Online Hot Rod Magazine and Custom Car Pics

Viva Las Vegas 2011 Car Show - Best of Show   Sonny Vasquez and his 1949 Buick custom have both been around for awhile. But when a car looks this good and has the amount of hours in it that a custom such as this requires... I'm happy to see it named Best of Show at Viva Las Vegas.     Because there was SO much going on at VLV 14, (see it here) I didn't make it to the award ceremony. Honestly... I didn't even know they were officially awarding a "Best of Show" car. At past VLV car shows, I've seen various clubs give out awards but don't remember there being an official "Viva Award."     So when I walked up to this Buick to check out this stunningly original dash, I was surprised to see the "Best of Show" plaque sitting inside. I was even more surprised that the car's owner, Sonny, was standing nearby!     Being the modest guy that he is - he said he was just as surprised when they called him up for the award. When he realized the only...

2011 Viva Las Vegas Rockabilly Car Show At any car show, you'll always have your favorites. Of course this is true with Viva Las Vegas Rockabilly Weekender where the car show, "officially" only runs for Saturday, but there's tons of smooth kustoms and nostalgic hot rods to see starting from Thursday. While you're there, grab a beer, say hi to just about anyone you see cause chances are they're there to have a good time and most car people like to talk about their rides. Or bring beer with you and you'll suddenly have tons of new friends! So here's an overview of the cars I like best. If you agree or not, let me know. If you're the owner and I didn't get a chance to say hi, please leave a comment and more info about your ride. If you can, say why, "My Ride is Me". Let's start with the unusual! (or you could say the coolest 1961 Plymouth Fury I've ever seen!) Through my near legendary Google'n skillz, I found out this is a 1961 Plymouth Fury hardtop coupe. The bright orange paint looked stunning in...

Bonneville Salt Flats Streamliner Well it's gonna be! Right now, it's a lesson in patience. Take a look at the "Maro Special" a dedicated Bonneville Salt Flats streamliner race car if there ever was one. Like most race cars on the "Great White Dyno" aka Bonneville, this one's got a great story and Bobby Moore is the perfect gentleman to tell the story. Just like with the World's Fastest Corvette owned by Bobby, going fast takes time. Bobby Moore was 15 when he built his first car, a 1933 fenderless Plymouth five window coupe that he found in a field. He's always enjoyed the thrill of speed and the many friends made during his racing career. So naturally, in 1996, Bobby was drawn to Bonneville as driver of the Hoyle-Dickenson-Moore A/FL (A size engine'd lakester). Then later in '96 he bought the old 219mph Doc Jefferey's A/GT Corvette. The team campaigned the car in 1997 where Bobby got alot of seat time and learned many humbling lessons at Bonneville. With the hardest speed lessons learned, in '98, he joined the 200mph Club with a record of 234.162 in A/GMS...

Tim Strange's Hot Rod Reality TV with a Heart   If you'll be missing time in the garage watching TV, let's hope that at least it's something good. I caught up with Tim Strange, the newest host on Powerblock TV to learn about his new show called "Search and Restore". It sounds just a little "Overhaulin" like where people who could use a break get one in the form of a restored, or more like customized, car. I know Tim will kill this, so I asked him to help us understand why we should watch...   UPDATE: (12/16/13) The show doesn't seem to be accepting applications... I couldn't find a place to submit them. And Tim Strange isn't the host anymore. BUMMER! I hope to do a follow-up story on what happened.   With the bad taste in my mouth from an Arizona based "reality" show about restoring cars called, "Desert Car Kings" it's easy to think... Not another car reality show! How's your show different?   Search and Restore's not really a cheesy dumb "reality" show, I hate to see hot rod and motorcycle guys played out in...

2011 Viva Las Vegas Car Show Pinstriping Designs If you've never been to Viva Las Vegas Car Show, you're missing out on some of the best pinstriping designs. The suede paint of the custom cars and the vintage hot rod style both fit perfectly with a few carefully placed pinstriping lines. To give you some ideas for your ride, here's a collection of pinstriping from the car show. [nggallery id=50] See all of the MyRideisMe.com coverage of Viva Las Vegas here:  Viva Las Vegas Car Show or you can go straight to more pinstriping here: Pinstriping Features and...

2011 Viva Las Vegas Rockabilly Car Show To late for any more info... here's the customs I liked from Friday at Viva Las Vegas Car Show. Which one's your favorite so far? All the way from Australia. Wagons Rule! Maybe the coolest custom at the show. Suede paint Ford Thunderbird with some cool pinstriping. Was orange the theme this year? This Fury had some kick'n flake on the roof. To see what you might have missed from years gone by, here's the Viva Las Vegas Car Show pictures from the last 3 years....

2011 Viva Las Vegas Rockabilly Car Show It's time! Don't wait for months for magazine coverage, you got it right now! Las Vegas, Nevada greeted visitors from all over the world with near perfect weather and some great traditional styled hot rods. Here's pictures from Friday April, 22 in one small part of the greater Viva Las Vegas Rockabilly Weekender event, but of course our favorite at MyRideisMe.com... the car show. Let's kick it off with the hot rods. Viva's car show might have been known for "rat rods" in the past, but I see fewer and fewer rides that most would label as rat rods. They're more accurately called traditional style hot rods. If you think this is a rat rod, it's time for a lesson. Traditional hot rods choose vintage engines like flatheads instead of more common, later motors like small block Chevy's.  They're also alot more likely to run wire wheels and bias ply tires. The one thing they may have in common is a total lack of paint or a rusty or patina look. Why? It could be the owner just hasn't got to paint...

Hot Rod Pinup Ms. Natosha Straight from the pages of Mitzi&Co's 2011 Calendar, Ms. Natosha hails from CA, raised in Salt Lake City, Utah. That means this Pin Up is no stranger to the slopes... In fact, she's a Snow Bunny- an avid snowboarder of 10 years. You might remember seeing Ms. Natosha if you were at the Sacramento Autorama the last two years because she won the Pinup Contest her first year then was the host of this years contest. Then from the title, you might have guessed, Ms. Natosha is an instructor, so that explains the age old teacher/student fantasies that may pop up when you get a glimpse of her... She teaches art, but also certain 'positions'. Read my Q&A with Natosha below while checkin' out her photos, by Pin Up photographer Mitzi Valenzuela. When I met you, you seemed like you could be "America's Sweetheart"! You're such a little sweet thing! I'm curious to know if you have a dark side. What is the most trouble you've ever gotten into? Besides a few speeding tickets, the most trouble I have been in would have to be when I got caught...

Viva Las Vegas Rockabilly Car Show Pre-view First pictures from the 2011 Viva Las Vegas Car Show - Hot Rods! 2nd set of pictures: 2011 Viva Las Vegas Car Show Customs Hit'n 3rd Gear! Pinstriping this time...  2011 Viva Car Show Pinstriping Pictures Yea, the best! SEMA brings in maybe twice the crowd, but SEMA's got no pinups and none of the best Rockabilly bands! Take a look at past Viva Las Vegas Rockabilly Weekender car show pictures and then review the schedule for this year's show, then decide for yourself... go or wait for more coverage from MyRideisMe.com... and you won't have to wait months for it to come out in print! The first look at VLV14 will be published on April 22, in just a few days... Until then, here's the car show schedule and the bands playing at the car show and a little history of the show at MyRideisMe.com. Schedule: There's bands playing from Thursday to Sunday... Headlining the Car Show bands is Rock and Roll "Hall of Fame" member Jerry Lee Lewis! 12:00PM - Lustre Kings 2:00PM - Dynotones 4:00PM - Blasters 6:00PM -...

Mild to Wild Car Show , Puyallup,WA. We don't have the weather like California , so when we have a custom car show this early in the year is kinda of a bonus! The Mild to Wild Car Show has been around for 20 years and recently return to the Puyallup Fair and Events Center after many years at the Tacoma Dome. The was actually the car show's original starting location back in 1989. This year it was inside three of the buildings at the Fair grounds, unlike the Gooduys Show that takes over the inside and outside of the complex. Not a real big show, but had some really cool customs from the northwest. Check out this Gold 1932 Hot Rod coupe wtih a Chevrolet 572, From Ravensdale, Washington. Here is some real history "The Orange Crate" 1932 Ford Sedan all steel, Built by Bob Tindle from Portland,Oregon. It made the cover of Hot Rod two times 1960 and again in 1962. In 1963 the Revell Company created a 1/25th scale model of the sedan. Which you can still buy, they released it. It would turn 10.60 in the quarter...

Rob's 1955 Chevy Gasser Hits the Goodguys Autocross As you know from the 1968 Shelby GT500-KR post I did, I love the autocross Goodguys puts on with their Arizona Spring Nationals Show in March. You can't beat AZ in March (see the folks wearing shorts in the pic below!) and you can't beat hot rods sliding sideways when they were built to be driven in a straight line. Case in point is Rob "thehazmatguy" and his 1955 Chevy Bel Air he just calls, "1955" in his personal garage here at MyRideisMe.com.  Looking at the car, it doesn't take long to notice the nod to Gassers of old. (Every Hot Rod Gasser Story at MyRideisMe.com) The slightly nose-up stance, fenderwell headers and plenty of punch from the ZZ4 Chevy under the hood linked to the compulsory manual box changing gears, this time in the form of a TKO600. Nuff to say, this car's sweet. When I saw Rob in line to run the autocross, I had to watch and his girlfriend, Ryan Marie took this video to show how Rob drove it hard!! [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7R3RfMBL-fE[/youtube] . . But wait, there's more...

Hot Rod Pinup Shelby Loveland If you're into pin-ups, you've probably seen Shelby Loveland around. She's a fantastic model, who models swimsuits from Vintage Suits by Mary, and there's a great reason for that... Not only does this girl have the perfect retro look, but she's also a fit model, a champion cyclist and diver! She's been on the cover of Car Kulture Deluxe, and can be seen cruising in her very own Ford Falcon. Check out my Q&A with Shelby below to read up on her guilty pleasure as well as how this tough girl got her teeth knocked out! What was the most creative pick up line you ever heard at a car show? Did it work? "You're like Gillette, the best a man can get." Oh no, lol it was flattering but awkward and the guy was like fifteen. There was another time I was out on a bike ride and some guys in a car started staring at me and making comments, then they crashed right into the car that was stopped in front of them. You're a Champion Cyclist, Springboard Diving Champion, Fit model....