If you're not at the Grand National Roadster Show this weekend, then get your fill of hi-octane goodness by turning your channels to SPEED TV for Optima Batteries' "Ultimate Street Car Invitational" airing Saturday January 30th @ 11am ET and again Sunday January 31st @ 4pm ET. Get a front row seat to world-class vehicles, selected from the SEMA floor to compete against each other Spring Mountain Motorsports Ranch in Pahrump, NV.  Next to Speedweek, this race has been one of the coolest events I've attended. No where else can you see street legal cars, representing every decade in car history, stretching their limits to race car levels! Not only did I get to be at the live event in November, but I've also snuck a peek at the tv special at the Los Angeles premier this past week! For all of you who will only get to see it on SPEED, don't worry, it's just as exciting! Even I was surprised by the results! You'll have to watch to find...

Looking at this picture now, I can no longer imagine my original plans were to simply slap some seat covers on and call it a day. I changed my mind when I realized these ol' seats had been rat-infested and that the majority of my time spent with my car would be sitting in the driver’s seat! Making over my car's interior was one of the first jobs I tackled alone on my 1955 Studebaker. Whenever I open the door and sit on my plush and sturdy bench seat, I'm thankful that I took the time. This article is just one of an entire series focusing on how-to rebuild your car's interior yourself, next up will be Car Interior 103 - Auto Upholstery. Before we get to upholstering, let’s make sure you've got a good foundation to put that pretty new fabric on. Following the steps below will get ya ready to ride in style and comfort! 1.) Pull the seats out of your car. You can't very well work on those seats while they’re still inside the car! This job is easiest when you've got plenty of room...

It's Saturday night rolling down Main Street in El Segundo, a cute little Maybury-esque town in Los Angeles County. All of the sudden the street is lined with hot rods and some bobber-styled bikes. Cool cats pour out of a store front holding cans of Pabst beer in their hands. Have I landed in heaven?! Not just yet. It just the New Year's Nuisance 2 art show & party at Gasoline Gallery. This gallery has been growing into its own little epicenter of kustom kulture over the past couple years. Specializing in low-brow art and artist-featured t-shirts (and most recently a record label all their own,) Gasoline Gallery throws these great shin-digs every couple months when their gallery-show changes. I've been to a few of these now and am pleased to report this show was just as high quality and fun as the others - with artist, 3 sheets, taking the spotlight. That's enough of my blabbering, let me just show you the pictures! For more info on any of the work or artists shown, contact Gasoline Gallery or look em up on MySpace. I didn't realize at first...

Happy 2010!! Now that the holidays are over, it's time to get down to business! And for Grease Girl that means giving you more of what I originally set out for...to help the beginning car person get involved in the garage! While I hope my Studebaker wish list will provide the topics for some great how-to articles over the coming months, I've got a few tech how-to's up my sleeve already. Next to mechanics, paint is priority for most. However its my opinion that interior is more important, particularly if its a daily driver. Far more hours are spent sitting on the inside than viewing the paint outside, right!?! So what better place to start this year off than with the very first job I tackled on my Studebaker - the interior! Get ready for a whole series of articles this month on redoing your classic car's interior. Before jumping in, I thought I'd start with a few tips from a pro. Luis Loyola was kind enough to have me over to his shop, Loyola Auto Interiors, and share with us some terrific expert advice. So sit down, relax,...

I’ve found that everybody has their own unique approach to building and working-on their car projects. You’ve got factors like money, who’s doing the work, skill level, space to work in, time, end-result, and of course personal organizational style (or lack thereof!) My 1955 Studebaker Champion is a work-in-progress. Since she’s my daily driver my top goal is to keep her on the road so I’ve got regular maintenance to keep done and of course unexpected events come up too! But that doesn’t rule out my desire to get her into better shape as time goes by. So with it being the holiday season, I figured this would be a good time to step back and identify what I’d like to get done and what my priorities are for Stude. So I’m not sure whether this is a Christmas wish list or my 2010 New Year’s Resolutions... but here it is! Maybe you’d like to make your own for your project car! Get a new exhaust system on. The pipes that went on my car were originally shaped for a different model Studebaker. This means I’ve got an ugly exhaust system...

Before attending Speed Week at Bonneville this past August, I had no idea what El Mirage was. But once the land speed racing bug gets ya, it gets ya bad. So rather then waiting until next year to drive out to Bonneville salt flats again I decided to check out another SCTA event, the 2009 finals at El Mirage dry lake bed. There is one drastic difference between racing at Bonneville and El Mirage; Salt vs. Dirt. From what drivers say, the dirt is more of a challenge to drive on then the salt. From a spectators perspective, the dirt kicks up a trail so you can't see the car as it speeds away. Both venues have their draws though. One big draw to El Mirage (for me) is that it's a mere 2 hours from Los Angeles, just outside of Palmdale, California. You know what that means, my '55 Studebaker got to get her little tires on the dirt! And there was a lot of dirt! I've never experienced anything quite like rolling onto the dry lake and speeding 4 un-marked miles west to the starting line amidst a...

We've never figured out why, but for some odd reason humans are always transfixed at the tragedies of others. Its why car accidents cause so much traffic havoc - we all have to stop and look as we drive by (grrrrr)! Racing is no different. When something goes wrong on the racetrack we all wanna have a look. So for your viewing pleasure, I thought I'd just highlight all malfunctions that went on during Optima's Ultimate Street Car Invitational 2009. For starters, there was Hot Rod Magazine's Factory Five built 1933 Ford Coupe, which I've already covered in: Hot Rod Magazine 33 Hot Rod Coupe goes down!. Next there were some problems with Hot Rod Jim's 1957 Chevy Pickup. It sounded like the tires were just a little too big for their own good. A problem that would've gone on with many-a-car on the SEMA showroom floor. Then we had an exciting show when this 1965 GTO built by Barry White of Wrecks to Riches fame blew a radiator hose of all things. It might not have been so cool - but it happened just as the big heavy GTO was heaving...

Whoever came up with the idea to put on an event that would demonstrate the performance capabilities of the cars being showcased at SEMA was a genius! And that's exactly what the Optima Invitational is all about. Happening the day after SEMA ends, it gives people a chance to put their "money where their mouth is" so to speak. 2009 was just the second year for this event, and the fellows at FM3 made sure that it was pulled off without a hitch. This year there were 38 vehicles competing for the Ultimate Street Car title along with 14 other cars under the "exhibition only" category, making for 51 beautiful cars out at Spring Mountain Motorsports Ranch on race day. What goes into an Ultimate Street Car you ask? You might say it needs to be well rounded. At this invitational race they competed in 4 catagories: Road Course, Autocross, Acceleration/Braking, and Styling. Having driven the course the day before, I had an extra appreciation for what these cars and drivers were doing. Not surprising to many, Bruce Cambern's 1966 Cobra took the cake in three of the four catagories. On the...

One of the first things I saw Saturday morning as I arrived at Spring Mountain Motorsports Ranch was this Factory Five built, black 1933 Ford Coupe. I was worried it would be all about Camaro's and other muscle cars during the Optima Invitational Ultimate Street Car Challenge - but seeing this smooth coupe roll across the pit assured me I'd have someone to cheer for this race day. I can't tell ya all about the long list of goodies it had - but let me assure you it was long. And being built by Factory Five means its some serious business. After the few laps around the Road Course that all of the cars took, Lucky #13 was just the second car for its chance to prove its stuff in this segment of the race. To the dismay of everyone watching, as it began its second lap of the track, pulling past the first curve we saw a big cloud of dust. What we're all asking now is what came first, the break or the accident? I guess Lucky #13 was not so lucky, it's front suspension snapped right...

[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...