's more to the Suede Palace than just flat paint. With help from his wife Celeste, Axle from the Shifters Car club puts the best of live music and vintage hot rod movies together with DJ's playing doo-wop, rockabilly, rhythm and blues and surf. The vendors inside sell the unique items Suede-folk are looking for. Also, 2008 marked the first year that Bombshell-n-Ink will host a vintage style pin-up contest sponsored by PinUpGirlClothing.com. Somehow I missed the pinup contest... don't miss Pinupgirlclothing.com... it might be better than the Victoria Secrets catalog! So here are a few of the shots I like... the rest are over in the events picture...

Grand National Roadster Show Pictures So I'm hanging with my new buddy Brian from Problem Child Kustoms and we run into Chip (the louver guy) and his friend Craig in the Suede Palace of the Grand National Roadster Show. We'd all been taking in the cool as hell customs and old school hot rods. I heard Craig say, "This one was my favorite until we saw that modified. You've got that black modified, right?" He was talking about this bitch'n 31 Ford Coupe with Caddy power and my 27 Roadster back in AZ. (click to make it bigger) I hadn't seen the trick pearl, metallic white with purple panels modified yet. Where's that?! So I rushed over to the building right next door, the only building I hadn't seen yet. Amidst the nostalgia dragsters and some of the coolest rides I hadn't photographed yet was this killer little roadster. I was stunned. The detail and finish on this car rivaled anything in the America's Most Beautiful Roadster hall, plus it screamed old school hot rod and custom show car from the way back machine! Channeled, paneled and white-walled, this...

2008 Grand National Roadster Show Winner Make sure to check out the 2009 Pictures of the Grand National Roadster Show! The votes are in for the 2008 America's Most Beautiful Roadster award from the "Grand-daddy of them all" the Grand National Roadster Show in Pomona, California held last weekend, 1/26-27. Thanks to the show's promoter at Hotrodshows.com, I found the basic description for the AMBR: "The judges at this show are looking for excellence in: Display, Engineering, Paint, Engine, Interior, and Detail. All AMBR entries must be able to start under their own power and move forwards and backwards. All AMBR entries will be displayed in 20 X 20’s in Building 4. Winner is determined by a point system from the judging staff, and producer." Good luck guys! ALL of the cars looking to win the AMBR are nearly perfect. What am I saying? They are perfect! But let's break this down a little. Before we do, here's the winner: The 32 Roadster owned by Rudy Necoechea called, "Undisputed" As I've mentioned before, writing about another contending car, (previous blog, click here) the judges for these polished wonders have...

We built a new 496 c.i. engine for my dragster in Jan 06, got it race ready Feb, then found the bad fuel pump. Much to my sadness, I lost my sponsor (my wife, whose company moved to St. Louis leaving us financially unable to race. THANKS DEAR!), so I had to put my racing on hold for a while. Boy do I need a sponsor! The months were very long with all the races rained out and not being able to afford to go racing when Rick Rogers from HammerHead Racing came to me in September and asked if he could put his girlfriend Jennifer Luna in my car to get her supercomp license. I told him the fuel pump was junk and he offered to get one. DONE DEAL, WE’RE GOING RACING!. We arrive at Bakersfield’s Famoso Raceway for a test and tune on Friday afternoon. We set up the pit and prepped the car for a warm up. Rick and the crew decided that I will make a couple shake down runs first as the car hasn’t been down the track since last November, and now...

Thanks to Autorama, MyRideisMe.com was able to attend the World of Wheels show, take a ton of pictures (coming soon, right Paul?) and give away 10 tickets to the show. A great deal for everyone. I'm going to save comments on the show for another blog. Right now, I just want to say how great it was to meet one of the guys who inspire me when building my cars, Jimmy Shine. If you think you're into the hot rod and custom bike scene, but you don't know Jimmy Shine, then maybe you ain't. If you want to know more, check out this bio (Click HERE) written by Pete Chapouris, President of the SO-CAL Speed Shop (and I guess Jimmy's boss). That bio must be kinda old though cause it doesn't mention the TV show Pete and Jimmy did for TLC called, "Hard Shine". That show's where I learned more about what Jimmy Shine's been up to and the way he builds. I saw a self made guy that's worked his ass off to get where he is now that's totally into the hobby. He's living the dream so...

Just to wrap up the header I built for my car (Pikesan's garage) I thought I'd post a few pics and the video of the car running.. you can hear what it sounds like! I build the header with help from Schoenfeld Headers and my friends at Nissan with the TIG welding skills. When I finally got it assembled, the next question was what do to for a coating? I media blasted the header and it was a shining clean silver color that looked really cool but I knew it wouldn't last. So I took the advice I got from Schoenfeld and used ATF, yea, Automatic Transmission Fluid! I'd never heard of that, but they said it would turn the header a really cool BLUE color. Hmmm... Here's how everything turned out. Here's the header I had on it before... I tried to paint this one red... I didn't do a very good job and it turned black then white, quickly until it looked like this (Click on any image to see it full size): Here's the 1st video of me running the car for the first time with...

Welcome to Squeeg's Kustom out of Mesa, Arizona. The shop that started doing custom paint back in 1964 now has about 18 (or more!) giant projects going on right now. I met with Doug Jerger down at the shop so I could see what they're up to and follow up on the pictures I took of their new roadster. Doug gave me the grand tour and introduced me to his crew. I hope you aren't misconceived by the American Hot Rod show with Boyd Coddington... not all custom, high-end builders are miserable asses that treat their crew like crap. To the contrary, Doug gives all credit to his crew and reminded me more than once that it's the SHOP that turns out the great work. Doug quickly stepped into the background more than once. It seems to me, the team attitude and hard work are just the way things are done at Squeeg's. Doug explained how he bills by the hour and keeps meticulous records of what's been done. He also NEVER takes a deposit, so there's never the Unique Performance-style risk that's left a few rich suckers pissed...