Online Hot Rod Magazine and Custom Car Pics

We've never figured out why, but for some odd reason humans are always transfixed at the tragedies of others. Its why car accidents cause so much traffic havoc - we all have to stop and look as we drive by (grrrrr)! Racing is no different. When something goes wrong on the racetrack we all wanna have a look. So for your viewing pleasure, I thought I'd just highlight all malfunctions that went on during Optima's Ultimate Street Car Invitational 2009. For starters, there was Hot Rod Magazine's Factory Five built 1933 Ford Coupe, which I've already covered in: Hot Rod Magazine 33 Hot Rod Coupe goes down!. Next there were some problems with Hot Rod Jim's 1957 Chevy Pickup. It sounded like the tires were just a little too big for their own good. A problem that would've gone on with many-a-car on the SEMA showroom floor. Then we had an exciting show when this 1965 GTO built by Barry White of Wrecks to Riches fame blew a radiator hose of all things. It might not have been so cool - but it happened just as the big heavy GTO was heaving...

Whoever came up with the idea to put on an event that would demonstrate the performance capabilities of the cars being showcased at SEMA was a genius! And that's exactly what the Optima Invitational is all about. Happening the day after SEMA ends, it gives people a chance to put their "money where their mouth is" so to speak. 2009 was just the second year for this event, and the fellows at FM3 made sure that it was pulled off without a hitch. This year there were 38 vehicles competing for the Ultimate Street Car title along with 14 other cars under the "exhibition only" category, making for 51 beautiful cars out at Spring Mountain Motorsports Ranch on race day. What goes into an Ultimate Street Car you ask? You might say it needs to be well rounded. At this invitational race they competed in 4 catagories: Road Course, Autocross, Acceleration/Braking, and Styling. Having driven the course the day before, I had an extra appreciation for what these cars and drivers were doing. Not surprising to many, Bruce Cambern's 1966 Cobra took the cake in three of the four catagories. On the...

Optima Red or Yellow top? I bet you've got it wrong! If you missed the other stories about SEMA, then you didn't read how Optima Batteries brought up car and truck enthusiasts for a "round table" of sorts to find out what's happening with their customers.  Great idea, right? MyRideisMe.com, through Grease Girl and me, Pikesan, represented the hot rod and custom car crowd. Also strongly represented was the off-road, diesel towing/performance, drag racing and serious computer-audiofile segments. Why'd Optima do it? Cause they're serious about making batteries for enthusiasts. The showed me they care about their existing customers and want to earn more by selling a great product. On the first day, I learned about the "Optima Paradox." Red top or yellow top?  Ken, my expert technical guide, schooled me on how folks that need a yellow top see that it's more expensive and buy a red top instead. Understandable, but wrong. Optima's a premium product and costs more than a run of the mill wet battery. But, experience tells  you, or should, that getting the right parts for your ride, even if they're a little more money,...

If you wanna know what "My Ride is Me" is all about, this car shows the spirit perfectly.  This is like the 3rd look for this car in the last year or two from what I understand. This ride is super low, clear coated metal, and a cool tigershark paintjob. The owner of this 5 series BMW, Mike Burroughs, runs StanceWorks website and forum.  I recently picked up some stickers from the site that say "StanceWorks-Low is a Lifestyle".  Cars are more than mere transportation, they can and should be extensions of ourselves, a Lifestyle.  Some may hate this car, but I love it and hope you can appreciate it too.  Whether you're into traditional hot rods, european exotics, aircooled vdubs or muscle cars, "its all about the Stance!"...

If you've never been to the NHRA Motorsports Museum, GO! If you haven't been in a while, GO BACK!! It's always changing with new cars and interesting people wondering through. NHRA Motorsports Museum Calendar of Events (Nov. through Dec. 2009) Thursday, Nov. 12 Ø       Auto Club NHRA Finals Begin www.nhra.com Ø       Museum Open House 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. – extended hours and admission is free. Friday, Nov. 13 Ø       Museum Open House – 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. Ø       New Exhibit Opening – 3 p.m. FREE Ø       Drag Racing Celebrity Book Signing – 5 p.m. FREE Ø       Night of Champions/Auto Club Q&A with NHRA racers – 6 p.m. FREE Saturday, Nov. 14 Ø       Museum Open House – 8:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. Ø       Racing Collectible Show – 12 p.m. to 10 p.m. $5 Admission. Sunday, Nov. 15 Ø       Museum Open House 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. – Admission is free. Free Museum admission and extended weekend hours during Auto Club NHRA Finals, Nov. 12-15. Free Tram Service from Pomona Raceway (Gate J) to Museum. Wednesday, Dec. 2 Ø       Annual Holiday Twilight Cruise and Toy Drive 4 p.m. to...

At SEMA, it's easy to find a great car, they're in almost every booth!  But like the 70 Chevelle with a Duramax diesel motor, it's a the different and sometimes unique builds that really get my attention.  That's what I found in this "Painless" Roadster Pickup. This style of roadster pickup, also called a "Truckster" was penned by well known hot rod artist Thom Taylor back in August of 2007 for Rod and Custom Magazine. The concept  is simple, but you're gonna get to know a sawzall and grinder real, REAL well to get it done. You take 50-70's pickup, then chop up the cab and the bed until proportions of a hot rod. Easy for Thom to say! I saw a Thom Taylor sketch in the pickup bed of this truck, so I'm sure he had a hand in the proportions, color and stance that make this truck one of my favorites from SEMA. So what is it? It started as a 1978 Ford Pickup. Recognize it?  From there, the cab was narrowed 16 inches, then the top and A-pillars were chopped off and the remaining cab shortened...

Amazing hot rod art done by Alan Brightmore. People these are NOT black and white photos, they're hand drawn sketches that amazingly look like older photos when they're done.  Pictures and text by Alan... Check it out! First up, this hot rod was done for a customer who saw my VW Bus parked at work! She left a note on my windscreen asking about VW parts and after getting in touch I ended up drawing this 5 window coupe for her father who owns the real thing. Very straight forward really, I enjoyed doing this one! . . . . . Next is a Lotus Sunbeam. My neighbor has a bit of an 80's car fetish and he owns a number of Sunbeams, one of which is this example which I drew for him. Not my cup of tea to be honest but a nice car all the same and he was very pleased with the finished piece... . . . . . . Here's something I drew quite a while back. It's called a Hillman Husky, of which I know little to nothing other than the owner dropped...

It's been a while since I last drew anything and I really need to get back into it! Full time work gets in the way these days and when I do get time off I end up busy with other stuff so I thought I'd dig out some commissioned drawings I did some time ago to share with you as well as a look at my last piece, the Chevy Camaro Black Concept. I've been a big fan of American Muscle since I was a kid and the past few years has seen a resurgence from the big manufacturers, all of which give a tip of the hat to their original 60s and 70s counterparts, combined with new aggressive styling, powerful engines, and lots of available mods and options. The new Chevy Camaro is no exception and does it for me bigtime.  When I saw the first shots of the Camaro Black concept I just had to get it down on paper! There were 3 or 4 initial reference photos I found available on the internet and decided to go with the side/rear three quarter view which is a little...

One of the first things I saw Saturday morning as I arrived at Spring Mountain Motorsports Ranch was this Factory Five built, black 1933 Ford Coupe. I was worried it would be all about Camaro's and other muscle cars during the Optima Invitational Ultimate Street Car Challenge - but seeing this smooth coupe roll across the pit assured me I'd have someone to cheer for this race day. I can't tell ya all about the long list of goodies it had - but let me assure you it was long. And being built by Factory Five means its some serious business. After the few laps around the Road Course that all of the cars took, Lucky #13 was just the second car for its chance to prove its stuff in this segment of the race. To the dismay of everyone watching, as it began its second lap of the track, pulling past the first curve we saw a big cloud of dust. What we're all asking now is what came first, the break or the accident? I guess Lucky #13 was not so lucky, it's front suspension snapped right...

Run to the Pines - 2009 The 26th annual "Run to the Pines" car show was this past September 25th, 26th, & 27th, up in Pinetop, Arizona. It's a great getaway for a fun car show up in the cool pines. We had a good time, as usual, and the weather was perfect! The car show was fully booked again. The limit is 550 cars, so it fills up pretty fast. Even though most of the cars are from Arizona, there is a pretty good showing of cars from New Mexico, as well.  Money from this show goes to local charities in the White Mountain area. The Run to the Pines car show has donated over $220,000 over the years, to special needs in the community. The event kicks off Friday afternoon with a “Cavalcade of Cars”, where car show participants meet up at a place in Show Low, then cruise from there and parade through Pinetop to the Hon-Dah Casino, just outside Pinetop. Once there, they have a “Welcome Party” with free Bar-B-Q, door prizes, music, and live entertainment. Saturday is the main “Show & Shine” with lots of cool...

The best 1964 Ford Fairlane? 1964 Fairlanes will always be one of my favorites. At one time, Pops owned a Blue one, Mom's was white and mine was my high school driver called, "The Highway Bitch". Red, white and blue, we loved our 64's. Pops still has his and is done up Pro-street with a small block Ford and big-fatties in the back.  The C6 went south so it's been sitting for a while, but here's a pic so you know what a "regular" 1964 Fairlane looks like. Here's another "regular" 1964 Fairlane at Bonneville Speed Week   The not-so-casual viewer will notice this is a 2 door post model just like the factory race cars Ford built known as the "Thunderbolt".  I've seen Pops work his butt off on this car and we've had alot of fun times in it.   Not to be outdone by the factory Thunderbolts, allow me to introduce, "Afterburner" If you've seen any of the Ring Brothers' builds, you know they set the standard and I'm not the only one who thinks so. Goodguys named Ring Brother's cars "Street Machine of the Year"...

Cruising what I call the main hall of the SEMA show, it's fantastic to see the great rides that make SEMA, the parts show, become SEMA the car show. Featuring the best built cars and timeless classics, it's a mix of some of the best rides in the country. I stayed close to "Hot Rod Alley" to find the booths of manufacturers I used and wanted to check out. Seeing the Mustangs and Camaros that are no doubt classic SEMA favorites was cool and will be featured here, but I've always like something different. Big power and stupid amounts of torque aren't different to the folks at Duramax performance discussion forum TheDieselPlace.com, but what about in a 1970 Chevelle? This is one of two cars I spotted at SEMA running a diesel and starting a new trend in hot rodding? Instead of choosing from from several small block Chevy's you've already seen or even throwing cubic inches or the tech of LSX in, Mike Racke of Fullerton, CA stayed with the General, but in the form of a 403 cu. inch LLY Duramax.  This beast runs a mostly stock...