World Wide Hot Rods and Custom Cars Documentary Dirk Behlau, noted "Kool Lifestyle" photographer and long time friend of MyRideisMe.com (he let us use a picture when we had about 20 visitors a day...) and custom pinstriper and artist Jesper Bram are workin on a worldwide panoramic of hot rods and custom cars along with the people who make the Kustom Kulture. In their words, "Dirk and Jesper will spend a year going from California through Europe and end-up in Japan in search of the coolest Kustom Kulture people and events on the planet. Picking the brains of living legends, up and coming artists and builders within the kustom kulture." The adventure will include some of the worlds best car and motorcycle builders, tattoo artists, pinstripers, custom painters and pin-up models to share their tricks and experience. Have I peaked your interest then?  If so, check out this teaser video: [vimeo]http://vimeo.com/23927615[/vimeo] Then get a closer look at one of Dirk's photo shoots... hey Dirk, where's the pinup model?![vimeo]http://vimeo.com/23954070[/vimeo] Dirk already publish a killer book called "Speed Kings" and we'll be after Jesper for a pinstriping story to see his...

Homebuilt Hot Rods Car shows, car club, breakdowns, wrench nights, possible near death experiences, getting things fixed, and as always adventuring in the hot rod world - these things and more are what've been goin' on for the past month as I've neglected my writing. The month started with a car club meeting (I haven't told ya'll too much about them yet...I'll have to remedy that soon!) The following day was Bedlam Ball Car Show in San Pedro. Me and the other Gasoline Girls had fun hanging out together and seeing our buddies the Throttle Kings along with some other cool cars down in the port town of Los Angeles. The next week included ongoing wrench nights to get Lori's truck finished, a 1948 Ford F1, as well as some work to be done to get Rosa's 1965 Ford Falcon working correctly again. In the meantime, Stude was tellin' me her front suspension was gone, really gone. After months of driving her knowing that her bushing were on their way out and then completely gone. With rain falling in LA and a nearly bald tire... I decided to park...

Hot Rods and Customs With a Twist of Strange I took the opportunity to sit down for a while with Tim Strange of Strange Motion Rod & Custom Construction, and threw the book at him, question-wise. I've been a fan of his for years and have enjoyed the good fortune of not only creating design work for him at Problem Child Kustoms Studio, but also becoming fast friends. Tim's created some of the most memorable cars in recent history and has won a number of accolades, including the Goodguys Trendsetter, numerous ISCA and KKOA top finishes and best in class picks, not to mention hundreds of magazine features. Tim's no doubt one of the elite hot rod and custom car builders out there and is a down-to-Earth, talented guy who "gets it"... It not the sort of career where you take everything seriously. You need to be able to laugh at the goofy stuff, and make the most of every situation, and Tim is definitely able to do both, and with a style that's unmatched. To understand Tim's secrets and have a little fun, we sat down to discuss...

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!"...

Dean Jeffries 50 Fabulous Years in Hot Rods, Racing and Film By Tom Cotter This new book on Dean Jeffries, written by Tom Cotter (and forwarded by Bruce Meyer) is a fun look at the career of one of the most under-rated builders of all-time. As stated right from the beginning, Jeffries was never one to "toot his own horn", and this may be a large part of the reason that many folks don't know that much about this incredibly talented man. While he was one of the pioneers of the custom car movement (alongside the more "celebrity" names like Barris, Winfield, Von Dutch and Ed Roth), he's always been relegated to the footnotes, or seems to play the "behind-the-scenes" role more often than not. The humble visionary was born in Lynwood, California in 1933, the second of three children, and from an early age took an interest in cars... but preferred metal work to mechanical, as he hated to get his hands dirty. His father being a mechanic and truck driver who wrenched on race cars (midgets, namely), took young Dean to the races, further inspiring him. Jeffries...