Custom Cars with Custom Paint - Favorite Flake Roof Photography (Click on any photo to see it full size) I've been meaning to write a post on custom paint and especially the amazing custom paint you'll find on lowriders and customs, especially in NorCal. With the great customs piling in at the NorCal Knockout, I finally got the shots I wanted. Lend a hand! If you know these cars, and more importantly, who the painter is... please leave a comment (you don't have to register or anything) and I'll add the info to this story. There's nothing I'd like to do more than give credit to these painters. Fantastic work! This is the roof of the 1959 Lincoln (pretty sure on the year) shown above. Rainbow flake with lace and darker flake fade. This car was a show stopper and won best of show. I know this was the roof of a 62 or so Ford Thunderbird. You've got it all here! Lace, multi colors of metal flake including rainbow flake and silver metal flake. There's even some flames... I'm running out of ways to say, Unbelievably cool. You'd...

Northern California Car Show - Hot Rods and Custom Cars Story Contributed by MyRideisMe.com member: Nick Koljian "Hellcity316" It's that time of the year again and like a little kid on Christmas eve I'm all giddy with hot rod excitement. The night of July 6th I was very restless. Shuffling around all my camera gear, making sure all my batteries where good and charged and cleaning my lenses... I put a little stack of necessities right by the front door for the morning so I would not forget them. Phone, media pass, gum, MyRideisMe.com stickers and other little survival tidbits that I might need for the next day festivities. You know when you get that feeling that you are forgetting something and you can't put your finger on it? Well, that was the feeling I was having. I looked around at everything and went through my list 4 times over. I made all my calls, got all my gear, the ride is fueled up, went to the bank for some juice. What am I forgetting? Then it dawned on me. I took a look at the clock in my...

Northern California Car Show - Hot Rods and Customs in Vallejo Story Contributed by MyRideisMe.com member: Nick Koljian "Hellcity316" Round 2 was a TKO 2012 NorCal Knockout Coverage Here Just 365 days after the 1st ever Nor Cal Knockout, Korena and Hollywood Hank were at it again with the 2011 Nor Cal Knockout. Simply put it's Nor Cal Knockout Round 2. I will tell you this: Round 2 was just that with local heavy hitters the Swanx CC stepping in to lend a well needed hand to the founders of this amazing show. The morning of the show while sipping on a cup of joe in my front yard waiting on my ride I thought to myself, "It's going to be tough to top last years phenomenal showing." As Scotty of the Villianz CC pulled up in his 51' flamed Chevy (shown above with knockout Sarah Neary) I hopped in and we were off to Vallejo to meet up with the rest of the club. Once everyone was in-check and the coolers where filled with ice, grub and of course bevmo's... We set off to the Solano County Fairgrounds....

Hot Rods and Custom Car Show Pictures Story Contributed by MyRideisMe.com member: Nick Koljian "Hellcity316" More pictures from the NorCal Knockout Car Show I can't let my friend Nick K have all the fun taking pictures and enjoying the 2010 NorCal Knockout. We finally got to meet and I snapped a few pictures myself. I'm aspiring to take pictures as well as Nick and Swanee, so I keep practicing. Sometimes the light and shadows (and stars) align to get something decent. If I grabbed a pic of your car, please let me know, I'll email it to you. Some folks made it easy with show cards. One of those is this 1963 Galaxie race car called the "Moonshine Hauler". Currently owned by Mark Brothers out of Saratoga Springs, UT, the 1964 NHRA record holder now sports a "worked" center oiler 427 with twin 700 Holly carbs, a T-10 4 speed and a 4.11 locker. What else would it have?! The lettering on this car screamed 60's racer. There's another picture in the gallery below. Thanks to another show card from owner Goran Lassell out of Sacramento, CA. From the...

Words and Pictures by Nick K Welcome to the 2010 NorCal Knockout Korena Goldstien and Henrik Forss aka "Hollywood Hank" are no new comers to the hot and custom car scene by any stretch of the imagination. Henrik grew up in Sweden and moved to the US some 10 years ago. Since the early 90's Hank's promoted both music and car events in Sweden as well as here in the US. Hank also contributes at Gasoline Magazine out of Sweden. Here's the link (good luck reading it!) http://www.gasolinemagazine.se/ (looks very well done though, excellent photography!) Hank does a little of everything... here's Hank's Homepage Korena, a local Vallejoan is the founder of MissyLu handbags and accessories and has promoted music events and clubs around the Bay Area in the past. But with that said, Nor Cal Knock Out is Hollywoods & Korena's 1st major Northern California show. The title Nor Cal Knock Out could not have been any more fitting. The show was at the Solano County Fairgrounds. I know, I know, when you hear "fairgrounds" you think the smell of livestock lingering in a dust bowl. This was...

If you've read MyRideisMe.com long, you know we don't do many stockers, but the unrestored and original 1960 Starliner from part 1 was special. Contrast that with the billet-wheeled'n candy painted sweetheart you see here. Or is it? I met Mel and Lynda Swafford at the NorCal Knockout in Vallejo, CA. From the pics you can see it was a cool show nestled in the trees of the Solano County Fairgrounds. As the first annual, it wasn't that big, but everyone who showed enjoyed a perfect California July day. (Look for Nick K and my pics soon...) Back to this "sweetheart" known to the Swafford's and their friends as, "Christine". Oh you remember! Stephen King's 1958 Plymouth Fury that didn't mind running folks off the road... It's not a nickname you give to a car that's been nice during a rebuild. (Are they ever nice?) It all started well. Mel's dad owned a white 1960 Starliner way-back-when and Mel, "Always loved it." It's often a special memory a car brings back that make it, "My Ride is Me." To get started, in about 2006, Mel traveled to Denver to...