Amazing Metal Flake Paint   Would you say 10 miles of masking tape??   By now, you've probably seen that the Grand National Roadster Show is one of the best. I used some pretty stupid criteria to say that: 1) Diversity of cars 2) Show at a ridiculously high caliber.   There aren't many shows with Hot Rods, the "America's Most Beautiful Roadster" contenders, then motorcyles and really, the most radically detailed and perfected rides of the event: Lowriders. Combine that fact (discuss/object if you like) with my amazement or maybe sheer disbelief in how metal flake paint like this is done and you've got some cool pics!     Taking a walk down Lifestyle Blvd (the car club that dominates GNRS lowrider hall every year) there's eye candy everywhere. The loweriders don't just wear candy-flaked-striped custom paint. That's only the start! On the highest-end lowrider, every single part of the car is customized.... either painted, chromed, etched... sometimes a combination of all. Then the interiors are perfect, the stereos rock and of course, they're laid out on hydraulics. There's not one ride half-stepping.   And my favorite of...

With all the talk going on about the AMBR winner at the Grand National Roadster Show, I wanted to take the opportunity to show you some of the other great award-winning cars on display. There must have been well over 100 awards given out during Sunday's award ceremony! This is not including awards given out  in the Suede Palace (those cars don't run in competition with the others, it's more of a  low-shine exhibit if you know what I mean.) To start with, this sweet 1952 Chevrolet Coupe won the George Barris Kustom D'Elegance Award. I dug it for it's cool green paint by Gene Winfield as well as it's cam shaft front grill. There were lots of nice wagon's at the show, as I'm partial to wagons they really drew my eye. This 1963 Falcon Squire stood out to win in it's 1955-1979 Conservative Wagon class. I'd heard about this 1932 Ford roadster, dubbed the Platinum Bomb, as it was progressing. I hoped it would take home first prize, but it only got class recognition (this is, however, the most competitive class in the entire show!) Built by...

Info about the October 2009 Cruise and the $5 Charge Carbon footprint size 12 triple E, but that was fun! For those of us living in Arizona, April's not necessarily the START of the cruising season, but it the sure is nice! After some ill timed rain canceled the cruise on April 11th, we got treated to some especially nice weather for April 18th. Wow, enough BS about the weather! So how was it? PACKED! I showed up late after a busy day of honey-do's and sports with my boys to find a packed house! At 8PM, about when I got there, some of Arizona's finest hot rods, customs and lowriders were found cruising to the delight of the packed sidewalks along Central in front of the Park Central Mall just south of Osborn. I didn't get a chance to cruise into the parking lot, but from the street it looked packed with cars and people and even the mandatory kettle corn vendor. For about 2 miles, it was a rare treat to actually enjoy "stop and go" traffic cause you were surrounded by cool cars and folks having...

My new friend Justin filled us in on a car show in Australia. Thanks Justin! I arrived at the meet up for the Australian lowrider scene which was organised by one of Australia's newest lowrider club Loyalty IV Life. The event was held at Sydney's Homebush Bay. I arrived at 10 am to find great weather and about 10 or so Cars which ended up around 30 cars by the end of the day. There was various makes and models of cars at the show from Cadillacs to Buicks to even Pontiacs and Holdens. I walked around, had a chat to few of the owners whilst walking around snapping a few images. There were various clubs represented including: LOYALTY IV LIFE, OTHERSIDE, SYDNEY STYLE, OLDSKOOLRYDZ, HEART & SOUL, ETERNAL ROLLERZ and FRESH STYLZ. They had a BBQ and a hop off at the end of the day and I was glad to have made this event which will go down in history as Australia's first lowrider event. Photos courteous of Bliss Photography & Designs [gallery =...

RIP Jae Bueno.   Visiting MyRideisMe.com you'll notice that it's pretty heavy on Hot Rods. What can I say? That's what I like most, that's what I photograph most and hot rod shows are my scene. But... MyRideisMe.com is NOT limited to any one type of car. Not at all. It's more then a URL, My Ride is Me is the theme of the site. What is it about your car that describes you? It's always something! You didn't just HAPPEN to like lifted Jeeps or 1970 Chevelles or 64 Fairlanes. There's a reason you say, "That's my ride." Case in point for this blog is Lowriders. I dig'm. Would I ever own one? Maybe not, but so what! I can still appreciate them as sweet custom cars that at times have the most intricate paint to be found on any car. Whatever your opinion is, there's no doubt that the owners of these rides love their cars and they no doubt tell you something about who's driving them.   I haven't had a chance to photograph many lowriders, so I turned to my new friend Jae for these...

While cruising Myspace looking for car and bike enthusiasts to bring to the light of MyRideisMe.com, I learned of the 16th Annual YOKOHAMA HOT ROD Custom Show 2007 that happened December 2nd in Pacifico Yokohama sponsored by Mooneyes Yokohama. I’ve got a special interest in what’s going on in Japan since I work for Nissan and I lived in Harajuku, Tokyo, Japan in 2000. When there, I’d occasionally see a car that was completely out of place: an old Chevy wagon or a vintage Mustang, but nothing like what’s at this show. To find the best pics of a Japanese show you look at Japanese websites, right? Good luck! That's where a new friend from Myspace named Jiro from Gifu, Japan (near Osaka) helped me find some of those websites, especially this one: SP@RETIME. Maki Kurata from Nagoya, Japan runs Sp@retime and it is LOADED with outstanding pictures of the bike and hot rod scene in Japan. The picture to the left was just loaded. Maki and his buddies are riding in Japan now and it is COLD there now! This gallery's called: いつものメンツで極寒ナイトクルーズ！ which loosely translates to: "The...