It was March 2004, and Ren Robinson of American Canyon, California was shopping around for a new custom truck to build. He did some research, and after a while realized that there weren’t many 2004 Ford F-150’s out there, so he decided he’d build one. Just a few days later, he picked up a bone stock burgundy crew-cab, and got going on it. Some 22’s, a 4/6 drop, a pair of billet grills and an exhaust later, Ren rolled into a show, expecting the trophies to come pouring in, trumpets playing in the background, hailing him as the new king of all things custom. Instead, he heard the loud sound of air evacuating from valves and the distinct sound of frames slamming down on concrete. This was not going to be the day he expected. A little setback like this wasn’t going to get him down. Instead he made a few phone calls and a few days later, he was ready to begin anew. The journey starts at SIC Motorsports in San Jose, California, beginning with an altitude adjustment. The control arms, springs and shocks were yanked out and tossed, and...

John Melvin of Laveen, Arizona is nothing if not a character. Standing 6’1 or so, with a slight accent and a positive attitude about trucks that’s infectious, he brings a fresh take to the scene. For example, when we met John at our shoot in Scottsdale, he brought the SS you see here in the back of a huge enclosed trailer, towed by a 2005 Silverado crew-cab dually all decked out in SS Trim and boasting 479 horses. Not two weeks later, when we setup to shoot some burnout shots, we found out that he had traded the truck in for a 2006 Crew-cab HD, and it was already lifted on 20’s. And of course, there's also his orange crew cab, featured here: True Flamed Silverado. See, John owns a bodyshop out in Laveen, named JM Collison Center. There he does all the usual things you’d expect from a guy who runs a shop: he repairs quarter panels, fixes dents, and sprays things all day long. The business was doing great, and he decided to expand a bit and add a new branch to the company, named JM Custom...

The name John Melvin may not quite be a household name, but that depends a little bit on what kind of circles you run in. Performance junkies know that John is famous for building a killer Supercharged Silverado SS; one that set records just a few years ago. But while he was building that black-and-silver supercharged terror, he also was working on this 2005 crew cab Chevrolet Silverado. This gave him a duo of amazing trucks, both featured here at MyRideisMe.com. Let's start with the crew cab, a truck that also isn't a slouch in the performance world. When we first found it, the truck needed only an interior to get to the upper level. The taillights were shaved, the true-fire flames on the front were painted, and from the outside, the truck was complete. At the time, John owned a crew cab dually, but he was losing interest in it, so he traded it off at the dealership for a crew cab 4X4. Now he had two crew cabs, and two different interior colors, so he decided to make the swap and give his orange one a little...

Meet Curt Garrigus of Tempe, Arizona. His story starts with the purchase of a brand new, charcoal gray, 2001 Chevy Silverado a few years ago. Back then, the new-body Chevys were still pretty new, and yet, everyone seemed to have one. With so many trucks on the road that looked just like his, how was he going to stand out from the crowd? Curt soon found out that the truck he was building didn’t stand out - not by going down the path he was planning on. In fact, with the mild shave job and drop, it looked just like any other Chevy on the road. Something had to be done. He was sitting at his house one night when it came to him. Curt made a quick call to his roommate at the time – “Bring me a sawzall!” – and the rest is history. What you don’t notice about this truck is what really sets it apart from the others. Sure, it’s a fully shaved truck with a Denali clip and the roof cut off. Big deal, right? Well since it’s a Chevy, Curt had some work...

Everyone gets into the truck scene differently. Some inherit the interest from their father, some get sucked in by their friends, and others, like Tony Saenz of Andrews, Texas, got into it by going into a convenience store to grab a tasty beverage. It was on that fateful day 3 years ago that he first saw a yellow Dodge in the parking lot of said store that was painted with ghost flames. A short conversation later, Tony had the number to the painter of that truck, Jamie Torrez, the owner of Demented Customs in Hobbs, New Mexico. Hobbs isn’t known for being a big town, but for a city with just over 31,000 people, there’s a surprising number of custom car and truck guys. One of those shops is Demented Customs, who have slowly been building a reputation for themselves as powerhouses in the industry. Over the past few years they’ve put quite a few customs out on the pages of various magazines, so when Tony decided to take his car to them, it turned out to be a very fortuitous decision. The first thing that Tony wanted to...

It’s funny how trucks work. No matter how many stories are written about trucks and their experiences, they all seem to have a common thread: Guy buys a ride with the pure intention of just doing a few things here or there to make it a little bit better, and next thing you know, the truck is getting painted, the suspension is rebuilt and it becomes as far away from stock as normal. This story is no different. Andrew Moreno, of Tucson, Arizona, bought this ’72 Chevy truck in 2004 with the intention of fixing it up a bit. His brother was about to turn 16, so Andrew and his father figured that they’d rebuild the motor, give the truck a blue paintjob and some chrome wheels and it’d be a perfect driver for his little brother. Andrew and his dad tore into the truck, taking out the drivetrain in the process, and they discovered that the suspension all needed to be rebuilt. Plus it really needed a quality restoration if they wanted it to be safe. No reason why not, right? A decision was made: Take the truck...

You've  probably met guys like Jerry before. He’s a good guy, always worked hard at his job, been around the local club scene for a while, and has built a few cool rides in his time. Then one day, he steps it up a notch and builds something really wicked. That’s just what happened to Jerry Taylor, of Glendale, Arizona and this Nissan Hardbody. Except Jerry doesn’t go by Jerry. Most know him as “Bear,” a nickname used by all of his fellow club members in Kastawayz. He’s built a little stable of rides over the past few years, including a pair of Hondas, a bodydropped Nissan Hardbody, and a Toyota mini. When Bear bought this particular Hardbody a few years back, the goal was to really go above and beyond what he had done in the past. Something that would get some attention, and really take the custom scene by storm. It started in Bear’s garage, a cozy little spot named “Bear’s Customs.” In that 20X20 space, he tore into his hardbody, starting with the suspension. The factory Nissan 6-lug had to go, so Bear did a spindle...

His accent says “West Texas”, which is only partially true. The tall guy with the all-American boy looks was born in Lubbock, Texas, but that’s only because his folks were in the area when he decided to break free. In reality, Chad Fincher is from Hobbs, New Mexico, a city famous for … well, nothing really. Chad spent his formative years growing up in this small town, and when he turned 18, his father bought him a 1998 GMC Sierra as a gift for graduating high school. That truck took him through college and came with him when he moved to Phoenix, Arizona in the summer of 2003 with his new wife, Shelly, to start their life together. This is all boring stuff really, I mean Chad’s life in small town New Mexico shouldn’t have a lot of bearing on the direction his truck went in, and in most cases, that would be correct. But here, with Chad and his ’98, however, the city of Hobbs actually plays a vital role in this build, because his dedication to his hometown is bordering on legendary. It was May of 2004,...

It all started with a phone call. Justin Higley of Phoenix, Arizona, had built a few trucks in his day, but nothing really crazy. He was barely getting into the scene, and little by little he dipped his toes into the water of customization. Soon he had a few trucks under his belt, but nothing that really made him satisfied. He needed more. Enter Kevin from BNC Offroad and Third Coast Customs. Kevin’s a master builder, and has been putting trucks in the sky for years. Third Coast Customs is the fabrication side of things, making custom suspension kits for mass production and sale, while BNC Offroad is the retail side of the puzzle, installing those same kits, as well as selling other miscellaneous accessories. From lifted to lowered, the BNC crew can do it all. Kevin was looking to build himself a truck for the new show season, so he needed something special. It was around the time that the first 2007 Chevrolet Silverados were rolling off the transports, so he bought himself a brand new crew cab. Third Coast specializes in independent suspension lifts, and Kevin wanted to...

For my 1 year anniversary and 100th blog post at MyRideisMe.com I share with you a classic Japanese land speed racecar, err... truck, a Datsun 620.  I spotted it on the Japanese Nostalgic Car blog/website HERE.  If you don't have this on your blog reader, go ahead and add it now.  The picture credit goes out to Stephen Rosinni, a professional photographer out of NY. According to JNC's blog post, the Datto truck belongs to Barry Brown of Riter Automotive and was run at the Maxton Mile recently.  It runs in the F/PMP class (F = 2.01 - 3.0 liter, PMP = Production mini/mid pickup) with a 2 liter that makes about 220hp equipped with Nissan 50mm race carbs and a Nissan 5 speed.  The #1620 truck broke the class record of 119mph by running 123 in the standing mile.  The Riter Automotive crew, out of Rochester, NY, plans on running at Bonneville this year.  Hopefully we can bring you all some more pics and details.  Of course, when it runs at B'ville, we'll hopefully bring you news of another broken record.  I was curious, so I checked out the BNI class record...

Custom 1959 Cadillac from D'Agostino The Grand National Roadster Show is truly the "Grand-daddy of them all" when it comes to hot rod and custom car shows. Where else would you find two super-custom 1959 Caddy's?  Finished to near perfection, take your pick of the "Custom Restoration" '59 Cadillac (story here) or this latest 1959 Cadillac custom from D'Agostino.  Put your hands together for "Elvis II" built for David E. Walters. Unlike the custom-restoration 1959, this is a true Biarritz. The full name is a mouthful: 1959 Cadillac Eldorado Biarritz convertible. Deserving the long name, the Biarritz marked the top of what was already a very expensive ($7401 in 1959) and extremely luxurious ride. With the 3x2, 345 horse Q-code Cad motor standard for the Eldorado, the options separating the Series 62 from the El-do include a host of cosmetic tricks in the grille, taillights and interior, but also include air ride from way back in the 50's! What's old is new as just about every custom you see these days is on air. Even with it's superbo-delux-ness right from the General and limited 1320 production, I'm glad to...

Sapporo, Japan is NOT what people think of as a center for hot rodding car culture and they're right, its not.  But, there is a cool dude from Japan who's a real hot rodder living the hot rod life.   Kiyoshi Tanomura (aka Tano) and I became Facebook friends a couple weeks ago.  I accepted Tano's request solely because of his Profile Picture.  It was a picture of this 1926 Ford Model T roadster, built in the Traditional rod style.  I saw his Japanese name with that American hot rod picture and said to myself, "I need to find out about this guy!" Just looking at the roadster, would you expect this to come out of Japan?  As you can imagine, the hot rod parts came from the States.  The build is a well thought out, period correct hot rod that few could achieve.  Japanese car nuts are just the type to achieve such a build.  Why?  From what little I know about the Japanese culture is they have great respect for their ancestors and history, they are very detailed oriented, even passionate about the details and seem to be natural engineers. Tano mentions two friends from the USA...