Custom Inspiration for your Ford Falcon Brian Stupski's got a custom eye for anything with wheels, and wouldn't ya know it? This time he turned his styled eye on one of our favorites, the Ford Falcon. I've got a 1963 Ford Falcon wagon I'm working on now. Maybe I can swing some of these custom tricks to apply to my Falcon. How about you?   For more Falcon fun, check out my own project: 1963 Ford Falcon Wagon Build   To have Problem Child Kustoms trick out your car, get in touch with Brian at ProblemChildKustoms.com Until then, drool over these great ideas for one trick Falcon! Stay tuned, we're trying to reach FineLine Kustom and Restoration in Onalaska, WI to get some periodic updates of the Falcon build. Yep! This car is under construction now.   Here's a shot of the interior Brian did... your basic two-seater...   Under the hood? Nothing special... check this out! Last, you need to see some renderings of the final car build. This is gonna be one amazing car!   To get your dream car drawn, contact Problem Child Kustoms...

1937 Chevy Coupe with Hot Rod Pinup Kelly Lindahl Car Owner: Keith Goettlich - Click any picture for full size As with most car guys, automotive make and style preferences are more often than not generational; Traits passed down through generations just like hair or eye color. For Keith Goettlich, it was a passion for Buick’s, and more specifically, their legendary Torque-bomb Nailhead V-8s that Keith inherited from his father.   Keith’s father, like few others in the 60s, steered away from the more popular (and generally cheaper) Bowtie and Blue Oval route and took the path less traveled in the big displacement horsepower wars with a 1964 Buick Wildcat ragtop sporting a 425 Nailhead guzzling leaded gas through dual quads. This would spark Keith’s lifelong passion for Buicks vertical valved line of V8. Keith would build a few customs and rods throughout the years, including a 1933 Pickup that gained quite a bit of recognition along the East Coast. Each ride containing his signature trait: A Nailhead tucked in where most would expect to see a SBC. The Nailhead made Keith’s creations a bit more memorable, and before...

Detroit Autorama Favorites - Chris Voyles Picks MyRideisMe.com's show sponsor: Auto Meter Gauges Who's Chris Voyles? He's the dude with the GIANT camera hustling around the Detroit Autorama so you can enjoy what we saw from your computers and phones. I recruited Chris to help me with photos and get his favorites from his first year at the Detroit Autorama. Here's what he thought... He's shy so let him know if he screwed this up. We might be able to shame him into a reply? Also see Chris' picks for Ridler Contenders that weren't. Words and pictures by Chris Voyles: (High quality pictures!! Click to see full size) Walking around the 2013 Detroit Autorama, I made note of the cars I considered my favorites. Just some very nice rides that made me take notice and click a few extra shots. 1968 Dodge Charger R/T: I grew up around cars as a kid and by far this is the car I want most of all! See, my Dad had 1968 Charger R/T very close to this one here, minus the Hemi motor. His was also red with a black top but...

There's an Upstairs? Basement at the 2013 Detroit Autorama See all the pictures from the Basement - Hot Rods and Custom Cars For years now Autorama has been separated into two levels - the main floor and the basement. The main floor is the area that most people used to think of when thinking of the Detroit Autorama. The basement is where the ‘other’ cars go... In the past this ranged from tuners to rat rods. I used to hate going into the basement, and getting past the thumping bass and laser lights of the tuner crowd just to see a couple of cool lead sleds. For the last four years or so, the ‘rat rod’ movement in the Detroit area has grown substantially, and with the embracing arms of show organizers (Rudi and Dennis), the basement has turned into a main event. Photo courtesy of J. V. Drenzek & Associates The high gloss facade, high buck cars with their mirrored displays and bright lights upstairs becomes a distant memory as you ride the escalator down. Greeting you at the bottom is neon lights, pinup girls and rockabilly music...

2013 Detroit Autorama - Voyles' Picks For Ridler Award Words and Pics by Chris Voyles MyRideisMe.com's show sponsor: Auto Meter Gauges   The 2013 Detroit Autorama was a great one indeed with eight cars nominated for the prestigious Ridler Award. These cars where exceptionally nice, but I think it’s safe to say we all said to ourselves, “Hey! Why wasn’t that car nominated?”   We’ll Pikesan and I thought the same thing... while he's still deciding which rides he would have picked, I'm done! Here's a few of the custom cars I thought were the best of the best, and could have, or should have been nominated.   1961 Impala: This was a very nice done 1961 Chevy Impala owned by Gil & Janet Losi. The body channeled, shaved, nosed, decked and roll pans worked... it flowed very nicely. The chassis on the car was done by Morrison Custom and finished off with Ridetech air suspension. The Impala had a 2,000 hp 540 cubic inch twin turbo motor  by Mike Moran between the fender! Completely stunning car!   1934 Ford: Bill Hughart is the owner of this awesome 1934 Ford hot rod....

2013 Detroit Autorama - Pikesan's Picks for Best of Show MyRideisMe.com's show sponsor: Auto Meter Gauges Like last year, I took too many pictures. I couldn't stop! To do my best to quickly-as-possibly share what I have and what I liked, I'm loading up the MyRideisMe picture gallery. There's 200 events covered since 2007, so lots to see, something for everyone... including - The Best of the 2013 Detroit Autorama. The rest of the BEST pictures and info are here. This wasn't a Ridler Contender? (Insert confused look here) 1934 Ford 5 Window Coupe Last year, I did a "Shoulda-been Great 8" story from the 2012 Detroit Autorama. I'm putting that story together, and when I do, this will top the list. Not only is the car way-over-the-top RIGHT ON traditional cool... it's also displayed beautifully and has an amazing Darryl Hollenbeck paint job. It's called, "Iron Orchid". Look for more pictures in a feature story soon. When my 1927 Roadster Grows up: 1927 Ford Model T Roadster This Brothers Custom Automotive hot rod was parked down in the basement. Just like last year, Brothers brought out the heavy guns...

2013 Detroit Autorama - Ridler Award Contenders MyRideisMe.com's show sponsor: Auto Meter Gauges If you're 6'4" you don't need a ladder... might as well use the height for some good and give another look at the "Great 8" cars contending for the coveted Ridler Award. After another day at the show, the winner's unknown and among friends, there's no clear favorite. (lots of bias tho!) Ridler Award Contender - 1934 Ford Sedan Gotta show the slick sedan from Arizona some love. It's an amazing color, even in the brutal lights inside Detroit's Cobo Hall. Ridler Award Contender - 1965 Corvette After talking to the good people at Greening Auto Company, especially Jesse Greening, the chief builder, we're learning more and gaining more respect for this gorgeous Corvette. Ridler Award Contender - 1940 Ford Barely visible is the matching gold of the flathead over shadowed by the menacing blower. We briefly saw the hood down and the doors closed before this happened: This is the judges doing their thing. They go over every part of the car, including the build books to learn what makes one car more amazing than...

2013 Detroit Autorama - Ridler Award Contenders It's Time! Detroit's here and we've got all the "Great 8" shots up and ready for you to pick a favorite. This year, they let us know a little earlier who the greats were, a rough job since I heard there were upwards of 50 cars in contention. Look for a great post coming soon of, "Shoulda-been's" or just bad-to-the-bone rides that somehow weren't selected as Ridler finalists.   Trending now: 2014 -Ridler Award "Great 8" Contenders?   No use arguing over that now, the Great 8 contenders choices have been made, so now it's time to pick a winner. This is gonna be a TOUGH one! What's your choice? Pick your favorite and let us know in a comment at the end. If you need pictures to decide, go to Taller than you! More Great 8   Devil in the Details: For each owner or builder, I asked: "What trick detail are you especially proud of that somebody might walk right by?" Hear what they said and enjoy the pictures to go with.   As usual, click on any pictures, even...

2013 Barrett Jackson Scottsdale Muscle Cars and Mopars Story and photos by Chris Voyles This years Barrett Jackson Scottsdale auction was a awesome one! Last year was a great auction but I think there was a little more excitement this year with some super unique vehicles crossing the block. Who could have predicted the Batmobile would go for 4.3 million?! There were a lot of great vehicles that had the proceeds go to charities and nothing is better than to see the price climbing on those cars with the bidders out doing each other, at some point solely out of kindness. I'm sure most of you have watched coverage of the Barrett Jackson Auctions on Speed Channel at some point but nothing beats being there in person and soaking in the true beauty of what we all love: Custom cars, muscle cars and for me Mopars! Whatever's your favorite, there's something for everyone at Barrett Jackson. Here's a few of my favorites. Let me know what you think... Chris #1 The pro touring 1970 Dodge Charger with a modern Hemi transplanted into it. While my favorite Charger of all time the 68,...

Hot Rods & Customs Long Exposure Photography It's never supposed to rain in Southern California! But it did and everyone attending the 2013 Grand National Roadster Show made the best of it. When the rain let up, I took full advantage shooting this vibrant 1950 GMC pickup owned by Eric Conner of El Cajon, CA. Ya dig? I couldn't stop at just one... but I noticed on nearly the last couple pictures I wanted to take that my lens had water drops all over it. Luckily for this pic, you can't really see it cause it's hiding in the grille. There looks to be a dent below the headlight, but that's not a dent, it's just a water drop! (click to see the water droplets!) I had so much fun with it, I decided to do a few more... (minus the rain this time) Paul Medina's 1947 Ford Business Coupe - Throttle Kings 1956 Ford Victoria (The blurs you see are people walking by. The shutter was open for 13 seconds) My Man Kopis' 1929 Ford Cabriolet Traditional Hot Rod - Throttle Kings 1955 Cadillac series 62 owned by Steve (last...

2012 Norcal Car Show "Year in Review" Words & pictures by: Nick Koljian (About Nick) (click on any picture to see it full size... you really should!) Part I As 2012 passes by in the side mirror, 2013 is jumping up on us like a dog in heat. And with the passing of 2012 we saw some pretty amazing shows. Some big, some small, but all good. For 2013, I'm looking forward to bigger and better shows for Northern California. I'm looking forward to shows I've been to year-in and year-out and, of course, some of the newer shows that are making a name for themselves in the car show season. The bay area never ceases to amaze me with its bold paint, fine lines and outstanding collection of customs and classic rides. So let’s throw it in reverse and take a look back 2012. February 2012 The Sacramento Autorama Baseball has it's opening day, here in Northern California our car show season starts with the Sacramento Autorama at the Cal Expo Fairgrounds in Sacramento, CA. This show is a circus of custom rides beyond anyone's imagination. Inside, you...

Custom One Off Wheels at SEMA 2012 (Click to see any picture full size) Click for everything @ 2012 SEMA Show from MyRideisMe Let the debate begin! To me, this was the hottest wheel I saw and if there's one thing more common then wheels at the SEMA Show, I don't know what it is! So why is this my pick of SEMA? They're one of a kind, one off wheels - nobody else at the SEMA Show has these wheels (or ever will) They're on  on a bad ass car - 1951 Mercury Custom Tons of thought, above and beyond selecting from a catalog, went into the design Disagree? Cool. Do your thing, but dig this first... Start with a fairly blank canvas: 20x 8.5" Centerline Smoothies shown here. Then, let Max Fish, owner at Bio Kustumz hand- mill the wheels -- that's right, on a manual Bridgeport mill -- to the design you see here. Max is a guy I gotta meet some day. His company slogan is, "We suck less" and he wears it proud in this video where a radiator hose coupling comes off his lathe. Now Max...