Online Hot Rod Magazine and Custom Car Pics

James Hetfield's 1937 Lincoln Zephyr Speechless. Hetfield showed two amazing rides at the 2012 Grand National Roadster Show. This is one. Unlike the photos I usually take, when I review them, I'm not moved like I was seeing the car first hand. Not, NOT true with this piece from photographer Tim Sutton with finishing by Coby Gewertz (of Church fame). Even more amazing? They were giving these away! Did you get one? So I asked Coby about the poster and how it was made. (Alert! Learning opportunity here...) Here's what Coby told me... Transforming a Hot Rod Photo: Rick Dore called and said he needed someone to design a poster for James' Zephyr in a hurry. I agreed to do it after hours from my day job under the condition that he had decent photography. It needed to be done in 3 days so they would have time to get it printed in time for the GNRS. He sent me 3 pics Tim Sutton had taken for Rod and Custom and away I went. I retouched all the reflections out of the car, added a new one, changed the...

Background and Details on the 2012 AMBR Winner How did editors and writers work before Google? I searched for some info on the man who started the 2012 America's Most Beautiful Roadster winning hot rod: Jack Howerton. I found this great video of "Jackie"  from back in the day: [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SUDD3gph8LM[/youtube] You can really see the expression of Jack's racing past in the AMBR car. Then, I found this great video by Cars.tv from the SoCal shop interviewing Pete Chapouris about the Indy Speedster following the shakedown runs. Needless to say, Pete likes it... [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_cmFefotPwg[/youtube] So here it is: America's Most Beautiful Roadster: Bill Lindig's Indy Speedster If you missed them: Past Winners from the Grand National Roadster...

2012 AMBR Winner - The Indy Speedster Enjoy the pictures and for any picture, click on it to see the full-size image. America's Most Beautiful Roadster: Bill Lindig's Indy Speedster I got lucky, or was I good? I managed to find Houston's Bill Lindig while the crowds started pouring into the Fairplex on Friday of the 2012 Grand National Roadster Show. I asked for an interview and the gracious Bill did NOT say, "I'm waiting for Rodder's Journal". I started the interview by saying I think the "Indy Speedster" is this year's AMBR winner. Bill humbly replied, "If the other nine cars don't win, we will." Guess what Bill, you did it! The story of the Indy Speedster goes back 16 years. Bill's friend, Jack Howerton, is an Indy Car and sprint car driver - and builder as you can see - that wanted a race car inspired hot rod like the old sprint cars he used to drive. About 12 years ago, Jack had started the chassis, then the build kinda stalled a little, then Steve Moal from Moal Coachbuilders helped the project along, but when Bill saw it...

Ten Hot Rod Roadsters at Grand National Roadster Show 2012 It's time for you to decide... Vote for your favorite below. The Grand National Roadster Show is the best west coast hot rod and custom car show. Anyone want to argue that? Did you come here looking for the winning roadster? Winner! 2012 America's Most Beautiful Roadster - click here Start with 10 of the finest roadsters competing for the America's Most Beautiful Roadster award, then get surrounded by every other kind of hot rod, street rod and custom... But there's more! Lowriders, some sports cars and motorcycles join the show, too. With two cars competing for this year's AMBR from Texas and one down from Idaho and another from Oklahoma, it's safe to say the SoCal and western build crews are bringin out the big guns for a shot at hot rod's biggest trophy. It's gonna be a tough call on which roadster wins... what do you think? Cast your vote, but don't worry, there's never any politics with this award... Enjoy the pictures and for any picture, click on it to see the full-size image. America's Most...

Hot Rods and Custom Cars at 2012 GNRS in Pomona, CA If you're looking for the "America's Most Beautiful Roadster" Pictures Click here. Just in case you can't make it to the Grand National Roadster Show this weekend, MyRideisMe.com is bringing the show to you! Of course, if you're anywhere near Pomona, California we'd suggest you make it out in person. GNRS is running from January 27th-29th at the Pomona Fairplex. Besides showcasing a dozen of the highest-quality show roadsters you've ever seen, competing for the AMBR Award, Grand National's also has many other exhibit halls with some of the best looking customs, classics, lowriders, and more! To start things off, is James Hetfield's 1937 Lincoln Zephyr. If this auburn beauty looks familiar, its because it's the cover feature of the fresh-off-the-press Rod & Custom. With more custom features than we can name, it's conception was at the Grand National Roadster Show - so it's only fitting that it be on display here for you to drool all over. It didn't take us long to get to one of our favorite halls, the Suede Palace where this golden El...

2012 Grand National Roadster Show in Pomona, CA Here's a short, top five must-do checklist of things to do when you're at the show: 1) Find it! And know your way around. Access to Gate 9 Parking from I10 traveling West and from I10 traveling East Then, a map of the Pomona Fairplex where the show is: The layout of the show changes every year, somewhat, except for the America's Most Beautiful Roadster contending cars are always in building 4 and the Suede Palace (which is building 10) a good place to stop as you enter the show. For cost info, show hours and the other boring details, go to Rodshows.com info page. 2) See the 12 Contenders for America's Most Beautiful Roadster 2011 America's Most Beautiful Roadster This is the 2011 winning 1934 Roadster owned by Daryl Wolfswinkel and built by Squeeg's Kustoms in Chandler, AZ. Here's the 2008 to 2011 AMBR winners. Can't wait? Here's the 2012 AMBR Winner! The 12 AMBR Contenders are some of the best hot rods you'll ever see... all with no roll-up windows as a true roadster must be. Need to know more...

Hot Rod Pin-up Calendar If you're a poker player, peaking at your cards and seeing pocket aces, or in five card draw holding a set on the deal, you're feeling like you can't lose... Same thing's true with pinup photographer Mitzi's 2012 Pinup calendar. Mitzi's a long time friend of MyRideisMe.com shooting  and sharing pinups and the best hot rods custom cars from SoCal and beyond. Now she's delivering 12 months of hot rod pinups for your viewing pleasure. I just called for service, beer's on the house... tilt one back and check out the winning hand below. On the cover shown above is the lovely Miss Doris Mayday. Also seen as Miss September, Doris is welcoming you to Vegas in front of the Wild Cad hailing from Australia. Featured in magazines and online everywhere, owner Mario Colalillo's 1959 Cadillac Coupe de Ville has every mod and custom trick available and thanks to legendary customizer and painter Gene Winfield, has an amazing purple fade paint job. When you see Doris dealt face up like this... raise. Next up is Miss April, simply known as Mosh. Look closely and there's...

Timeless 1951 Ford Victoria Ford or Chevy? The oldest rivalry in American car history and one most can easily tell you which side of the line they stand on. For Ameth Gonzales it was on the bow tie’s sidelines until he laid eyes on the 1951 Ford Victoria Hardtop. Ameth picked up the Vicky in Arcadia, CA back in 2002 and despite it being just over 50 years old at the time, it only had two previous owners. Better yet, the body was straight with no signs of any major accidents or rust which made it a perfect platform for a full restoration. Several features of the 51 drew Ameth to the 1951 Ford Victoria. For starters, 1951 was the first year Ford produced a hardtop and the three-piece window in the rear adds a graceful accent to the simple yet flowing bodylines. Then, the single chrome spear running the length of the body has always been a revered styling cue of the early 50’s Ford Shoebox. Once Ameth got the Vicky back to Fresno the restoration was quickly underway. However, with three coats of paint standing between him...

51 Chevy Custom SoCal Cruiser Two staples of Southern California are its top notch custom car scene and its abundance of sun-drenched females with golden hair. So what better way to showcase one of SoCal’s most recognizable custom Chevys, Ian Berky’s Minor Threat, than with quintessential SoCal Beauty Tara Studinger. With several famous early 50's Chevys produced in SoCal where the culture’s roots spawned, owner/builder Ian Berky has managed to redefine what was possible and raise the bar for any post-war era Chevys that follow. Even more impressive, this was Ian’s first crack at it! Imagine what any future builds may have in store... The Chevy was a Christmas gift from Ian’s wife, proof that yes, there are still good ones out there to help fill the garage, not complain about whats in it. When she bought the car the roof had already been chopped, but Ian would soon learn the chop was a hack job and the work that lay ahead would have caused most to throw in the towel. Eventually coming to the realization the top just was not replaceable, Ian tracked down a few parts cars...

Hot Rod Pinup Crissy Henderson After a short break, Pinup of the Month is back and hot as ever with the sizzling Crissy Henderson. With pinup photography by Trent Sherrill, we can't miss here. Being so close to Christmas, I had to ask... What's your favorite Christmas you can remember? Everyone road tripping to my grandparents in Kansas for a few days until Christmas. The whole family would help my grandpa with morning farm chores and then we'd eat breakfast together then open gifts! I miss those days where the whole family got together and had a meal! White Christmas or sunny Christmas? Has to be a white one! Snow is fun! Trent's photos seem to bring out the best in women, what makes a hot, vintage styled photo for you? Ive only ever shot pinup pics with Trent. He's amazing at what he does! I love the old school looks! They're all hot! We gotta ask, are you a car girl or do you just see the hot rods as just another prop? I love the way a car looks and sounds - other than that I'm pretty...

Each year in December, Mooneyes throws their Xmas Party Show & Drags. Out of all the car shows here in Southern California, this is one of my favorites. Not only does it have plenty of cool cars and a great people - but it's held at Irwindale Speedway and has a "run what ya brung" drag racing event alongside everything else! Often, it happens to be raining during the Mooneyes Xmas Show - but this year was nothing but blue skies and beautiful weather! I loved the exhaust coming off this little pickup. Walking past this bare-metal Volkswagon van/bus made me do a double take! I've never seen anything like it! Not only for the fact that it's a VW and is in bare metal - but because the body style was completely original to me too! With the front having 4-doors and looking like a VW van, but then it's got this delivery-truck bed in back complete with awning above! Come to find out, this thing is called a VW Vanogen. I love seeing new and unique stuff... ...and Mooneyes Xmas Show always brings it on! For example,...

Must Have Mechanics Tools In my quest to learn about working on cars, I'm realizing that there's a lot I've learned about tools alongside learning about cars! When I first started working on my newly purchased Studebaker around five years ago - the only tools I had were neatly packed into an aptly named "Do-It-Herself" toolkit I'd received for high school graduation years before. Those got me by around the house - but weren't much help in the garage. Having a handy and helpful Dad, it didn't take him long to wrangle me up some spare tools from his garage. Soon enough I had a starter mechanics toolkit. A small assortment of sockets, wrenches,and a screwdriver were about all I started with. Its also about all hot rodding young people had back in the fifties! But as anyone who's worked on cars know - different jobs call for different tools. Sometimes you can make do with what you have and sometimes you've gotta go out and buy or borrow the right tool for the job. For everybody else out there who's learning as they go or just getting into cars - here's...