I met Jean Marie at the Grand National Roadster Show in January 2009. His card had a stunning photo on it and it said he does pinup photography, so we started chatting. See all the photos he shared with MyRideisMe.com in his Hot Rod Photo Gallery 43 year old Jean-Marie Michalski grew up in a town called Perwez in Belgium, as the single child of Jean Michalski, a now famous artist & painter. His father Jean Michalski was born in Belgium in 1936. At 12 years old, Jean and his friends attempted to climb up an electricity pole to better see a soccer game. Jean lost his balance, fell off the pole and was electrocuted with 12,000 volts. The injury and subsequent complications led to the amputation of both arms. After the accident, Jean was placed in a rehabilitative institution for three years, where he learned to write with his mouth. When Jean was 16 years old, the Association of Mouth and Foot Painting Artists (AMFPA) contacted his mother, and Founder Erich Stegmann visited the family’s home to recruit Jean as a student artist. The Association assisted with tuition...

House O Speed's 1965 Buick Riviera - Custom Buick   "THE DEVIL’S DOLLHOUSE"   The are basically two types of rides in this world. The ones you proudly bring home to mother, and then, of course, there’s the other kind -- the type you stealthily roll to the curb in with the engine killed and leave tucked in the shadows when you pick up your date.   See all the pictures of this killer 1965 Buick Riviera here   The HouseOspeed-built 1965 Riviera falls squarely into the second camp. Once you’ve ridden in it, you’ll understand why.   Simply put, interior is swimmin’ in women. Vintage pin-up girls, to precise, the work of a man named Peter Drieben, whose sexy illustrations graced the covers of fifties stag magazines with titles like Whisper, Titter and Eyeful.   The stock headliner has given way to black angel hair, and gray glitter vinyl and orange piping on the seats to match the interior motif. The stitching is the handiwork of Fat Lucky’s Sean Johnstun, now the head upholstery guru at the Austin Speed Shop.   But lest you think that the pin-up...

Nicole and Chris Eades from the Jennabears Foundation sent the nicest email asking if it would be OK to promote their Jennabear Car Show at MyRideisMe.com. YES!! I heard of their show last year but didn't get a chance to attend. I asked a few questions and here's what I found out: Who was Jenna and why a car show? Jenna was my beautiful daughter whose life was taken by a reckless driver. She was only 6 month and 21 days old. She had beautiful blue eyes and personality that everyone parent dreams of. She was and always will be my bestfriend. Jenna was always around mustangs. I had a '89 fox body that I restored and really enjoyed. We also had a '95 mustang gt for more than 8 years at the time that slowly went from stock to our family street-legal drag car. Jenna rode in it the last week of her life. Jenna was born on 9/11 and our new goal with this car is to run a 9/11. The car was dedicated to her memory and is our official foundation race car. So needless to...

Trying something new here... is it helpful to the MyRideisMe.com readers to have all of the blogs I think are interesting/cool/worth a look all located on one page here? You'll be leaving my site, but that's ok... I don't have all the info or answers, so go ahead!...

2008 Grand National Roadster Show Winner It's official, at least it was at about 7:30 Pacific Coast time, 1/25/2009. The "Hot Rod Special" built by Willet Specials in Chicago is the winner of the 2009 America's Most Beautiful Roadster title. Except for being able to roll forwards and back under their own power, the judging for the AMBR title is like "Riding a unicycle on wallpaper". (I don't know what that means either.) Let's hope the judges do cause they're looking for "excellence". That part couldn't be a simpler task, really, given that the level of competition for the AMBR is ridiculous. Pretty much every car in the main hall (not just the AMBR contenders) is a "Best of Show" winner at a regular show, but this is the "Granddaddy of them all" the Grand National Roadster show. When excellence abounds, the judges are forced to find something, "wrong" with the cars. Now there's a task! Every year, however, a winner is chosen and regardless of any complaining, "AMBR winner" is something that can never be taken away. (even if the car later appears topless in Playboy... in fact,...

There's too many rocking hot rods... the customs... they're oozing coolness into the ultra-chromed and engraved super-show low riders. It's too much and perfect all at once. The aftermath is several hundred photos of who knows how many of the toughest cars anywhere. This is the Grand-daddy of them all, the 60th annual, Grand National Roadster Show. We're still arranging the hot rod and custom car pics and all there is to say from the Arizona crew that attended the 2009 Grand National Roadster Show. Starting out, we hit the road for Pomona on Saturday at 2 AM then we motored non-stop the whole weekend to try and take it all in. Only the mariachi band provided some relief. The pictures we took from the show are now loaded: Hot Rods and Customs from GNRS So stay tuned for these stories. The American's Most Beautiful Roadster (AMBR) winner: The Harry Willett of Willett Specials built "Hot Rod Special" (pictured here) - Read it now: "Hot Rod Special" AMBR Winner in Pictures & Video Nihon in the house! A Japanese magazines, blog and a pinstriper were in town for the...

Submitted by Jason Wenig from The Creative Workshop, a restoration and full service coach builder out in Florida. An interesting turn of events transpired this past weekend. As you are probably aware, last week was the "big auction week" out in Scottsdale, AZ (culminating on Saturday night), where all of the major car auction companies display and sell a dizzying array of vehicles. On top of the grandeur of these events, in many ways, it can be said that this past week sets the tone for values and trends for the coming year. As a car builder, I walk a thin line. I personally am not a big fan of the auctions - I don't sell cars - I build them, but it is hard not to at least be interested, and in many instances, it is important for me to understand where people's money is going - what types of cars, what eras, etc are being sold… if not just for business, then certainly for my own love of cars! Which brings me to my story: My Client, (Arizona's own, car collector) Barry Smith, decided to get the...

RM Auction Press Release: Preeminent international auction house, RM Auctions, will celebrate a decade of excellence in Phoenix, Arizona in January with their 10th anniversary ‘Automobiles of Arizona’ event. Returning to the luxurious Arizona Biltmore Resort and Spa, the highly anticipated event will kick off the 2009 collector car season in grand style as 125 magnificent vintage motor cars cross the block before an international audience. When the focus of the collector car world returns to Phoenix, Arizona, in January, all eyes will once again be on Canadian-based RM Auctions and their eagerly awaited Automobiles of Arizona auction event. Long regarded as the most prestigious event of Arizona’s famed auto week, the annual multi-million dollar RM sale brings together some of the world’s finest vintage automobiles with some of the world’s most discerning collectors. The grand tradition is set to continue in 2009 as RM celebrates their 10th anniversary sale in Phoenix, January 16th. “We are thrilled to be returning to Phoenix for our 10th anniversary sale and look forward to again welcoming collectors and enthusiasts from around the world to Arizona for what is shaping up to be...

The Goodguys Southwest Nationals rolls into Scottsdale, AZ only once a year and with it comes a mad thrash to get your car ready and some great chances to roll your car out (even a roadster since it was in the 80's that week!) have some fun and meet some other rodders in the area. Doug Jerger the owner of Squeeg's Kustoms in Mesa, Arizona landed the lunch stop for the Goodguys Show. Doug was kind enough to let me take up some space at his shop and hand out some of the posters we made. The open house came at a perfect time as Squeeg's was debuting 3 trick hot rods. Doug's shop can build and paint anything you want and do it to near perfection. The 34 Ford Roadster shown above was one of the cars. Everything on this car screams professional builder and the style and execution let you know this car had a solid plan right from the start. The other 2 hot rods finshed were a 32 Ford Roadster and a 40 Ford coupe. I'm not showing the 40 Ford right now because we're...

Cruisin' Main Street New Downtown Mesa Monthly Cruise Beginning this Friday night December 12th, from about 6pm to 10pm, the downtown Mesa merchants will host a monthly cruise night on downtown Mesa's Main Street from Center Street to Country Club Drive. All years and types of vehicles are welcome to cruise or park along Mesa's Main Street to enjoy the parade of rolling sculpture's pass by. Most of the stores and restaurants will be open late so bring the whole family and make a night of it. This cruise night will become a monthly event to coincide with the downtown Mesa merchants successful "Friday Night Out" program held on the 2nd Friday of the month. Mesa's next 2nd Friday Night Out event and cruise night is scheduled for January 9th 2009, so be sure to mark your calendars. Among the many activities planned for Mesa's "Friday Night Out" event will be an "Art Walk" featuring over 80 artists displaying their wares along Main Street. Also, live music will be playing at several locations along Main Street too. As I said, most of the stores and restaurants will be open...

The first of many, MANY photos from the 2008 Goodguys Southwest Nationals held in Scottsdale, Arizona just went up. (You can find all the events we've shot here: Hot Rod and Custom car Pictures) ...it's just like being there, but without all of that pesky good weather, fine folks and healthy walking around stuff. Come to think of it, all of that sounds pretty good, huh? That's the whole point of MyRideIsMe.com: Interacting with other members, making new friends, and just enjoying cars! If you missed this one, we invite you to check out our shots, as well as our member's photos, too... and if you snapped some that we missed, feel free to join in and post them as well! Have some thoughts or a story from the weekend that you'd like to share? Send it our way, and we'll make you famous!" This blog will be updated as I load new pictures, so check back here over the next couple of weeks. Updated: 11/19/2008 11/23/2008 Goodguys Rod and Custom shows have a mix of cars. While I was there, I thought there were mostly hot rods, but...

I only heard it was a "Rat Rod" car show in Phoenix. My roadster's a rat rod, whatever that means anymore, so I figured I'd fit in. Later I found out the party was hosted by my online friend Cadillac Cowboy (Bob) and his buddies from the Arizona Sinners. Bob's got a few pics of his nasty Blown 427 Model T in his garage here at MyRideisMe.com. The Arizona Sinners I've met have been easy going and die hard car guys. They build what the drive and they drive'm hard. One sinner at the party, Jerry, introduced me to the HAMB message board way back in 2002. If you want to find Jerry, look for his Hawaiian/Vintage style shirt at just about any swap meet in AZ. He'll be there carrying a handful of vintage tools and an old gauge or two. He's one of those guys that's always there early then stays late to get the deals. I also think he'd drive his old Chevy truck (old cause he likes it that way!) across Arizona uphill both ways to help a friend. It was cool to meet Bob...