Hot Rod Designer Sets the Look of Dune Buggy-love!   I don't normally post cars for sale, but Jimmy's a good friend and GREAT hot rod designer. So... when he tried his hand at a dune buggy (and pretty much set off a mini-dune-buggy craze here in Phoenix) I had to see it! It was at the Goodguys show first, the "FISHBONE" featuring custom paint and trick pinstriping to match. Want to know more about what's going on in the head of hot rod designer Jimmy Smith? Take a look at these stories featuring Jimmy's Designs   Or, you can own his dune buggy! "I've always loved the whole, late 60's-early 70's California lifestyle thing. I was a child of that era, so things like skateboards, dune buggies and hot rods have been on my mind since pretty much day one! Of all the impractical types of cars out there, dune buggies rate right up there, thing is, while they may not be great for hauling groceries or going to business meetings with, what they do deliver are smiles. Climb into one, and the stupid grin starts right away....

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...

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...

Overcast skies and the threat of actually having to wear a jacket didn't deter a great crowd from downtown Chandler, Arizona on February 27, 2010. For all the pictures I took click here. I figured I'd lead with this Willys gasser. I waited for a few minutes to snap this shot with just a few legs in still walking by. It was pretty big crowd! Even stacked with great cars, I picked this one as my favorite just for it's sheer gasser badness. Those who disagree are simply wrong! While you're looking at this picture, notice the air scoops on the front of the hood. These scoops fed the cross rammed big block Chevy. Cool setup. Besides the Willys that stopped me in my tracks, I found this car. A 1954 Darrin confirmed by trusty Google! I shot one of these up at Barrett Jackson 2 years ago. A perfectly restored piece that went for big bucks and was worth it.  The sliding pocket doors on these are so different, you'll know these when you see'm. Now I've seen 2 of the 435 ever built. An unusual car, no...

When you intend to compete for America's Most Beautiful Roadster (the AMBR) at the Grand National Roadster Show, you're asking for trouble. The time, planning, design and let's face it, high octane dollars required to build an AMBR contender make it a mission for only the top shops in the country. The folks at The Hot Rod Garage asked for "Double Trouble" and that's what they got by ignoring the lessons learned by recent AMBR winners. Past winners were modern-style show cars with custom milled billet goodies, one-off hand made body panels and alligator skinned interiors. Not for the guys at Hot Rod Garage, for them, it wasn't enough to make a show car, it had to have "Show & Go!" The trouble first started when Steve Kormondy had a Brookville roadster body and an all aluminum, brand spanking new Ardun derived flathead sitting, waiting for the right project. Deuce roadster body, Ardun flathed... yea, that's trouble! Not long after, Steve and the rest of the gang at The Hot Rod Garage out of Sand Springs, Oklahoma decided to pull in hot rod designer and illustrator, Jimmy Smith to...

Following up on Dwayne Vance's new book called: The Hot Rod Art book: Masters of Chicken Scratch, I caught up with Dwayne at the Grand National Roadster Show in Pomona (damn that was a good time!) The book will be officially released on February 10, 2009 and judging from the buzz at GNRS, the books already of to a great star! There were about 100 advanced copies available at the Grand National Roadster Show, but they sold out! It's no wonder when 8 of the 13 artists featured in the book were at the show and ready to sign their pages of your brand new book. Several artists stopped by and checked out my book at the show including: Chip Foose, Steve Strope, Carter Hickman, Eric Black, Larry Wood, and many others to check out the book. The book's also going to be featured in Rod and Custom magazine as well as Hemmings Auto news. For those of you that have not yet heard of this "Hot Rod Art Book", it is a unique book of over 100 pages of beautiful hot rod art from thirteen very talented artists...

It's about time I update everyone on the interior upholster on my 27 Ford Roadster. Now that the interior is done, is it a rat rod? I didn't really think it was before, but who really cares. Now it's got car carpet, a full seat and even sound insulation! The interior was done by Todd over at "The interior Shop" in Phoenix. Todd was challenged by the inside of the modified roadster because there isn't really much to secure the interior to and there's also some funny compound curves. In the end, I think it came out great! It looks like leather, but it's not. It's a distressed looking vinyl that's perfect. When I put paint on, it's gonna be cool and not your every day blood red. Below are the rest of the shots. Thanks to everyone that voted for "option B" as drawn by Jimmy Smith from Jimmyshotroddesign.com. Here's the link to that story if you missed it: 27 Roadster Interior you chose...

The Hot Rod Art book: Masters of chicken scratch is a book of 13 highly respected and talented artists from the industry. While I am fairly new to the art and design scene in the Hot Rod world, I know many people in the industry from my years working as a designer for Hot Wheels. (Dwayne designed one of my favorite hot wheels) I now have my own design company and still do design work for Hot Wheels as well as several other companies. I design things from snowmobiles to concepts for video games. I started doing Hot Rod art about a year and a half ago and it only fueled my passion for the automobile. My fascination with cars began at a very early age. I grew up around cars and rebuilt my first muscle car at the age of 16 with my dad. I attended the Art Center College of design and received my degree in transportation design. My professional design career started with Troy Lee Designs in Corona, California, as a designer of high-end motocross protective gear. I then became a senior designer for Mattel, Hot...

I've written before that the new friends I've made after starting MyRideisMe.com are so much better then the friends I used to have. Wait, no... I mean... I've met some great people.   One of those outstanding new friends is Jimmy Smith from Jimmy's Hot Rod Design. I called Jimmy to see if he could give some advice for the interior of my 1927 Ford Modified, "Bonnie". I've owned the car for (god has it been that long?!) over 7 years and I've never put an interior in. I've got buy with a foam pad and recently a crappy seat I made myself. I've also had to put up with the, "You gonna put an interior in that thing?" questions. Well yea, finally I am. That's where you come in.   When I asked Jimmy for advice, I was hoping for reference pics or maybe some color ideas or even a magazine or two to check out. Jimmy's another guy who routinely flushes more hot rod history and knowledge then most folks, probably including me. That's why he does work for several well known hot rod shops like Squeeg's...