Here's a look at some of the coolest pinstriping found on MyRideisMe.com during 2009.  I think you'll agree, pinstriping is alive and well.  So many hours go into practicing and painting, it takes a dedicated person on top of the skill required to lay a great line.  Enough words, these pictures will tell a 1000 of them on their own.  Enjoy! Please check out the full Pinstriping Gallery to see even more works of art! Click the pictures to see them Enlarged. And a few of the stripers who we give much respect to, Charlie, Joel and Andy. So, there were so many pictures I wanted to share that one post is not enough.  Keep your eyes peeled for more!...

I met pinstriper and all around cool cat Charlie Decker online, probably at Myspace, before I met him in person at the Grand National Roadster Show. I hit him up for some samples of his pinstriping and a quick bio so you'd know his style a little more.  For you west-side cruisers, you better make an appointment! Charlie lives in Connecticut, so if you see him, grab him and his striping kit to lay down some crazy flowing lines. I've included some of my favorite pinstriping from the, "One Arm Bandit" as he's known. These animal creations and artistic forms he's blended with sweeping stripes blow me away. I'm not sure I could draw that in a hundred tries and he throws it down freehand in paint right from his mind to the brush.  I don't know if we'll see this kind of work on hot rods, but if that's what you want... Here's more about Charlie: I started striping about 14 years ago around the age of 16. I was influenced by the 50's style hot rod era and the traditionally styled hot rods I first pinstriped after...

If you haven't seen my buddy Andy's Pinstriping blog yet, you need to check it out.  He has something in store for you for this Holiday season.  Check out these Christmas ornaments he has pinstriped.  Very creative and especially cool for us car guys!  I've got a set coming my way.  He can even do custom stuff like your initials or think outside the Christmas Box, he could stripe your hot rod car club name.    Tell 'em Hechtspeed sent ya! Happy Hot Rod Days! Hechtspeed                  ...

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...

Not all of you ladies and gents can imagine a car being raised to the status of an icon or art form. In fact I haven’t always myself. However, the more I get to work on and see cars, the more enamored I’m becoming. After attending RM Auctions “Icons of Speed and Style” my car love-o-meter has just shot through the roof! An auction doesn’t sound that exciting you say? What if I told you that all of the 80 iconic cars being sold in this no-reserve auction were available to peruse up close and personal? Yep... you could even touch em'! At most car shows, the best cars are roped off to keep you admiring from a distance. There were no ropes at the Friday preview before RM's "Icons of Speed and Style" auction at The Peterson Museum in Los Angeles, California. With nearly seven million dollars being drawn in by the auction, people putting out the money needed to really see what they were paying for. So when I arrived during preview day, I was able to get as close as I wanted to each car. With...

Car Drawings vs. Hot Rod Design   Over the last decade, we've seen explosive growth in the hot rod and custom car industry and hobby as a whole. This can be attributed to the popularity of television shows like Overhaulin', American Hot Rod and others, as well as Powerblock TV, the Barrett-Jackson Collector Car Events, and of course, access to great personalities like Chip Foose, Stacey David and others. This brings in new enthusiasts, and naturally, more project cars!   Not since George Barris snapped thousands of photos and wrote hundreds of articles promoting the hobby back in the 1950's and '60's have we seen so much attention on our hobby, and it's amazing to witness. Yet, while there's all of this excitement, many of these new fans and participants are feeling lost when starting a project. It can be a daunting task to say the least, but when taking those first steps, having the right footing can make all the difference in the world.   Naturally, any success in a project requires a plan, and building or modifying a car requires very careful thought at this stage. I've...

It's green and creme and low. Oh, and it has a sliding rag top, crank-out style windshield (power-operated on my concept) to mimic the old VW busses... rear door has additional swing-out glass panel, all to complement the open-air approach. The sliding rag could even be replaced by a full glass roof (with water drop-look pattern etched in!) for more exposure to the paparazzi. As it sits, the sliding rag would be power-operated, and close when the key is moved over 20 feet away. The remaining custom touches are pretty minimal, but include a grill filler panel to smooth the lines out, louvers in the front fender (right-side only to play-up the asymmetrical design of the Cube in general), and small "nerf-ettes" (small nerf bar-inspired trim pieces) at the fascia corners to give a slight "retro" touch and visually extend the new chrome grille bar in the lower opening. This also assists in making the car look a bit lower and wider yet! Slammed stance over classic 5-spoke wheels sets the laid-back cruiser tone. The theme here is California sun and fun, and opens up a world of aftermarket...

This past Saturday, our good friend Pikesan had organized a pre-release cruise featuring 10 (yes, ten) of the new Nissan Cube's, and it was a blast. We hit a couple of area dealerships, then hit the road to the Pavilions in Scottsdale (great Saturday cruise spot for those of you planning to hit Goodguys Southwest Nationals in November). The impressive lineup of geometric people movers grabbed a ton of attention on the freeways then, suffice to say, the lineup was a smash at the cruise. Nissan even brought along a GT-R (more on Godzilla later... words fail me yet) and the unreleased Infiniti G37 convertible just to round out the playing field. My first reaction when seeing a Cube a couple of years back (don't forget, these have been around overseas since '98) was "not too sure about that". Don't get me wrong, I was impressed as all get-out that anyone could pack that much room into such a small-looking package, but the look was odd to me. "...the xB looked initially like some ice cream truck's genetically deprived third cousin." Fast-forward ten years, and my how things have...

When you intend to compete for America's Most Beautiful Roadster (the AMBR) at the Grand National Roadster Show, you're asking for trouble. The time, planning, design and let's face it, high octane dollars required to build an AMBR contender make it a mission for only the top shops in the country. The folks at The Hot Rod Garage asked for "Double Trouble" and that's what they got by ignoring the lessons learned by recent AMBR winners. Past winners were modern-style show cars with custom milled billet goodies, one-off hand made body panels and alligator skinned interiors. Not for the guys at Hot Rod Garage, for them, it wasn't enough to make a show car, it had to have "Show & Go!" The trouble first started when Steve Kormondy had a Brookville roadster body and an all aluminum, brand spanking new Ardun derived flathead sitting, waiting for the right project. Deuce roadster body, Ardun flathed... yea, that's trouble! Not long after, Steve and the rest of the gang at The Hot Rod Garage out of Sand Springs, Oklahoma decided to pull in hot rod designer and illustrator, Jimmy Smith to...

It's about time I update everyone on the interior upholster on my 27 Ford Roadster. Now that the interior is done, is it a rat rod? I didn't really think it was before, but who really cares. Now it's got car carpet, a full seat and even sound insulation! The interior was done by Todd over at "The interior Shop" in Phoenix. Todd was challenged by the inside of the modified roadster because there isn't really much to secure the interior to and there's also some funny compound curves. In the end, I think it came out great! It looks like leather, but it's not. It's a distressed looking vinyl that's perfect. When I put paint on, it's gonna be cool and not your every day blood red. Below are the rest of the shots. Thanks to everyone that voted for "option B" as drawn by Jimmy Smith from Jimmyshotroddesign.com. Here's the link to that story if you missed it: 27 Roadster Interior you chose...

The Hot Rod Art book: Masters of chicken scratch is a book of 13 highly respected and talented artists from the industry. While I am fairly new to the art and design scene in the Hot Rod world, I know many people in the industry from my years working as a designer for Hot Wheels. (Dwayne designed one of my favorite hot wheels) I now have my own design company and still do design work for Hot Wheels as well as several other companies. I design things from snowmobiles to concepts for video games. I started doing Hot Rod art about a year and a half ago and it only fueled my passion for the automobile. My fascination with cars began at a very early age. I grew up around cars and rebuilt my first muscle car at the age of 16 with my dad. I attended the Art Center College of design and received my degree in transportation design. My professional design career started with Troy Lee Designs in Corona, California, as a designer of high-end motocross protective gear. I then became a senior designer for Mattel, Hot...