2011 Viva Las Vegas Rockabilly Car Show To late for any more info... here's the customs I liked from Friday at Viva Las Vegas Car Show. Which one's your favorite so far? All the way from Australia. Wagons Rule! Maybe the coolest custom at the show. Suede paint Ford Thunderbird with some cool pinstriping. Was orange the theme this year? This Fury had some kick'n flake on the roof. To see what you might have missed from years gone by, here's the Viva Las Vegas Car Show pictures from the last 3 years....

2011 Viva Las Vegas Rockabilly Car Show It's time! Don't wait for months for magazine coverage, you got it right now! Las Vegas, Nevada greeted visitors from all over the world with near perfect weather and some great traditional styled hot rods. Here's pictures from Friday April, 22 in one small part of the greater Viva Las Vegas Rockabilly Weekender event, but of course our favorite at MyRideisMe.com... the car show. Let's kick it off with the hot rods. Viva's car show might have been known for "rat rods" in the past, but I see fewer and fewer rides that most would label as rat rods. They're more accurately called traditional style hot rods. If you think this is a rat rod, it's time for a lesson. Traditional hot rods choose vintage engines like flatheads instead of more common, later motors like small block Chevy's.  They're also alot more likely to run wire wheels and bias ply tires. The one thing they may have in common is a total lack of paint or a rusty or patina look. Why? It could be the owner just hasn't got to paint...

Viva Las Vegas Rockabilly Car Show Pre-view First pictures from the 2011 Viva Las Vegas Car Show - Hot Rods! 2nd set of pictures: 2011 Viva Las Vegas Car Show Customs Hit'n 3rd Gear! Pinstriping this time...  2011 Viva Car Show Pinstriping Pictures Yea, the best! SEMA brings in maybe twice the crowd, but SEMA's got no pinups and none of the best Rockabilly bands! Take a look at past Viva Las Vegas Rockabilly Weekender car show pictures and then review the schedule for this year's show, then decide for yourself... go or wait for more coverage from MyRideisMe.com... and you won't have to wait months for it to come out in print! The first look at VLV14 will be published on April 22, in just a few days... Until then, here's the car show schedule and the bands playing at the car show and a little history of the show at MyRideisMe.com. Schedule: There's bands playing from Thursday to Sunday... Headlining the Car Show bands is Rock and Roll "Hall of Fame" member Jerry Lee Lewis! 12:00PM - Lustre Kings 2:00PM - Dynotones 4:00PM - Blasters 6:00PM -...

Mild to Wild Car Show , Puyallup,WA. We don't have the weather like California , so when we have a custom car show this early in the year is kinda of a bonus! The Mild to Wild Car Show has been around for 20 years and recently return to the Puyallup Fair and Events Center after many years at the Tacoma Dome. The was actually the car show's original starting location back in 1989. This year it was inside three of the buildings at the Fair grounds, unlike the Gooduys Show that takes over the inside and outside of the complex. Not a real big show, but had some really cool customs from the northwest. Check out this Gold 1932 Hot Rod coupe wtih a Chevrolet 572, From Ravensdale, Washington. Here is some real history "The Orange Crate" 1932 Ford Sedan all steel, Built by Bob Tindle from Portland,Oregon. It made the cover of Hot Rod two times 1960 and again in 1962. In 1963 the Revell Company created a 1/25th scale model of the sedan. Which you can still buy, they released it. It would turn 10.60 in the quarter...

Custom Studebaker Pickup from 2011 Grand National Roadster Show I promised I had a few customized Studebakers up my sleeve that I found at the 2011 Grand National Roadster Show....so here's #2 (Check out this Studebaker Ute if ya missed #1!) Who's ever seen a Studebaker pickup like this one!? Believe it or not, this 1949 Studebaker Pickup has been in the works for about 25 years. When the current owner, John Saltsman, got the truck it had already been chopped about 6" by "Merc John." With a small block Chevy drivetrain (just like my Studebaker coupe,) John used it as his daily driver on long commutes for at least 8 years. As John drove it, his vision for what he wanted it to become grew. He had a "wild and mild" proportioned-custom in his mind. As its been completed, this Custom 1949 Studebaker Pickup has a laundry list of custom items from customizing legends! It started with the 6" chop of course. To that was added a 15 1/2 " channel. And as "one thing led to another," this pickup was transformed with: a 59 Chevy trunk lid, 55...

Car Concept Drawings that'll blow your mind! This little Dodge A-100 has been the one piece of my work that gets me more emails, calls, letters and requests for re-prints than any other I've sketched. This car concept drawing's just got that something that makes people grin, and everyone just seems to get it. It's fun, it's irreverent, it's obnoxious... It sums up my earliest inspirations and daydreams in one bright orange, low-slung package, and looks like it just did something wrong... And, frankly, it doesn't give a shit. It's my inner child, street machine-style, hyped-up on orange soda and pizza. I began drawing cars after a career move from cubicles to cubic off-road insanity. I was designing project cars and doing car concept drawings for clients at night and on weekends, and managing them during the day at that new job. My personal artwork was taking on a realistic appearance out of necessity, but the wild style within still wanted to play. One day in late 2006, I let it out in the form of this orange hued bit of my ID, now simply known in the studio...

Blown 41 Willys Hot Rod Marty Hacker loved to get out to the track and drag race whenever he got a chance back in the 60’s and 70’s. One thing always caught his eye, the ‘41 Willys. Rat Rodders and drag racers alike have a love for the Willys. It’s one of the most popular street rod designs and probably the most recognized and famous drag/gasser bodies of all time. The ‘41 Willys was stuck in Marty’s head and he knew some day he’d purchase one. The interesting thing was he just could not seem to find the one he was looking for. So what do you do? You find one you can purchase and get to work on it to build the look you want. Marty’s son Mike Hacker started looking for his dad’s dream. One day while scanning racingjunk.com, he located a Willys in Long Island, NY. They contacted the owner of the ‘41 Willys to let him know they were interested… but wouldn’t be able to see it until the following weekend. Wednesday, they called the owner and found out the Willys had been sold. Disappointed,...

Hot Rod Video from Idaho Give credit when it's due. I gotta say, I like taking pictures. Not just pictures of hot rods, but just about everything. And although editing takes some time, I enjoy it! For the pictures, recomposing them, making the most of the colors, zooming in or out... it's fun and the end result's rewarding. That's not true for me with video. I hate editing video! For that reason, the few I've done aren't much to look at. On the other hand, check out the handiwork from Josh Clason. Josh tells us: "I had the opportunity to cruise up to Boise, Idaho a few months ago and meet with Matt Whitlock of Wrecked Metals. We had a great time shooting this over the course of 2 days. The cars and motorcycles Matt has put his touch on have been amazing." [vimeo]http://vimeo.com/20498710[/vimeo] Josh first caught my eye when in his first trip to Bonneville, he shot this Bonneville Speed Week Video. The boy's got skills! Josh, let us know what's next! More on Josh at his home page: JoshClason.com/ Can you shoot video like...

1923 Hot Rod T At the best hot rod and custom car shows like the Grand National Roadster Show there's always car instantly identify with and of course, cars that totally miss. For example, car-covering murals of dragons done in florescent green on a black base ain't my thing. Lucky for me, it didn't take long to find my car. (Click any picture for full size) On the first day of the show, right through the side doors of the main hall where I set out for my first look at the 12 America's Most Beautiful Roadster contenders... there sat Russ Freund's "Takeout T". At first I was shocked. Is that purple? Can it be? Yes. Knowing the 12 AMBR cars are the best of the best roadsters at Grand National, I knew I'd found this year's "America's Most Bitch'n Roadster". When's the last time you heard someone say a light purple car is Bitch'n? Is there another AMBR award? No, not officially! I made it up for the sick-of-sick roadster called, "Double Trouble" back in 2009. Here's the blown, Ardun head 32 Roadster built by Hot Rod Garage....

America's Most Beautiful Roadster Winner & Contenders Is All About The Details At 2011 GNRS At big-time car shows such as the Grand National Roadster Show I sometimes feel a little "out of my league" as a beginner. Sure...there's always personal opinion when it comes to building a car of your own - and when it comes down to it that's most important. But when you step into the big league such as entering a car into the America's Most Beautiful Roadster competition at the Grand National Roadster Show - its much more than just your personal opinion thats up for being judged. Although I'm only in the beginning stages of learning about cars, I do have an eye for details. So while I can't give more then my own opinion on which of the twelve AMBR contenders was the most beautiful - I can share with you first impression details that I thought made each car special. This 1933 Ford Roadster, Nugget, is fiberglass bodied, which deducts points in my book. But that still doesn't take away from the pretty lines of a full-fendered '33. How sexy is that?!...

Feeling at Home with Custom Cars and Hot Rods at GNRS So many great classic cars appear in every hall of the annual Grand National Roadster Show - from hot rods to lowriders to custom cars, dragsters, and of course the America's Most Beautiful Roadster Contenders. But of all the halls, I have to say I feel most at home in the Suede Palace. Maybe it's because my own Studebaker hot rod would be most at home there. The Suede Palace was created for those cars that, although perhaps fabulous examples of workmanship and ingenuity, might be lacking some of the more traditional "show quality" characteristics. Such as a shiny paint job - thus the "Suede Palace." So if you missed out on the 2011 GNRS, let me take you on a little walk around my favorite building, the Suede Palace.This 1930 Ford Model A Five Window Coupe has a pretty vicious stance. Not only customs, roadsters, and rat rods claim suede. This 1940 Chevrolet Gasser Coupe of the Devil's Car Club is showing off the suede well. This 1950 Oldsmobile is still in it's original paint! It's in great condition but...

2011 Ridler Winner - It's Official Picture by: Dan Baker of Alumicraft Well if you were watching Facebook, you'da found out 30 minutes early, but the results are in and this 1956 Ford Sunliner Convertible owned by Bruce & Judy Ricks of Sapulpa, OK is the Ridler winner for 2011 from Detroit Autorama. I couldn't agree more and, in fact, I picked this car to win it on Friday night! Here's what we know about this bad Henry Ford from the Oh-kay: In the custom engine compartment, there's my favorite, the 427 SOHC. Why's it my fave? Have you ever heard one? They rev-up nearly instantly and make a sound like no other. (There's a 60's Sunliner running around Phoenix with one that I need to do a story on!) According the the build card, this is an original 427 SOC "Cammer" motor. (Thus the name, "Suncammer") Sitting on top of  a one-off, custom made, cross ram intake manifold that even has a "Ford prototype" casting number on it (super cool touch!). Feeding fuel are these rare of rare Autolite inline four barrel carbs.  Back in the 60's when...