Online Hot Rod Magazine and Custom Car Pics

History of Billetproof - The Original Fifteen years ago Kirk Jones and Jay Ward had a idea. The idea was to create a car show with unique, hand-crafted trophies and to express the growing old school hot rod movement. They held their first new car show at the Albany Bowl in Albany, CA. In attendance was 26 traditional cars and about 100 friends. The music was provided by The Stillman in the bowling alley's tiny, packed lounge. The year was 1997 and the show was simply named Billetproof. In 1998 on a rainy day at the Albany Bowl attendance jumped to 63 rods and the venue was busting at the seams. Billetproof was ready for a bigger venue. The next year in 1999 Billetproof thought they had found a new and bigger home. The MLK Jr. Waterfront Park in Oakland, CA. Right on the water, with grassy areas to relax in and fully equipped with built in BBQ's to cook on, the park seemed twice as big as they needed... Wrong! On this beautiful sunny day in Oakland, 129 choice hot rods and customs filled the parking lots to...

1931 Model A Ford Defines Traditional Hot Rods Randy Brenneis knows hot rods. What makes me so sure? Randy grew up in Anaheim, CA during hot rodding’s glory days of the 1950’s and 60’s. At age 14 he was pit crewing for a friend’s dad at Santa Ana Raceway, the world’s first commercial drag strip, at a time when flags not staging lights sent racers thundering down the quarter mile. How many of us can say that? And although he's seen many period trends come and go, his true passion has always remained right where it started – traditional hot rods. With several hot rod builds under his belt and years of experience, Randy isn’t one to shy away from a build or challenge, but at this point in his life he prefers the time spent in his cars more than the time spent under them. So in 2006, when he decided to add another to his list, he wanted something he could make his own that wouldn't require a full blown resurrection. A quick search turned up a complete 1931 five window coupe in Thousand Oaks, CA that...

NorCal Hot Rods and Custom Car Show Pictures When you hear the circus is in town your first thought is of the big top, right? Well I asked my two daughters what was the first thing that came to mind when I said, "The circus is coming to town." My youngest who's four said, "Chuck Chuck the Clown" and my oldest who's eleven said, "A big parade of people". This is the funny cause I'm sitting in my backyard writing this story as it's happening... So I ask my girls what's the first thing that comes to mind when I say, The Circus of the Wicked is coming to town? Lets listen in for their response: My youngest says, "The chicken on SNL." OK. My oldest,"Sounds like a cool name for a car show." No, I'm not pulling your leg, that's what she said. There you have it, as I lead into this feature on the Circus of the Wicked car & bike show at Holeshot Choppers in Sacramento,CA. The host car club or should I say "ringleaders" for this event were, none other than, Relentless CC. Upon my...

1930 Ford Model A HotRod SoCal - Long revered as the mecca for hot rods and custom cars, and for good reason... Builders from LA and the San Fernando Valley launched what is now known as traditional style builds and continue to set the standard.  But, just a few hours north up the 5, San Jose's Jeff Cimoli and the Rompacoglioni C.C. are turning out traditional customs and hot rods rivaling anything cruising the PCH. Originally a self-proclaimed Cadillac guy and with a well recognized and respected '60 Caddy to back up this claim, a visit to the Cow Palace in San Francisco back in 2007 would steer him away from his first love. On display was a traditional styled ’30 Ford Coupe by Nor Cal builder Scotty Chops. Jeff immediately knew what he'd build next.  Fortunately, Jeff soon heard about a barn fresh coupe in the near-by farm town on Morgan Hill. The rumor turned out to be true and Jeff soon scored a ’30 five window Ford body and frame to kick off the project. His time building Cadillacs earned him a good local rep and several contacts in the area. In no time, the coupe found its...

The Fastest Car in the World - 300mph Sports Car   Does this long red something-or-other get your heart racing? It should!!   The long, slick nose see here cuts through the air with ease at a record shattering 305.596 mph. With the graceful design and three-large top speed, this 1971 Triumph GT-6 easily earns honors as Bonneville Speed Week 2011 Baddest Race Cars #5.   Feel slighted that, "This isn't the fastest car in the world!?" Well, what is then?   Consider, for a second, this sleek, not-so-little Triumph flat out WHOOPED the Enzo Ferrari running in the same class. The Enzo, owned by RSL Racing Richard Losee, had the record from last year at a, seemingly soft (gulp), 237.871 mph. This year the Enzo crew, with their hired helicopter not far behind, topped out at less than two-bills...   Ripping the record previously held by an Enzo Ferrari, easily one of the fastest cars in the world, by about 65 mph... that's hot enough, but truth is, the Triumph was ON FIRE on the record backup run! More on that in a bit, let's learn about this...

WyoTech-Long Beach Helps Turn a Dream into a Reality for a Wounded Warrior Long Beach, Calif. (August 24, 2011) – On Sunday, August 14, WyoTech and the Semper Fi Fund unveiled a brand new Chevrolet Camaro for Marine Staff Sergeant (SSgt) Guillermo “TJ” Tejada during the 4th Annual Wounded Warrior car show at WyoTech in Long Beach, Calif.  It was a fitting tribute for SSgt Tejada who had lost both legs above the knee when his patrol encountered an improvised explosive device (IED) in Afghanistan in November of 2010. The Semper Fi Fund and the Nice Guys Victory Fund provided the funds to purchase the car, which was then customized by WyoTech students to make SSgt Tejada’s dream of driving a Camaro come true. SSgt Tejada has been serving his country for 12 years. Since joining the Marines right out of high school, he’s been deployed twice to Okinawa, Japan, once to Iraq during the invasion and once to Afghanistan. On November 11, while conducting foot patrol in Sangin, Afghanistan, he was struck with the IED that immediately took off both of his legs. Due to heavy enemy fire, they...

Speed Week 2011 - Bonneville Salt Flats Summary Being out on the Bonneville Salt Flats for Speedweek is an amazing experience like none other. I always return with way too many pictures then I can post to the web and way too many thoughts than I can convey in my stories. So here it finally is - Grease Girl’s Speedweek Summary and Salt Flat Favorites for 2011! Record Breaking Summary This 63rd Speedweek saw 160 records broken - 93 for cars and 67 for bikes. 21 new members gained entry into the 200 MPH Club, 6 of those being the 300 MPH Chapter. Any of you less familiar with land speed racing may be surprised to find out the entire point of the sport is breaking a record! You aren’t racing against another opponent on the course or anything like that – you’re going in a straight line trying to go as fast as possible and break the record in the particular class racing in (The class takes into account engine size, fuel used, and the cars body design.) Favorite Experience Walking around the pits for someone who is...

Bonneville Salt Flats Streamliner Special thaks to Spectre Performance for extended 2011 Bonneville Speed Week coverage If you're following the racing from Bonneville Speed Week, you probably saw the "Maro Special" featured as one of the Baddest Race Cars of Bonneville. Owner Bobby Moore made the baddest list twice when details of his World's Fastest Corvette hit the web. So if you need details about this nitro- burning all-wheel drive streamliner, be my guest and hit the links above. This story's about the quest for 400 mph. Bobby's quick to point out the many people who helped and continue to help make the Maro Special, a concept started back in 1999, a reality. One key to running 400 is safety and the Bonneville Salt Flats master of Safety is Lee Kennedy. Lee's listed as the "Car Technical Co-chair" on the SCTA website, but for this race car he's been the mile by mile co-pilot of reaching 400 safely. For previous salt attacks including Speed Week, running fast wasn't possible. As Bobby said, "Before getting up in the morning, I'd have to start thinking about turning left." In other words,...

1940s Chevy Coupe - West Coast Style Deep in the Heart of Texas Richard Donham, better known to his friends and around the traditional customs scene as “Burl” is a true to heart Californian that somehow was misplaced into the hot and humid metropolis of Houston, Texas. His roots and style are deeply seeded in skating and surfing; evident by the number of boards that line his garage and patio. A long-time member and treasurer of the Los Cochinos Car Club of Houston, TX he’s happy to extend some Texas hospitality in the form of some fresh gulf shrimp chased with an ice-cold Tecate with a lime and salted rim; something yours truly is on the hook for on the next visit to Houston. Always up for a cruise night or cruise by the boardwalk and beach in Kemah, a suburb of Houston, we hopped in this pristine custom with Burl and headed straight towards the beach. With Houston’s long history in the oil and gas industry, there's no shortage of high-end euros, Maserati’s, Porsches, etc. lining the streets. But take one Gambino Kustoms built, traditionally styled 1940 Chevy...

Speed Week 2011 Results - Bonneville Salt Flats As Sunday was ending out on the Bonneville Salt Flats, lurking black clouds were rolling in and lightening was breaking all around. People were packing up their pit areas very well and getting off the salt. Was there going to be a storm? Would it halt Speedweek 2011?!? There was a storm! The rain poured down not long after the racing area closed up at 7pm. Luckily though, it didn't continue for long. Early the next morning as we drove out at the crack of dawn to see what Monday held in store - this is what we found. Out at the starting line however, the salt appeared like it might be all right. Cars and crews were lined up for record-confirming runs. (Not sure what it takes to set a record at Speedweek? Read more about it by clicking here!) Everyone waited around while officials made sure everything was in order for the fast times of land speed racing. After awhile a number of the crews were lead for a drive down the track to check out conditions for themselves....

Bonneville Speed Week 2011 Pictures from the Salt Flats If you're looking at this car and wondering... "What is that!??" then welcome to (said in your biggest fanfare voice) "Continuing coverage of Bonneville Speed Week!" You're looking at a future "Baddest Hot Rods of Speed Week" in the 71 Triumph GT6 decked out, maybe ironically, in red. It just so happens that this bad Triumph is also the "Fastest Sports Car in the World." In a white gloved smack in the face to the Ferarri team and their Enzo and on-site helicopter, the Black Salt Racing team piloted by Keith Copeland made this front wheel drive, small block Chevy powered, C/BFMS (blown fuel modified sports car) throw down a 305.597 mph record on the salt flats. Wow! Know what else? On the back-up run, Keith was on fire at nearly 300 miles per hour! Much more on this beautiful hot rod disguised as a sports car, very soon. It may be no contest for the "Best Push Truck of Speed Week" trophy when you see the cool Nomad above. The Bean Bandits always bring out fast cars and have...

Hot Rod Art by Tom Fritz at Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance (Click picture for full size) "What D'Ya Reckon She'll Do?" - Oil on canvas, 41" x 27" Catch Hot Rod Artist and overall cool-guy at the upcoming Pebble Beach car show. Tom Fritz art has been featured several times here at MyRideisMe.com for a simple reason: Tom's paintings inspire! Tom captures the coolest hot rods and vintage motorcycles in vivid colors, but what you'll remember is the emotion seen in every painting. You'll wonder, what's that guy thinking? It's my pleasure to see Tom all over SoCal and at Barrett Jackson in Arizona, and it will be yours too at Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance. The show runs from August 17-21 with the Automotive Fine Arts Society (AFAS) Exhibition on Sunday, August 21. Here's Tom prepping you for the show and his new paintings: Two globs of oil are scooped up and shmushed onto the sheet of glass I use as a palette. A couple quick swirls and the color is pretty close to what I'm looking for. A little modification with a previously mixed color satisfies my eyeball,...