Getting your Hot Rod Fix at the Pittsburgh World of Wheels Another World of Wheels has come and gone in Pittsburgh, PA, AKA The Steel City, and it did not disappoint. Once again the wife and I hit the road to take in a car show, shoot some photos, and just enjoy being out of the house. After scraping off the ice from the previous day’s storm we were on our way for the 4 hour trip to the David Lawrence Convention Center in Downtown Pittsburgh. I actually find driving fairly relaxing so the trek went pretty quick. There was something for everyone. If you like high end customs there were over-the-top rods like John Mai’s beautiful 1933 Willys Coupe. Into race cars? Drag City USA was on hand displaying several vintage dragsters like the 1967 Bounty Hunter that was driven by Connie Kalitta. Want to learn something? A number of airbrush artists were on hand demonstrating their craft. Feeling charitable? You could have bid on some of the art that the pinstripers were creating all weekend. Were there rat rods? Yup. There were many rats and kustoms including...

Check this out guys and gals.  I told you to keep an eye on Andy's Pinstriping blog didn't I?  Here's his latest work, getting ready for the Rat Fink Reunion 2010.  "As is tradition every year at the Rat Fink Reunion, The artist's give out an "Artist's Choice" award to their favorite vehicle at the show.  This years "trophy" from me is a metal panel that features my man Fink doing some ca-razy stripe and letter work...and to finish it off I also distressed the panel so it looks like it was hanging in Ed's shop in Maywood California back in the early sixties. I hope whoever receives this enjoys it as it was a labor of love to make!"  Andy   Click on the image to blow it up real big.  Looks even cooler! Rat Fink Reunion 2010, Manti, Utah June 3-5, be there or be square!  I hope to attend this year's event.  How often is there an event of this caliber in Utah right? Hechtspeed...

This is how you do a car show! Complain as you might for a big annual show like Goodguys: the cost, the crowds, the waiting to get out when it's all over, but that's still a bigtime show and one I look forward to every year. Compare that to this past weekend's show at Beaudry RV put on by Roddin' and Racin's Jerry Hutchcroft. I did not attend the show, but I got a first hand account of what went on, and bottom line is: That's a great example of how NOT to put on a car show. Top 10 Ways to Fail at an Arizona Car Show: #10: Don't supply the advertised "Cruise Lane" #9: Don't put on the much anticipated and always fun Burn-out or engine "Rev-Up" contest #8: Have a goodie bag filled with a small box of Tic-Tacs and a pen that doesn't work #7: Have poor facilities planning: Not enough garbage cans, a weak PA system and no as advertised preferred parking area #6: Don't have any car show class voting and trophies as advertised #5: See "NEVER less than 20-30 cars backed up...

If there's one show I want to attend, it's the Mooneyes Hot Rod Custom Show in Yokohama, Japan.  I lived in Japan for a couple years and didn't know how cool it was until I left. I lived in the heart of Tokyo in Harajuku (all the Japanese people say, ooooooohhhh) and married a wonderful Japanese woman while I was there. Her family lived close to Yokohama, so I visited the Mooneyes shop. The shop itself was kinda funny. More trinkets and beads than hot rod parts, but I'm sure they could get anything you wanted. Mooneyes has been a well known name in speed equipment since before I was born. Their slanted eyes (what would you call them?) have to be one of the most widely used sticker to date. It's just a cool logo! The show, now in it's 18th year featured all the hottest hot rods and customs from Japan, and there's more than you'd think, as well as some well known cars from the US of A as well. Shown above is Billy Gibbons' 1958 Thunderbird custom from a shot we took at the SoCal...

If you can't wait until summer time Goodguys Gazette, scratch that now-time itch and check out MyRideisMe.com's pictures from the 2009 Goodguys Southwest Nationals! Did we shoot your car? Have you've ever worked at something and thought you were making progress improving your skill, then found out you were still way behind? That's happening to me with my photography. I didn't shoot alot of pictures at Goodguys, but I shot a few and thought a couple of them were pretty good! But then, just after I sent the, "Hey Swanee, you gonna load your shots?" email, I noticed he'd already loaded them in the events picture gallery. You're good people Swanee! 'Cept for the fact that your images kill mine, that is... You can tell by the logo, that slammed Caddy riding on twenty-plus wires photo above is from our Alaska-raised Director of Photography. Shown here is one of my best shots. This is the 1957 Chevy Custom that won the Goodguy/Grundy Kustom of the Year. Sunset in Arizona is frequently a, "Damn it's good to be alive" event and this Saturday evening in Scottsdale made for some great...

Interview with Austin Coil about drag racing today Click to read it... 12th ANNUAL JFR HOLIDAY CAR SHOW A HUGE SUCCESS (story starts below) Press Release from John Force Racing: 12th ANNUAL JFR HOLIDAY CAR SHOW A HUGE SUCCESS YORBA LINDA, CA (December 6, 2009) --- Mother Nature and the people of Southern California cooperated to make the 12th annual John Force Racing Holiday Car Show one of the biggest in the events history. Ominous clouds made brief appearances over the 14-time champion’s shop but a comfortable breeze was the only weather variance all day as thousands of toys were dropped off making a mountain of memories for children this Christmas season. From 10 a.m. until well after 4 p.m. today toys, stuffed animals and games poured into the John Force Racing shop as fans filled the streets. Tens of thousands of people wandered through one of the largest collections of vintage cars, trucks and street rods. In addition to the hundreds of car club vehicles a number of specialty vehicles were on display including the Force Borthers “Nightstalker,” Funny Car which returned to competition this year in a...

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...

[youtube width="320" height="265"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=waYyhfRUosM[/youtube] Today I left the hub-bub of Las Vegas and SEMA to head out to Spring Mountain Ranch racecourse. In preparation for Saturday's Optima Invitational, myself and the others from the auto-blogging crew got a chance to get behind the wheel ourselves. Spring Mountain Ranch is almost like a country-club for speed seekers. People who are members get use of the track. In addition, they have certified race-driver training programs. While we didn't get the whole training program in one day, we did get the opportunity to go very fast in a few different situations. The day started out with the road course. If you're not familiar with racing (like me) think of the video game "Grand Prix". After a short orientation we headed out to driving machine #1: the Lotus. Although I may have been a little jittery that I would do something wrong - it was surprisingly easy! As we followed our guide, Rick, around the racetrack things got faster and faster. After the first few 1.5 mile laps I began feeling comfortable with the car and trusting of the squealing tires as I rounded a turn between 40 and 60...

As promised, we want to keep you guys in the loop of what we're seeing at SEMA. Scroll down for a view of the SEMA 2009 convention experience as well as a few videos I was able to shoot! This post will be brief, expect much more content and explanation to come later!! Check out the engine compartment of this Factory 5 + Amp=D 1933 Roadster...!?! I think maybe this car goes fast, what do you think? Me learning all about the unique design of Optima Batteries. After 5+ years stretching out the life of my old converse, I knew I finally needed to break down for a new pair. How weird it is putting on brite whites! The "most expensive rims in the world" That's right, for just $2 million dollars you can be rolling on these ruby encrusted beauties. And for more bling action, minus the gigantic cost, check out the next video... One advantage of being one of the only "girls" around...for once in my life the men's toilet had a line and the women's did NOT! Cool product...this company runs a line of metal-flake like...

Most everyone in the auto world has heard of SEMA. For those who don't know, SEMA is a yearly convention for the auto industry...and its massive, completely filling up the Las Vegas Convention Center. Basically everything you can imagine having to do with a car is here - from new concept cars on down to aftermarket parts of every sort imaginable.  As many car lovers never get to make it to SEMA, Craig and I are on the scene to bring you all the most interesting car stuff and stories! Thanks to Optima Batteries, we'll be spending the rest of the week here at the show as well as attending the Optima Invitational race out in Pahrump, NV on Saturday. (And as I hear it, I may even be able to learn a little race-car driving on Friday!) It's my first time here, and although I'm a little overwhelmed I'm beyond excited to learn a ton! Right now I'm headed down to the main floor to hit up some car specialists and have them download on me some of their vast knowledge. To start off, here's a few pictures to give ya an idea...

PT Cruisers - Way Over Done So far, MyRideisMe.com has resisted the occasional urge to say anything negative about anyone else's ride. After all, to each his own and all that. But, in the words of Clint Eastwood, "A man's got to know his limitations." And I hit mine at the 2009 Cruisin for a Cure show in Orange County with the PT Cruiser club that rolled as the fog still hung low early in the morning. Love'm or hate'm, (you can say which at the end of this story) the PT Cruiser came on the scene 2000 and were immediately popular as one of the first of many, "throw back" cars.  No doubt the Chrysler company wanted to spring board off the relative success, or at least show room traffic, of the Plymouth Prowler.  The story about how it was a "light truck" to help the Dodge boys meet CAFE compliance is another, boring story... With the PT Cruiser, however, Chrysler clearly targeted the main stream, family buyers in the minivan market Chrysler invented.  I wonder how surprised they were by the following they found with PT Cruiser,...

One thing I liked (and some might hate) about the Crusin for a Cure car show in Orange County, California is the wide variety of cars filling Costa Mesa's OC Fair and Events center. Seems like most of the big shows I've been to are restricted to a certain year or type of car. Not here! From hot rods and classics to exotics and muscle cars and even some, "Custom" PT Cruisers ( More on that soon) Crusin for a Cure had a little something for everyone! Dont' forget, this show's for charity. I haven't heard the final stats, but the show benefited City of Hope to raise awareness and fund prostate cancer research. As part of the show and like everyone else in the line that was fairly full every time I went by, I got my free PSA screening as a first step to making sure I stay prostate cancer free.  Guys could also wait in a short line for a test that's never any fun, but necessary for early detection of the most survivable cancers in men... the dreaded digital exam.  I applaud the guys who...