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...

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....

1933 Ford Street Rod Featured Ride I first shared a quick photo of Jim Baugh's light blue 1933 Ford Sedan Street Rod in the Salt Flats Speed Shop Open House story. When Jim pulled up to the shop, I immediately started taking pictures.  Let's have a closer look... First of all, this '33 was built with a mix of two styles, Street Rod and Traditional Hot Rod.  When Jim was telling all about his '33, he sounded almost disappointed that it was a Street Rod.  I think he's been bit by the Traditional hot rod style bug that is so prevalent at the Bonneville Salt Flats. The Street Rod comes from the  big 'n' little tires, a reliable 350 small block Chevy and TH350 auto trans and front disc brakes.  The Traditional Hot Rod style's evident from several features: the chopped top, fenderless hot rod rake, authentic Ed Roth laid pinstriping, heavily louvered decklid and solid front axle. So which is it? Who cares! Jim nailed the complete execution and made a long-haul driver at the same time. Jim drove his '33 from Washington state to Alabama (or was it Arkansas?) for a family...

We were sent this story and being Comet/Falcon lovers, we had to post it.  Anytime I hear or see a Mercury Comet, I smile.  My dad owned a '64 Comet Cyclone.  '61 Comets are not your typical hot rod platform, but you wouldn't know it from seeing this particular purple rod.  It was built by Full Tilt Street Rods in Grand Junction, Colorado, and they had this to say about the project on their website: "Clay and the Full Tilt Crew started with a bone-stock 1961 Comet, tore it down to the frame and installed a couple of tons of the finest street rod parts available.  The '61 features Full Tilt's complete Hub-to-Hub Mustang II IFS and Full Tilt's Parallel 4-Bar rear with ShockWaves.  Full Tilt also did the body work, applied the dive-in-deep "Full Tilt Purple" base coat/clear coat paint and fabricated the custom upholstery." Of all the views of this rod, I like this rear 3/4 shot.  The painted bumper, custom frenched tails and the big 335/35/17 meats give this ride the perfect street rod stance.  Super low and the just the right amount of rake.  Too...

YORBA LINDA, CA (April 2, 2009) --- John Force Racing, headquartered in Yorba Linda, Calif., will be expanding its tradition of giving back to the community beginning April 25th when the first of seven John Force Cruise Night Car Shows will be held. Participants and spectators at the John Force Cruise Night Car Shows are being encouraged to bring a can of food that will be donated to the Orange County Food Bank. For each can donated a raffle ticket will be distributed good for a chance to win a 52" Sanyo Flat Screen TV. If participants bring one can of food they get one ticket if they bring twenty cans of food they get twenty tickets or chances to win. The raffle will be held on Halloween at the final John Force Cruise Night Car Show of the season. "In December we have built up a tradition of giving toys to kids in need with the John Force Holiday Car Show that benefits the California Highway Patrol's "CHiP's for Kids" program. During these tough economic times we felt that we needed to do something for our community right...

Cool Hot Rods from York NSRA Car Show Hazy, Hot, and Humid was the only way to describe the weather at the 2008 NSRA Street Rod Nationals East in York, PA. What few shady spots were available were taken shortly after the gates opened to the York Expo Center and Fairgrounds. Luckily the buildings, where most of the vendors were located, were air conditioned which provided some relief. We wimped out and parked our '48 Ford rather than cruise around the fairgrounds since the only AC is provided by a cowl vent and the windows down. There seems to be quite a change going on at the NSRA shows. While there are still a large collection of high dollar builds more and more jalopies (like my car), beaters, and dare I say rat rods are showing up. I think people are getting back to just enjoying driving these old cars rather than the stress of worrying about dirt and scratches. It doesn't appear that the price of gasoline has reduced the number of people attending these large shows. Close to 4000 vehicles gathered around the fairgrounds. Dozens of vendors...

It takes a while for a cruise in to catch on, but that doesn't mean while it's growing you won't see some super nice cars. Plus, when it's new, you won't hear the old... "Hey, I'm saving that spot..." or "This is for XYZ cars only..." Whatever. So here's a few of the cars I've spotted at the Friday night cruise-in at Arizona Ave. and Ocotillo. It gets started at about 6PM or so and runs until about 9:00. I think it's sponsored by the Checker Auto nearby, so they supply a DJ and once a month there's a bouncer for the kids. I'd have a few more pics if I could ever get there earlier! Me (aka shaky) and poor lighting don't get along well at all. What I should be sharing with all these pics is who owns the cars and where there from... or something interesting like how the car is completely homebuilt with only a screwdriver and duct tape. Too bad I can't read my able assistants hand writing is so hard to readl! I hope to see you down there. Make sure when you...

For more information on the November 8th, 2008 Memories on Main Street cruise, go to the Mainstreet Garage. While most parts of the US are still half frozen, Mesa, Arizona launches the first big cruise of the year (and first minor sunburn). Brought to us as, "POP's Memories on Main Street" by the Prostate Checkup All Sports Foundation, it was a good time had by all and we had near perfect weather for it. Cruising between Country Club and Mesa drive with parking on Main Street and in the several nearby city lots, for the $5 per car donation, I think everyone had a place. I was expecting a few more cars, but there was no lack of quality. Main street was lined with lawn chaired folks cheering for the next guy to, "light'm up!" I'm pretty sure Mesa PD did just that cause most burning rubber was followed closely by howling sirens. For the most part though, I think every had a good time enjoying their cars and making new friends. I know I did. Here are a few of the cars I especially liked. Most of the...

Mess-up fuel pump, lost air bleed screw for the new carbs, broken rocker stud, up all night getting ready for the show and sore-as-hell-legs. We had a great time! Here’s my recap of the 2007 Goodguys Show in Scottsdale, AZ. That all didn’t happen to me, I did change the fuel pump on my car, but probably didn’t need to. The new pump only hit about 1.5psi to start, then up to 3, back to 1, all over the place. Finally, she settled in and makes 3 psi as I’d hoped. My friend Joe helped out by taking this photo. By the way, your battery will go dead if you leave the pump on. sigh. For the big day, Saturday, we met at 6AM at a gas station. 6 of us left together headed north on the 101. Just as we hit the freeway, I decided I’d better get gas… duh, shoulda done that before. As soon as I got back on the road, I saw my pops and his friend Larry on the side of the road. Broken rocker stud. Larry had it at the show by 11!...