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...

1928 Model A Hotrod from Texas The Suede Palace at the 2013 Grand National Roadster Show had a couple of crusty, like-a-barn-find hot rods to enjoy. This one's from Texas and is called, "The Waco Kid". The story I'll tell here is quoted from the show card. Thanks to Tom Orren, the original owner, for preserving this hot rod! (Click any picture for full size) 1928 Model A Hot Rod - Ford Roadster The Waco Kid "At the end of World War II, a young soldier named Tom Orren was discharged from the military in San Diego, California anxious to return home to Waco, Texas. He bought a stock 1929 Ford Model A for $75. A week after getting it on the road, he arrived home in Waco. While serving in the military his mechanical skills were honed, like many young soldiers, and he began modifying the stock Model A. He bought a used donor car - a 1939 or 1940 Ford - and built what you see here: A very early version of a chopped, channeled, and flathead V8 powered hot rod. With all his modifications and added power, by the late 1940s...

1933 Hot Rod - Like it Rolled out of the 50s At the 2013 Grand National Roadster Show in the Suede Palace, I found this vintage hot rod 1933 Ford Roadster. I spent the next 20 minutes trying to get a picture that showed it's true nastiness. It's almost like a barn find rolled into the show and took center stage... (Click any picture for full size) 1933 Ford Roadster owned by Marlon Bledsoe of Pasadena, CA The Suede Palace has a mix of shiny, flat and "other" paint jobs. What's left of the paint on Marlon's hot rod looks perfect to me. I wouldn't change it and I doubt he plans to. The uneducated might call this a "Rat Rod". Kindly, it is not. It's as far from a rat rod as it could be. This is a vintage hot rod and to avoid yourself some embarrassment, don't call it a rat. Front and Center at the 2013 GNRS It's hard to shoot any really good shots inside the palace... light's tough, tons of people and on top of it all, it was overcast and rainy. Here's a little darker look......

Grand National Roadster Show - 2013 AMBR Winner Results are in! More info to follow as I track down owner John Mumford and the team of builders at Roy Brizio Street Rods. For now, please enjoy these pictures! As always, for any picture, click to see the full-size image. 2013 America's Most Beautiful Roadster The Kelly Brown Track 'T' 1927 Ford Roadster According to the show card: Kelly Brown "1978 NHRA Top Fuel World Champion" - For his determination and vision. Special Thanks to: Steve Davis Team Brizio Pete Chapouris Pete Eastwood Kent Fuller Also from the show card: Special Features: V8-60 Ardun Heads Halibrand Culver City Quickchange rearend 4 wheel kinmont disc brakes 1937 Ford tube axle Schroeder Steering I showed you the story: 7 of the best Roadsters contending for 2013 AMBR Award then, here's the rest of the contenders: 5 other roadster trying to win Did the judges pick the right one? Your comments are welcome. Download a long group of photos of this...

Hot Rods and Custom Cars at 2013 GNRS in Pomona, CA If you're looking for the "America's Most Beautiful Roadster" Pictures Click here. Welcome to 2013! If you're reading this before January 28th, 2013, you still have time to make the show! The Grand National Roadster show is worth seeing every year, but certainly at least once!! Just in case, MyRideisMe.com has you covered with pictures of every great car. (Almost... ok, not even close, but we try) With the Pomona Fairplex convention halls packed with hot rods, custom cars, lowriders, muscle cars, and look below... lots of surprises... it's no wonder we don't shoot everything. Leave us a comment for what you like so we'll know what to shoot more of next time. And don't forget to click any picture to see it full size on your screen. D'Agostino's "Sophie 1940 Cadillac Custom It's so good you need another look! George Poteet's Rad Rides Built Talladega Chyrsler 300 Custom Rock and Roll Hot Rod 1932 Hot Rod 3 Window Coupe 2.3L Pinto Powered 1929 Ford Roadster Pickup Just NASTY Blown 1933 Ford Coupe The Throttle Kings Representing in...

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...

The Air up there: 2013 America's Most Beautiful Roadsters   Vote for your favorite below by leaving a comment...   There are a few advantages to being tall. If you can put up with bumping your head hard enough to see stars once in a while, you get shots like these without carrying a step ladder. So... even though I shared the Best 7 AMBR Contenders already, here's another look from up high.   For all pictures, click to see the full-size image. Can't wait?  Click here to see pictures of 2013 AMBR winning roadster America's Most Beautiful Roadster Contender - Bad in Black 1932 Hot Rod! America's Most Beautiful Roadster Contender - 200+ MPH Bad & Beautiful America's Most Beautiful Roadster Contender - Australian Hot Rod America's Most Beautiful Roadster Contender - The Kid's Cruiser America's Most Beautiful Roadster Contender - Indy Racer's Dream 1932 Hot Rod America's Most Beautiful Roadster Contender - Cooper Elegance America's Most Beautiful Roadster Contender - Track Nose Champion America's Most Beautiful Roadster Contender - Possessed Pickup Which one's most beautiful and which is your favorite? Are you answers different? Feel free to vote for...

America's Most Beautiful Roadster Contenders for 2013 Vote for your favorite below... The Grand National Roadster Show is the best west coast hot rod and custom car show. Anyone want to argue that? I showed you the 7 Roadsters that could win the 2013 AMBR Award but there are 5 other roadster in the show... they're all shown here. I'm not saying these hot rod roadsters aren't all amazing, I'm only saying, they're not likely to win based on my experience and the way I understand the rules. (I don't think the owners would argue... Am I wrong?) Enjoy the pictures and for any picture, click on it to see the full-size image. America's Most Beautiful Roadster Contender #8 This is a RACE CAR! The Bonneville Salt Flats have never looked so good than when this 200+ mph beauty rockets down the road! Make no mistake, this roadster is beautiful! Built by the true craftsmen at Rad Rides by Troy, you won't find a nicer race car anywhere (OK, except maybe for Blowfish) but still, this isn't enough to win the AMBR Award. Owned by Mark and Dennis Mariani...

Winning "America's Most Beautiful Roadster" for 2013 Vote for your favorite below... So much has been said here at MyRideisMe.com about the Grand National Roadster Show. In the fewest words, it's the best of the west kicking off 2013. As we've said before... (and I haven't heard any arguments.) This year's America's Most Beautiful Roadster contenders, "AMBR Cars" (pronounced like "amber") total 12 in all. I've got shots of all 12, but without throwing stones and certainly without criticizing, let's be honest: Five of the contenders can't win. If you've been to GNRS before and seen what wins... you can narrow it to 7 and really, I think there's only 4. (We couldn't be happier they changed the AMBR judging rules 2 years ago) So let's get started! Here's the four-with-a-chance plus the three long shots for America's Most Beautiful Roadster: For all pictures, click to see the full-size image. America's Most Beautiful Roadster Contender #1 This was the winner! Click here to open additional pictures. Out of the shoot, here's the 1927 Ford Roadster owned by John Mumford of Woodside, CA. Roy Brizio Street Rods is listed as putting...

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...