Online Hot Rod Magazine and Custom Car Pics

I think its time for some more aircooler LOVE!!!  Remember our German Facebook friend, Pascal Hein?  We blogged about his cherry Lemon (lemon is what he named the car) classic 1973 BMW 1802 Touring.  Pascal took these pictures at a big VW Bug and Bus Meeting in Germany, home of the "People's Car" brand.   Most of the bugs you'll see came from Great Britain, Belgium or from Netherlands. I thought I'd grab my favorites from Pascal's photo website  http://www.vipallica.deviantart.com/. This is my favorite picture.  I'm really likin' this blue Cal-Look big window bug.  It's got the big single turbo muffler, nerf bars, narrowed front beam with all the chrome trim.  Bugs with a nice raked stance are one of my favorite cars of all time. One of the coolest vdubs is the early buses or Kombi's.  When slammed, they are saweet kruzers!  This rust-a-rific bus is rockin' some white painted Porsche Fuch wheels on low pro tires.  I think this is a barndoor model.  Also, check out how you can see right through this car with the barndoor open.  ha ha Gold Member anyone?  Polished Fuch Porsche wheels are always...

You just read that title and said, " a Gasser what?" I admit, I ain't right. I have strange tastes compared to some and I guess you could say I have a vivid imagination, too. How else can I imagine how nasty a 1961 Rambler American station wagon would look as a Gasser. I've got the idea in my head, but like alot of you, I can't draw, much less make a rendering like this showing my crazy dream to perfection! That's where artists like Joel Nelson from 1320designs.com comes in. (Click on the image above to see it full size. It's a higher resoultion pic perfect for a desktop wallpaper) Before continuing that story, let me back up. I dig wagons. I don't know for-sure why, maybe it was because my dad drove us around in 1967 Ford Wagon when I was a kid. My brother and I'd drop the back seat down and slide around in back on the metal floor. This was the mid 70's so seat belts weren't the rage they are now. Looking back, we survived alot of things that have today's parent's gasping!...

I don't expect anyone to look at MyRideisMe.com only. I don't! There's too many GREAT websites out there covering all the motorsports, import and tuner shows we're missing here. One of those is Motormavens.com. Antonio and his crew at Motor Mavens cover the Formula Drift series to the max. The picture above shows that Formula D's not limited to 370Z's and RX-8's either. New generation Camaro's and Challengers are on the track putting their rear-wheel-drive butts into competition. What's not to like? Find all of Motor Maven's Formula Drift Coverage HERE. While you're there, check out this great video from Justin Shreeve Films. It's a well produced, clear video showing the speed and precision (or non-precision!) of Formula Drift.  Video HERE. Hope you like...

Had to share some pictures of this year's Goodguys giveaway car. I'm working on a story about last years winner. The guy was in Equador when a buddy pulled the winning key. Funniest thing is that same friend qualified to win THIS car in November at our home show in Scottsdale. So check out the "Boss Snake".  We caught a glimpse of the Snake in Scottsdale for the first annual Spring Nationals where the RPM Hot Rods guys and another magazine were shooting. We snaked (haha) the picture in that sweet AZ sunset light. My man Swanee's every bit as good as Ken's shots below. Here's some more info: Goodguys 2010 Grand Prize Giveaway BOSS SNAKE Bay Area photographer Ken Phuong (www.spotninestudio.com) stopped by the Goodguys world Headquarters last week to photograph the all mighty BOSS SNAKE 2010 Grand Prize Giveaway Car. The photos will appear in a future issue of the Goodtimes Gazette but we wanted to give our loyal web readers a sneak peak at just how awesome this car really is! Built completely in house by RPM Hot Rods (rpm-hotrods.com) and designed by Kaucher Kustoms ,...

One of the best things about the expansion of hot rodding is the availability of aftermarket parts. The only downside, especially if you own a 1st gen Camaro, might be too many choices! After you've decided to make your ride turn as hard as it accelerates, you probably hit the web for discussion forums and communities like MyRideisMe.com to ask friends, "What'd you use?" Unfortunately, there's general wisdom about opinions, how's that go?? I know it finishes, "Everyone's got one..." Left to make the choice alone, how do you chose? Would it matter to you if the supplier was owned by suspension engineers from GM?  Enter Detroit Speed Inc. The bright blue colored Camaro's prominently labeled, "Test Car" caught my attention at the 2010 Goodguys Spring Nationals first thing in the morning. I saw "Detroit Speed" discretely sticker'd on the fender, so walking through the supplier pits, I saw Detroit Speed and stopped in to find out what "test car" meant. I talked briefly with Kyle Tucker, president and husband of the husband and wife owner team. Kyle told me to go see Stacy to learn more about the...

Custom 1959 Cadillac from D'Agostino The Grand National Roadster Show is truly the "Grand-daddy of them all" when it comes to hot rod and custom car shows. Where else would you find two super-custom 1959 Caddy's?  Finished to near perfection, take your pick of the "Custom Restoration" '59 Cadillac (story here) or this latest 1959 Cadillac custom from D'Agostino.  Put your hands together for "Elvis II" built for David E. Walters. Unlike the custom-restoration 1959, this is a true Biarritz. The full name is a mouthful: 1959 Cadillac Eldorado Biarritz convertible. Deserving the long name, the Biarritz marked the top of what was already a very expensive ($7401 in 1959) and extremely luxurious ride. With the 3x2, 345 horse Q-code Cad motor standard for the Eldorado, the options separating the Series 62 from the El-do include a host of cosmetic tricks in the grille, taillights and interior, but also include air ride from way back in the 50's! What's old is new as just about every custom you see these days is on air. Even with it's superbo-delux-ness right from the General and limited 1320 production, I'm glad to...

Anyone who's ever been to Viva Las Vegas - or even in Las Vegas when it's happening - can back me up on this...VLV is FULL of characters! Sure there's cars. Sure there's music. Sure there's drinking. But you'd be missing out on what Viva Las Vegas is about if you missed out on the people! Words can't seem to begin to explain this varied assortment of characters. So this year I snapped a few less shots of cars and a few more shots of people. 'Nuff said, I'll let the pictures do the...

Meet the Artists and Participate in the Working Studios! Motorburg announced that it would be presenting a “Design Center” attraction at the 2010 N.S.R.A. Nationals in Louisville, KY – August 5th through the 8th. Motorburg.com, the online resource for automotive designers, artists and enthusiasts, with an emphasis on rods & customs, will be heading up this uniquely entertaining venue. Motorburg.com features art and design galleries by an associate group of some of the hottest artists and designers in the industry as well as a thriving Forum of international talent. Increasingly, it’s becoming the “go to place” for an ever-changing array of articles and tutorials for all who appreciate the form and function of the American style of custom built automobile. Motorburg’s associate artist list reads like a “who’s who” of rod & custom art and design and includes: Darrell Mayabb – Thom Taylor – Jimmy Smith – C. Cruz – Greg Tedder – Ralph Burch – Brian Stupski – C. Smith… as well as CARtoon greats Nelson Dewey and Errol McCarthy. The Design Center gallery will display art by these associates as well as prints and portfolios by Motorburg’s...

Sapporo, Japan is NOT what people think of as a center for hot rodding car culture and they're right, its not.  But, there is a cool dude from Japan who's a real hot rodder living the hot rod life.   Kiyoshi Tanomura (aka Tano) and I became Facebook friends a couple weeks ago.  I accepted Tano's request solely because of his Profile Picture.  It was a picture of this 1926 Ford Model T roadster, built in the Traditional rod style.  I saw his Japanese name with that American hot rod picture and said to myself, "I need to find out about this guy!" Just looking at the roadster, would you expect this to come out of Japan?  As you can imagine, the hot rod parts came from the States.  The build is a well thought out, period correct hot rod that few could achieve.  Japanese car nuts are just the type to achieve such a build.  Why?  From what little I know about the Japanese culture is they have great respect for their ancestors and history, they are very detailed oriented, even passionate about the details and seem to be natural engineers. Tano mentions two friends from the USA...

I think its safe to say that there's a little bit of everything at Viva Las Vegas. So instead of just bringing you back pictures of all the cool stuff we saw at VLV13 - Pikesan, Swanee, and I thought we'd give ya'll a chance to put in your own two cents. So time to VOTE! MyRideisMe's first official, Top 11 Viva Las Vegas Car Show Favorites! We're each including our top three picks (plus one from my Dad, plus Pikesan's added a 4th) ...making for a varied and diverse choice of 11! Leave a comment and vote for your choice! From Kristin & her Pops, Picks and Pics: #1 Suede 1953 Chevy Custom with fade... #2 Suede Ford Pickup with Green Flames #3 (another) Suede 1936 Ford 3 Window Coupe #4 Custom ?? From Pikesan, Picks and Pics: I'm cheating and making it the top 11. Never conform, right!?  I would have ended up with all customs (and what's with the orange theme?) so I picked a pair of hot rods to contend! #5 Pike's Pic of the 1953 Chevy Kustom with fade... (sorry GreaseGirl! This is probably...

Sometimes you get lucky. I'm not talking about your chances with MyRideisMe's April "Pinup of the Month" Notorious Ang, I'm talking about getting sizzling hot rod pinup shots like this one. (Click on any pic to see it full size) Swanee and I hit the 2010 Viva Las Vegas with one goal.  As #13 in a series, Viva's a show for hot rods and customs with a strictly vintage feel, so we wanted to shoot tons of great hot rods and pinups.  Done! Ang hooked us up with poses that flat MADE the shots. Girls looking for posing lessons, take note. We later found out the beautiful custom she's posing with is owned by Cart and Indy car racer Paul Tracy. We interviewed Paul and asked about his near Indy 500 win and his killer rides. More on that later... Luck was with us again at Viva Las Vegas when Ang graciously snuck away from her shoot with Ol' Skool Rods to shoot with another well known car guy's car, Bo Huff: This 1957 Ranchero's easily one of my favorites from the show. Clean, low, wide-open-beautifulness. As Pinup of...

We're HERE! After an uneventful drive through the Nevada desert we hit Vegas in the daytime. Not quite as exciting as the nighttime skyline, but who cares! We're here for the hot rods, customs and pinups that make Viva Las Vegas a must every year. Vote for your favorite here. Sunset's a great time to catch photos, even for a hack like me, but my man Swanee's doing his thing for this picture. Several beers later and with a dead cell phone and wireless that doesn't work, we're still getting these pictures and tons more up in the next few days. One of the best parts of the Viva Las Vegas is the pinups. The show's a gathering of all things hot rods, music and vintage clothes wearing girls with bright red lipstick, a flower in their hair and some great expressions on their faces! I'll try to catch this lovely lady's name at the show today. Update... didn't see her again on Saturday. Anyone know her name? Please leave a comment below. I hijacked what looked like a professional photographer shooting another lovely young lady in front of...