Kirk Wilmes may seem like your average gearhead, he loves lead sled Mercury's, hot rod fords and classic Cadillac's.  However Kirk has an unique story to tell about his late Grandfather Don Kizziar and his enormous collection of classic cars!   Kirk Wilmes hails from Atlus, Oklahoma where he had the privilege to grew up around his grandfather  and his grandfather's car collection. His grandfather started collecting cars in the early 70s and never stopped! Don's collection contained over 40 cars that spanned over 7 decades of automotive history! His collection contained everything from Lead Sled Merc's to Hot Rod Ford's to Muscle Mopars and even rare cars such as Cord Aubruns! He was able to afford this enormous collection due to the fact that he founded and owned a Cattle Business known as Cattle Management Systems.   Sadly Don passed away in 2010, and  his entire collection was left to his wife Ruth.  She was unable to take care of the cars, so the entire collection was auctioned off in a series known as the Kizziar Collection Auctions in the summer of 2011. While the cars may...

Ford Falcon 2 Door Wagon - Can you see the vision? See it? No? Fine, I'll help with your future hot rod vision... What do you see? Junky old Falcon wagon? That's it? Notice it's a 2 door? That's much more desirable to most... what else? It's very straight, I can't see any cancerous rust from 6 feet away. Anything else? Yea! It's complete! From this pic, this would be a car I'd like to see and know more about. And you can! This low mileage dreamer is for sale Sept 21-22 by Auctions America at their Bennett Collection Auction in Rollinsford, NH. I imagine that we've still got a few non-believers. Fine... take this! Same car, I think it's even the same color. The only difference (you can't see) is this one's an original V8 car. But look how plain this baby is! No side trim at all, just like the un-optioned beauty in the first picture.  I wrote about this Falcon and called the story: When Bone Stock Marries Plain Jane - it's a completely, and near perfectly, restored 1965 Falcon wagon done by a chrome restoration specialist...

Timeless 1951 Ford Victoria Ford or Chevy? The oldest rivalry in American car history and one most can easily tell you which side of the line they stand on. For Ameth Gonzales it was on the bow tie’s sidelines until he laid eyes on the 1951 Ford Victoria Hardtop. Ameth picked up the Vicky in Arcadia, CA back in 2002 and despite it being just over 50 years old at the time, it only had two previous owners. Better yet, the body was straight with no signs of any major accidents or rust which made it a perfect platform for a full restoration. Several features of the 51 drew Ameth to the 1951 Ford Victoria. For starters, 1951 was the first year Ford produced a hardtop and the three-piece window in the rear adds a graceful accent to the simple yet flowing bodylines. Then, the single chrome spear running the length of the body has always been a revered styling cue of the early 50’s Ford Shoebox. Once Ameth got the Vicky back to Fresno the restoration was quickly underway. However, with three coats of paint standing between him...

1963 Ford Fairlane 60s Custom Author and Photographer: Mike Harrington Less IS More We Americans seem to have this “bigger is better” mindset. After all if a little is good then a lot is better right? We can biggie size our French fries, biggie size our body parts with pecker pills or bags of silicone. Big, big and bigger! We are obsessed with size. Don’t take me wrong, if someone wanted to put a 572 cubic inch big block in my classic ride, I surely wouldn't object, but is bigger always better? I guess it all depends on your perspective. (Editor's note: Maybe less isn't more with the lovely Cherry Doll! She's smokin hot...) I once heard a saying that has seared its self into my memory. “Less…is more”. This saying holds true to music, design and even meal time. It also holds very true in the case of this ’63 ½ Ford Fairlane. With all the subtlety of a serpent, Ford introduced the 260 cubic inch lightweight Windsor featuring 164 horsepower, that was the "Challenger" versions of Ford's mighty small block. At 12 inches shorter than a Galaxy...

18,000 Mile 1955 Chevy Bel Air Classic To say Chevy's relaunch of the Bel Air in 1955 kick started an automotive revolution would be a understatement. As the first entry into what would become known throughout the world as the "shoebox Chevy", the 55 Bel Air became one of the most iconic Chevrolets in history, right up there with the Corvette and the Camaro. Highlights for the model year include the first year for a 12V electrical system and the timeless "eyebrows" over the front headlights. Designers extended the front fenders just over the headlights giving the remodeled Bel Airs what appears to be a raised eyebrow when viewed from the front. Features in films such as "Two-Lane Blacktop" and "American Graffiti" increased the mystique surrounding the 55 Bel Air ten-fold. And when Harrison Ford's character Bob Falfa staged his 55 Chevy against "The fastest  thing in the valley", Milner's coupe, you could easily argue the car helped launch his career. The 55 Bel Air's popularity stretches across the gamut of auto enthusiasts. Its sleek accents and generous use of chrome captured the attention of customizers just as the lightweight and easy acceptance of...

1963 Ford Falcon Squire Wagon Images Courtesy of Daniel De Silva   In case you didn't know, Ford Falcons were made and sold in Australia while the "compact" Ford was selling in the USA too. The cool old Ford Falcons we enjoyed all through the 60's were replaced with some 70s Falcons that looked like... cars from the 70s. In a word, YUCK. But that's another story...     Daniel De Silva of Bandit Films has teamed up with Luke from Fuel Magazine to make Fueltank.tv. It's a collection of great hot rod and custom car videos all done in HD. I've watched a few, especially this trick Falcon wagon, and I'll be back!   Dig the groovy sounds and especially dig this gorgeous right hand drive Falcon. I want it!! Hopefully my 63 Falcon Wagon Project will turn out half as nice!   [vimeo]http://vimeo.com/20471414[/vimeo]   For more Falcon fun, check out Pikesan's project: 1963 Ford Falcon Wagon Build...

As it ends up, Pikesan's not the only one with a Falcon project on their hands. I'm ashamed to say it - but Davey, my 1960 Ford Falcon 2-door sedan, has been sitting on a side-yard gathering dust since I finished Studie's transmission over a year ago. The above picture was taken at the last event, and come to think of it the only event, Davey ever attended - the Mooneyes 2010 Summer Show. I had been depending on the Falcon to get me by while Studie was stranded with transmission issues. Falcon got me through, but just barely. Falcon had been giving me worries and semi-breaking down for a couple of weeks by the time Stude had gotten back on the road. The above picture was taken in October 2010 before I had a garage and had to find crafty ways to comfortably work! I was so happy to have my Stude back, and busy with a million other things in life, that Davey just sat... and sat some more. I intended to bring the Falcon over to my garage months ago, but it never seemed to happen. The...

Buick Skylark's LS2 Engine Swap:   Most car guys make like-minded friends, and Jason Rushforth is proud to know car guys all over the world. Take a half-dozen of his friends who live close by him in the Pacific Northwest, throw in some emotional roller coaster moments, one '64 Buick,  a high-tech engine swap and a few late nights. From there, subtract proper nourishment and numerous hours from the daily schedule, and you get the story of some of the best friends any guy could hope for... And collectively the reason his car made it to their big, local Goodguys show.   The following tale comprises all of the above, and makes for the memories we all share in late-night benchracing sessions, and throws a decidedly modern twist on the engine swap gone- bad-but-brought-back-from-peril-by-good-pals tale. It's one of those MyRideisMe-style blips in hot rod history, where the car brings the big picture together, and all seems right in your high octane world. In Jason's words:   Every car guy has a story about a late night thrash getting a car ready for a show whether it's debuting a million...

Story and Photos by Nick Koljian Today was the 9th Annual Car & Bike show held at Arroyo High School in San Lorenzo,CA. I've never been so I thought today would be a nice day to check it out. The sun was shining, a nice breeze blowing and my oldest, Mia, was really jazzed about her first show of the year with pops. So at about 9:00am the crew rolled out in route for San Lorenzo. Upon arrival at the High School I noticed that it was being held on the football field which I thought was pretty cool. Slapped down our 5 bucks (which goes to the Arroyo High Boosters Club) and we were in. As a  local show I wasn't expecting anything huge and I was right. But with that said, it was a comfortable show, maybe 100, 120 rides. There was more hot rods than channeled rusters, there was more paint than primer and there was more post 68' than pre 52'. But hey, not everyone has the same tastes in rides and that's what makes the love for cars so great. Beauty is in the...

Our friends at BringaTrailer.com have some cool and unusual cars for sale.  It wasn't hard to find one to feature at MyRideisMe.com. This Dodge Seneca stood out, especially for the 413 Cross-Ram that grabbed my attention.  Throw in a 4 speed and now you're talking.  Check out BringaTrailer's feature and let us know what you think!  You better go get on BringaTrailer's email list too, so you can check out all the newest rides for sale that just might find its way to your garage. Odd Design, Huge Engine: 1961 Dodge Seneca 413 Same day update: This Dodge was sold for $14,900 via the Buy-It-Now option just two hours after going out on this morning’s BaT Daily Email! Wow. Those have to be the farthest apart pair of carburetors ever produced, and there is enough metal in those intake manifolds to cast some 4-cylinder engine blocks. The smaller engined versions must have all been crushed long ago as we are sure we’ve never seen this body style before. This one has had one re-spray in the factory color and is otherwise  very original. This 1961 Dodge Seneca 2-Door Sedan...

You're on Facebook right yall?  No?  Get with the program!  That's how MyRideisMe.com and Pascal Hein got together, through the MyRideisMe Facebook Fanpage.  Go check it out and join our Fanpage, right after you read this cool story of course. Pascal is from Germany and he has shared his classic bimmer he calls "Lemon".  A 1973 1802 Touring model.  Sit back, grab some Kugen (yummy pastries my German grandma Hecht makes for desserts) and enjoy storytime from the motherland.  Take it away Pascal! "My Bimmer was built in 1973. The so called "Touring" was BMWs first try to build a hatchback and also the last try until 1993, when they introduced the compact edition of the 3 Series. Actually people didn't like this concept in the early 70s so just around 30,000 Touring models were produced and just around 970 of them were 1802 Tourings like mine, while there were houndreds of thousands of normal BMW 02 sedans. So in 1984 my father managed to buy this car after he wanted to have one for many years. It had two owners before he bought it and had some damage on the rear...

Japanese Legends...also known as JDM (Japanese Domestic Market) Machines, Japanese Nostalgic Cars, J Tin, you get the picture.  Domestically here in the US of A, we have classics like the 1932 Deuce Coupe, 55-57 Chevy Bel Air, 67-69 Camaro, 64 1/2-70 Mustang, etc. In Japan, the classics are cars like the Nissan Skyline, Toyota Celica, Corolla, Datsun 510 (Bluebird in Japan) and 240Z (Fairlady Z in Japan). JDMLegends is a new shop located in North Salt Lake, Utah.  They had their Grand Opening last July 2009.  So bummed I missed it.  Looked like a nice gathering of Japanese cars!  R33, R34 and R35 Skyline GT-R's in Utah at once?  Cooooool!!! JDMLegends' specialty is hunting down your dream JDM classic (25 years old or older) located in Japan, having it inspected and legally imported into the USA, where it can be delivered as is, or have the JDMLegends' special touch. The owner of JDMLegends is a Japanese car nut named Trey Cobb.  Trey started Cobb Tuning.  Initially a turbo Subaru tuning specialist, now Cobb focuses on ECU tuning for many platforms, including the new Nissan GTR. Above is the engine bay of a Toyota...