Hot Rod Pinup Megan O'Mary Megan is the epitome of, "the girl next door" complete with an affinity towards sci-fi and horror films and her own perspective on alien abductions!  Looking closer at this sweet and sassy little pinup, we find she's really "the girl next door" with a twist. Soon to be 21 year old Megan O'Mary is not afraid to tell you what's on her mind or to put herself in the spotlight. Her tattoos and crimson red hair make Megan stand out in a crowd and it's a combination of her great looks and her winning personality and charm that helped Megan score the title of Miss Grand National Roadster Show 2011. If you missed the pinup contest, check out her photos below and her  interview from 'outta this world' with me. Congrats on your pinup contest win at the 2011 GNRS. Speaking of cars...This question might make some of the guys cringe - but how would you customize your own 55 Chevy to make it the ultimate girl-mobile? I LOVE 55 Chevys but I am a girly girly but not that much! I'd probably deck it out...

Custom Studebaker Pickup from 2011 Grand National Roadster Show I promised I had a few customized Studebakers up my sleeve that I found at the 2011 Grand National Roadster Show....so here's #2 (Check out this Studebaker Ute if ya missed #1!) Who's ever seen a Studebaker pickup like this one!? Believe it or not, this 1949 Studebaker Pickup has been in the works for about 25 years. When the current owner, John Saltsman, got the truck it had already been chopped about 6" by "Merc John." With a small block Chevy drivetrain (just like my Studebaker coupe,) John used it as his daily driver on long commutes for at least 8 years. As John drove it, his vision for what he wanted it to become grew. He had a "wild and mild" proportioned-custom in his mind. As its been completed, this Custom 1949 Studebaker Pickup has a laundry list of custom items from customizing legends! It started with the 6" chop of course. To that was added a 15 1/2 " channel. And as "one thing led to another," this pickup was transformed with: a 59 Chevy trunk lid, 55...

Custom Studebaker Ute at GNRS It isn't every day you see a custom Studebaker coupe. Really, I think what people say to themselves before changing any metal of the Studebaker coupe body is..."The coupe is a perfect car - why change it?" I certainly don't have plans of truly customizing my own '55 Studebaker. Metal flaking the roof, moon discs, and some pinstriping is as far as it'll go I think. But I do love customs - so every time I encounter a custom Studebaker coupe I get pretty excited! This year at Grand National Roadster Show I encountered not just one - but three custom Studebakers! I'll be unveiling each one (and hopefully one or two more) in the coming weeks. To start with... the Studebaker Ute, a.k.a. Kart Hauler. I first encountered this custom Studebaker Ute at the 2009 Grand National Roadster Show - and now once again at GNRS 2011. In 2009 it was in the hall of cars previously shown at GNRS, commemorating the show's 60th anniversary. This 1953 Studebaker coupe was customized in the late fifties into this wagon-style Ute for the 1959 Oakland...

Pinstriping for Charity at 2011 Grand National Roadster Show Not only does the Grand National Roadster Show bring out the best in hot rods and custom cars, it's also home to one of the best pinstriping jams anywhere in the United States. Fellow pinstriper Von Hot Rod organizes this gang of line-laying artists to raise money for charities every year, and this year was one of the best. I talked to Von Hot Rod and got this info: We raised $12,375 for charity from the hard work from almost 40 pinstripers that were invited.  Eggie won the Von Hot Rod's "Brush-off" (pinstriping races) so he's now ''The fasted Pinstriper in the West". Butch Tucker and Ron Myers were this years inductees into VHR's Pinstriping Hall of Fame, and Harry Malicoat won the VHR Pinstriping Award in the art of pinstriping. As for next year that's always a surprise!! That's what keeps people coming back... The crazy manikin and skateboards are from Hot Dog Kustoms' Pete "Hot Dog" Finlan. Dig it!! This custom pinstriping is from Diablo's House of Style in Bakersfield, CA. One of these days, I'll have a...

America's Most Beautiful Roadster Winner & Contenders Is All About The Details At 2011 GNRS At big-time car shows such as the Grand National Roadster Show I sometimes feel a little "out of my league" as a beginner. Sure...there's always personal opinion when it comes to building a car of your own - and when it comes down to it that's most important. But when you step into the big league such as entering a car into the America's Most Beautiful Roadster competition at the Grand National Roadster Show - its much more than just your personal opinion thats up for being judged. Although I'm only in the beginning stages of learning about cars, I do have an eye for details. So while I can't give more then my own opinion on which of the twelve AMBR contenders was the most beautiful - I can share with you first impression details that I thought made each car special. This 1933 Ford Roadster, Nugget, is fiberglass bodied, which deducts points in my book. But that still doesn't take away from the pretty lines of a full-fendered '33. How sexy is that?!...

Feeling at Home with Custom Cars and Hot Rods at GNRS So many great classic cars appear in every hall of the annual Grand National Roadster Show - from hot rods to lowriders to custom cars, dragsters, and of course the America's Most Beautiful Roadster Contenders. But of all the halls, I have to say I feel most at home in the Suede Palace. Maybe it's because my own Studebaker hot rod would be most at home there. The Suede Palace was created for those cars that, although perhaps fabulous examples of workmanship and ingenuity, might be lacking some of the more traditional "show quality" characteristics. Such as a shiny paint job - thus the "Suede Palace." So if you missed out on the 2011 GNRS, let me take you on a little walk around my favorite building, the Suede Palace.This 1930 Ford Model A Five Window Coupe has a pretty vicious stance. Not only customs, roadsters, and rat rods claim suede. This 1940 Chevrolet Gasser Coupe of the Devil's Car Club is showing off the suede well. This 1950 Oldsmobile is still in it's original paint! It's in great condition but...

26 Year Old Robbie Azevedo from Pacific Coast Customs Pacific Coast Customs built 1948 Chevy Panel truck (or at least it was) called "Impression" MyRideisMe.com picked up this press release from the kind folks at RodShows.com: The 61st Annual Kragen O’Reilly Sacramento Autorama, happening February 11-13, 2011, is proud to announce “young gun,” Robbie Azevedo of Pacific Coast Customs, as the 2011 Builder of the year. The event will feature Azevedo’s great work in Building C at Cal Expo in Sacramento. Already a decorated and deserving builder, at the Sacramento Autorama Azevedo has won awards such as the Sam Barris Memorial Award (2006), the Manuel Arteche Memorial Award (2006) and Best Paint in WMBC Class (2006). Others include Goodguys Early Truck of the Year Finalist (2006), MOTHERS SEMA Excellence Choice Award (2006) and, at the Grand National Roadster Show, Best Engine in the, AMBR Class (2008). Robbie has had 3 invitations to Blackie's Fresno Autorama and won numerous Best of Show Awards. Pacific Coast Customs projects have been lucky to land on 3 covers of national publications and have been featured in over 10 national magazines. The hard working...

Custom Cars and Hot Rods in Sacramento Story Contributed by MyRideisMe.com member: Nick Koljian "Hellcity316" The Sacramento Autorama is “The Kustom Capital of the World”. Believe it. After 61 years the Sacramento Autorama is one of the longest running indoor shows and with 450 custom cars, hot rods and specialty rides of all kinds covering Cal Expo's buildings and fairgrounds. The Sacramento Autorama started back in 1950,  when Sacramento businessman Harold "Baggy" Bagdasarian and his car club, the Capitol City Auto Club Thunderbolts, Baggy convinced club members to, "Settle friendly arguments over the outstanding merits of their personal customized cars." This according to the show's current host, Rodshows.com, the same folks who bring you the Grand National Roadster Show. The original show attracted 22 entries and 500 spectators with the first "Best Custom Car" trophy going to Leroy Semas for his 1937 Chevrolet coupe. (photo courtesy of Kustomrama.com) Once again, the 2011 NorCal car show season is under way! Kicking off the car show season is the 2011 Sacramento Autorama. Bay Area car clubs and car clubs from far and wide come to open the car show season at...

AE86 with 4AG 20V - Japanese Classic Car Don't you hate it when the first thing someone asks you about your car is "How much power does it have?" I really wish that someday, someone would come up and ask me instead, "How much does your car weigh?" Without getting too in-depth about technical power-weight ratio and its applications to various motorsports, it simply means that the lighter the car, the better. Said another way, it basically doesn't matter if you have 1000HP if the car weighs 10,000lbs. It's all about power to weight ratio in this game! Of course, many other factors come into play, depending on the type of racing you're doing too, but to a certain extent- higher horsepower combined with a lightweight chassis is usually the way to go. The AE86 is a code name for a 1985~87 Toyota Corolla GTS, which came in a front engine, rear wheel drive configuration. Because of this layout, the car became immensely popular for racing, typically in road racing, rally, and drifting. These cars are on their way to becoming classics (if they're not already) and sure enough,...

2011 Grand National Roadster Show Bubble topped show cars like the "Reactor" shown here were a staple of the 60's show car scene back then. Now, they stand out as freakishly-radical customs in a room full of classic customs at the 2011 Grand National Roadster Show. Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining!  The gods of custom would strike me down if I bad-mouthed names like Winfield and Roth... But you gotta agree, these are way over the top! I especially like the dragster inspired, and chrome plated of course,  steering wheel. Anyone ever seen a picture of someone sitting inside? (Click on a picture to see it full size) The Reactor, originally known as the "Autorama Special" was a one-off, hand build aluminum bodied custom built by Gene Winfield. The chassis was front wheel drive Citroen with motivation coming from a fully chromed Corvair engine. Hood, doors and lift-up roof were all electrically controlled. According to a website dedicated to the Piranha, Gene Winfield's Reactor made quite a splash on the show scene. So much so, Gene toured Hollywood! Before long, the Reactor was seen on Star Trek,...

2011 Grand National Roadster Show - It's a Driver! Cruisin the GNRS halls until your feet are putty, it pays off when you meet a guy like Jake Moomey. Jake's a soft spoken hot rodder hailing from Michigan. He drove, yea DROVE his killer 1954 Chevy Bel Air out to Mohave, CA for the Gene Winfield and Larry Watson, "Custom Car and Hot Rod Gathering" at Winfields shop. That's an ass-numbing 2300 miles one way! After the show, Jake left his custom with a buddy in Corona, CA then flew back to Michigan. Next, Jake came back for the Mooneye's show in December, then flew back... then one month later, here he is inside at the Grand National Roadster show! You seeing a pattern? Well he ain't done yet! After GNRS, Jake's back to freezing Michigan until March when he'll drive out to the Lonestar Rod & Kustom Round Up in Austin, TX. From there, he's back on the road once again and making the drive back to Michigan. A cracked windshield worn proud by Jake's fitty-fo. By the ever handy Google Maps, that's a total of 5100 miles!...

2011 Grand National Roadster Show - For the First Time Ring-ring~ Friday night: A text message pops up on my beat up iphone and to my surprise, its Pikesan from MyRideisMe.com. It turns out that he's currently in California to cover the Grand National Roadster Show in Pomona for the weekend! He asks if I'm interested in coming down to the show, and without any hesitation I kindly accept the invitation. Honestly, domestic American cars are not really my thing, but I do share an equal amount of respect for automobiles of all kinds so I start packing my gear. I've been to many domestic (American) car shows, but nothing to this caliber, some cars weren't even classics, they were antiques! Lined up in front of me by the hundreds were some of the worlds most beautiful historical customs of all genres. Upon entry, my jaw just drops. Not only were some of the masterpieces displayed worth more than what some people will make in 10 years, but the quality of the work was without a doubt, world class. And, its safe to say that the majority of the...