Online Hot Rod Magazine and Custom Car Pics

Let's introduce John Trevino of Glendale, Arizona. John’s one of those guys who really goes 110% on everything he does, and this truck is no exception. Just a few years ago, this truck was romping through the desert without a care in the world. Oh that’s right, John originally built this truck as a prerunner, designed to go 50 through the desert without a care in the world. Then, one day, something happened. Maybe it was something in the water, or meeting some buddies who were into mini truckin’, but whatever it was, John was hooked. He now had a new mission, and it was now just a matter of doing. Under the hood, John focused a good amount of attention. The 4.8l V8 has a host of bolt on mods, like an AEM intake, JBA headers, MSD plug wires, and a Flowmaster exhaust. The tranny was completely gone through by Cottman Transmissions, and while they were there, they installed a high output torque converter, a shift kit, and Corvette servos for good measure. The rear end now houses a set of 4:10 gears too. Most people cut out...

Bonneville Salt Flats: Land Speed Record Info: The countdown is on for Speed Week, the land-speed racing event of the year! This Speed Week makes sixty-two years that Southern California Timing Association (SCTA) and Bonneville Nationals Incorporated (BNI) have run this week-long speed spectacular. Since the whole point of the event is the “world’s fastest automotive speed trials” that means SCTA/BNI are responsible for verifying the record breaking speeds. Upon my first Speed Week experience last August, I pondered exactly HOW one breaks the speed record as I watched speedsters, lakesters, roadsters, coupes, pickups, and motorcycles speed from the starting line. I headed down to the tech inspection area to find out. Every vehicle goes through tech inspection upon arrival to verify both legality and safety. If they’re lucky they’ll go through a second time to verify a broken speed record! So how do you break a record at Bonneville? First, you’ve got to build a kick ass car and follow SCTA/BNI's rules while doing it. All sorts of different classes of cars race at Bonneville. They differ by body style, body modifications, engine size, and fuel used. Pick...

Bonneville Salt Flats: Race Car Recreation Stromberg headquarters—Stromberg is pleased to announce their valued participation in the recreation of Phil Remington’s stunning 1941 lakester. Stromberg is proud to announce their participation in the recent unveiling of the recreation of Phil Remington’s 1941 lakester. Unveiled at a special party honoring Phil, who will be 90 this year, at the NHRA Museum in Pomona during LA Roadster weekend, the blue roadster was an exact recreation by Burton, Michigan’s Dan Webb. Webb hosted the party for 400 of Phil’s closest friends, including Dan Gurney, Stu Hilborn, and more. Built in 1941 and raced at the lakes from 1946-1948, the roadster consistently ran over 130 MPH running a 21 stud Ford flathead fed by two Stromberg 97 carburetors. As Dan Webb wanted this to be a perfect recreation of the beautiful lakester, he needed to look no further than our reissue of the winning Stromberg 97. Though the new Stromberg 97 looks exactly like it did almost 70 years ago when Phil chose them on his ground-breaking race car, internal improvements have been made to eliminate leaking, warping of the body and other...

It was March 2004, and Ren Robinson of American Canyon, California was shopping around for a new custom truck to build. He did some research, and after a while realized that there weren’t many 2004 Ford F-150’s out there, so he decided he’d build one. Just a few days later, he picked up a bone stock burgundy crew-cab, and got going on it. Some 22’s, a 4/6 drop, a pair of billet grills and an exhaust later, Ren rolled into a show, expecting the trophies to come pouring in, trumpets playing in the background, hailing him as the new king of all things custom. Instead, he heard the loud sound of air evacuating from valves and the distinct sound of frames slamming down on concrete. This was not going to be the day he expected. A little setback like this wasn’t going to get him down. Instead he made a few phone calls and a few days later, he was ready to begin anew. The journey starts at SIC Motorsports in San Jose, California, beginning with an altitude adjustment. The control arms, springs and shocks were yanked out and tossed, and...

What is a Highboy Hot Rod or Highboy Roadster? As I journey along in the car world, little by little I'm learning. From mechanical issues to car culture history to just plain cars. Recently, while at the LA Roadster Show, I was able to learn a little about all three! It all started with the question "What makes a roadster a roadster?" To help me answer that question I enrolled Lynn Houchin, longtime LA Roadster Club Member, to be my guide. He answered all of my questions (and was able to point out examples!) about important distinctions surrounding roadsters including the big questions: What is a Model A? What is a Model T? What is a Highboy? What is a coupe, phaeton, tudor, and more! Read on to get schooled! First things first – What defines a roadster? Sure, I know its got something to do with having a removable top... but that same definition would also define a convertible so there must be more to it than that. So here it is, two simple things. A roadster must have removable windshield posts, one that is not one with...

When we hit a show, especially one with hot rods EVERYWHERE like the LA Roadster Show, we always try to grab some pinstriping pictures.  Take these pictures and use them for inspiration for work on your own car, or if you're just starting out, use the various styles as a reference. This is one of my favorite shots. Is this striping really old or just made to look that way? If we shot some of your work, let us know! Leave a comment below... Make sure to see the entire pinstriping gallery here: Pinstriping pictures from the LA Roadster...

#1 Harrell Los Angeles Flathead with Harrell Intake Best Engines of the 2010 LA Roadster Show Walking the 2010 LA Roadster Show, I started snapping shots of the dazzling chrome works of four-stroke art found in the roadsters and hot rods in the show. Where else to place the prized and uber-rare speed parts for your flathead than out for the world to see in an open engine bay? So let's put it to a vote. Pick a favorite and MyRideisMe.com will send a T-shirt to the top 3 engines. Easy for me to say!  To do that, I'll need help! If you know the owner or know the owners cousin or even want to know the owner... leave a comment and help us get in touch. Owners of these engines: Please email to BestEngines@MyRideisMe.com. You might have won a t-shirt! Let us know the details of the build and how this engine shows why, "My Ride is Me". For every picture here, click on it for the full size image. Starting with The Flatheads category: (don't forget #1 above) #2 Polished Offenhauser Flathead #3 Jimmy Shine's Truck -...

Words and Pics by Nick Koljian On Friday, June 18th, this was posted on the Facebook page of Road Zombie Johnny Koonce: "Went and bought 430 Hamburger patties and buns, 250 Hotdogs and buns and a shit load of other stuff for tomorrow! You guys better show up, or we're gonna have to eat it all our selves!!!!!!" Well Johnny, as they say, "Be careful for what you wish for!" 15th Annual Road Zombies CC BBQ and Car Show Saturday, June 19th at Santa Clara's Elk Lodge was the 15th Annual Road Zombies CC BBQ and Car Show. Let's just say there was no shortage of rod junkies. I showed up right at 12:00 so I could get in and get some shots off before the crowd got too heavy. As I made my way in, cars were still pulling in to jockey for position on the lawn. It was a beautiful day in the neighborhood and a perfect day for a BBQ and car show. Not only were there grub and wheels, but the Road Zombies also supplied the day with some groovin tunes by booking Fresno's own...

Bonneville Salt Flats: Jeep Race Car This story is: "My Ride is Me"!  Combine Bonneville Salt Flats Racing, a Jeep Comanche and a father and a son.  Perfect! Meet Peter, a new member here at MyRideisMe.com, he's a Jeep guy, but not the off-road type  you might expect.  Here's his story... It was too good for me to mess with.  ha ha  I asked him one question, that's all it took to get him talking. -Hechtspeed Written by: Peter Lechtanski "The Inspiration?   Why do people do what they do?  What makes something (a car) so important to us? I guess to answer your question, I have to go back 40 some years, it was 1963, and a saw a story on the evening news (on a black and white TV) about this 24 year old guy named Craig Breedlove. He'd just gone 400mph+ at the Bonneville Salt Flats, breaking a record held by the British since 1949.   He was the first man to go over 400mph in a car (and later the first man to go 500, and 600mph). I was about 12 years old at the time, 2 years before we elected...

John Melvin of Laveen, Arizona is nothing if not a character. Standing 6’1 or so, with a slight accent and a positive attitude about trucks that’s infectious, he brings a fresh take to the scene. For example, when we met John at our shoot in Scottsdale, he brought the SS you see here in the back of a huge enclosed trailer, towed by a 2005 Silverado crew-cab dually all decked out in SS Trim and boasting 479 horses. Not two weeks later, when we setup to shoot some burnout shots, we found out that he had traded the truck in for a 2006 Crew-cab HD, and it was already lifted on 20’s. And of course, there's also his orange crew cab, featured here: True Flamed Silverado. See, John owns a bodyshop out in Laveen, named JM Collison Center. There he does all the usual things you’d expect from a guy who runs a shop: he repairs quarter panels, fixes dents, and sprays things all day long. The business was doing great, and he decided to expand a bit and add a new branch to the company, named JM Custom...

The name John Melvin may not quite be a household name, but that depends a little bit on what kind of circles you run in. Performance junkies know that John is famous for building a killer Supercharged Silverado SS; one that set records just a few years ago. But while he was building that black-and-silver supercharged terror, he also was working on this 2005 crew cab Chevrolet Silverado. This gave him a duo of amazing trucks, both featured here at MyRideisMe.com. Let's start with the crew cab, a truck that also isn't a slouch in the performance world. When we first found it, the truck needed only an interior to get to the upper level. The taillights were shaved, the true-fire flames on the front were painted, and from the outside, the truck was complete. At the time, John owned a crew cab dually, but he was losing interest in it, so he traded it off at the dealership for a crew cab 4X4. Now he had two crew cabs, and two different interior colors, so he decided to make the swap and give his orange one a little...

Meet Curt Garrigus of Tempe, Arizona. His story starts with the purchase of a brand new, charcoal gray, 2001 Chevy Silverado a few years ago. Back then, the new-body Chevys were still pretty new, and yet, everyone seemed to have one. With so many trucks on the road that looked just like his, how was he going to stand out from the crowd? Curt soon found out that the truck he was building didn’t stand out - not by going down the path he was planning on. In fact, with the mild shave job and drop, it looked just like any other Chevy on the road. Something had to be done. He was sitting at his house one night when it came to him. Curt made a quick call to his roommate at the time – “Bring me a sawzall!” – and the rest is history. What you don’t notice about this truck is what really sets it apart from the others. Sure, it’s a fully shaved truck with a Denali clip and the roof cut off. Big deal, right? Well since it’s a Chevy, Curt had some work...