The Suede Palace, for sure!   Take an Iowa "kid", ship him to hot rod mecca (in this case, the 2014 Grand National Roadster Show) and then ask him..."Well? Whadja like the best?" Aside from the pure California vibrations that set in just after stepping off the plane from the frigid Midwest, this hot rodder had a hard time sitting still over a two-day jaunt at the Pomona Fairplex where not only could your hot rod addiction be satiated, but you could easily overdose...all with a great big smile on your face.   The historic GNRS, celebrating 65 continuous years of car mania events, is everything and more, if you've heard any tales of what this show is all about. Let's see, the main building has all the potentials vying for 2014 America's Most Beautiful Roadster and they are surrounded by some of the finest custom and hot rod iron this car nut could ever imagine. Then there's oh, yes, five  more buildings filled full of chrome, speed and attitude only a fanatic could truly appreciate.     The Pomona complex is huge and the main building consumes hours...

2014 Grand National Roadster Show - Suede Palace Custom   The Grand National Roadster Show, now in its 65th year, has a different meaning to different people.   You've got the America's Most Beautiful Roadster fans who can't wait to see what the biggest imaginations, and yes, the biggest pocketbooks can build... but there are some who care more about YOU, the builder, what you and your pals have done to your own car , and when they'll see you burning up the streets with it! That's the key to success in the Suede Palace.   Fresno's Robert Collins is no stranger to building street worthy art. That's really the best description for the steeds he has put on the road in his lifetime including this ultra gorgeous '35 Dodge DU Coupe which languished in the back of the former owner's shop until Robert showed one day and took pity on the massive metal.     "I'd been watching for a real tail-dragger," he explained, "and this one fit the bill perfectly. I just loved the lines and decided this was going to be just what I needed." Robert...

There's an Upstairs? Basement at the 2013 Detroit Autorama See all the pictures from the Basement - Hot Rods and Custom Cars For years now Autorama has been separated into two levels - the main floor and the basement. The main floor is the area that most people used to think of when thinking of the Detroit Autorama. The basement is where the ‘other’ cars go... In the past this ranged from tuners to rat rods. I used to hate going into the basement, and getting past the thumping bass and laser lights of the tuner crowd just to see a couple of cool lead sleds. For the last four years or so, the ‘rat rod’ movement in the Detroit area has grown substantially, and with the embracing arms of show organizers (Rudi and Dennis), the basement has turned into a main event. Photo courtesy of J. V. Drenzek & Associates The high gloss facade, high buck cars with their mirrored displays and bright lights upstairs becomes a distant memory as you ride the escalator down. Greeting you at the bottom is neon lights, pinup girls and rockabilly music...

2012 Detroit Autorama - Basement's Best Hot Rods Bottom floor, everyone out! In the far corners of the grand Cobo Center convention hall, escalators carried you down... Down to an area where mortgage size dollars were spent on... mortgages! It's a place where hot rodders and their buddy who could weld hooked up with a dude from work who knew a painter then banded together to make a custom car they could all be proud of. Then Friday night, or Tuesday or whenever they'd terrorize the streets and strips. They're loud, rough and built with the true spirit of, "My Ride is Me". Down the escalator, a birdseye view of the basement turned into a closeup of the "Voodoo Hellion" and the Voodoo Kings car club. In the trophy area, I saw a, "Best Car Club" trophy, so the area clubs bring out their best and put in the extra effort on the setup too... I got tired of seeing thin white rope-like barriers. Dig the custom machined pieces here. Next door was the Brothers Custom display. Why this nasty black coupe (shiny paint and all) with a supremely...

Feeling at Home with Custom Cars and Hot Rods at GNRS So many great classic cars appear in every hall of the annual Grand National Roadster Show - from hot rods to lowriders to custom cars, dragsters, and of course the America's Most Beautiful Roadster Contenders. But of all the halls, I have to say I feel most at home in the Suede Palace. Maybe it's because my own Studebaker hot rod would be most at home there. The Suede Palace was created for those cars that, although perhaps fabulous examples of workmanship and ingenuity, might be lacking some of the more traditional "show quality" characteristics. Such as a shiny paint job - thus the "Suede Palace." So if you missed out on the 2011 GNRS, let me take you on a little walk around my favorite building, the Suede Palace.This 1930 Ford Model A Five Window Coupe has a pretty vicious stance. Not only customs, roadsters, and rat rods claim suede. This 1940 Chevrolet Gasser Coupe of the Devil's Car Club is showing off the suede well. This 1950 Oldsmobile is still in it's original paint! It's in great condition but...

2008 Grand National Roadster Show Winner It's official, at least it was at about 7:30 Pacific Coast time, 1/25/2009. The "Hot Rod Special" built by Willet Specials in Chicago is the winner of the 2009 America's Most Beautiful Roadster title. Except for being able to roll forwards and back under their own power, the judging for the AMBR title is like "Riding a unicycle on wallpaper". (I don't know what that means either.) Let's hope the judges do cause they're looking for "excellence". That part couldn't be a simpler task, really, given that the level of competition for the AMBR is ridiculous. Pretty much every car in the main hall (not just the AMBR contenders) is a "Best of Show" winner at a regular show, but this is the "Granddaddy of them all" the Grand National Roadster show. When excellence abounds, the judges are forced to find something, "wrong" with the cars. Now there's a task! Every year, however, a winner is chosen and regardless of any complaining, "AMBR winner" is something that can never be taken away. (even if the car later appears topless in Playboy... in fact,...

Written by: Erock805 (Erick's Garage) -Primer National Show Pictures also by Erock Not sure if there’s a better way of spending a Labor Day weekend then in Ventura, California at the Primer Nationals. Why is that you say? Well first of all, Ventura breathes blue collar. Nestled between the grime, glitz and plastic of LA and the pure money and luxury of the uber-rich Santa Barbara lies a little beach town ripe with local color. Ventura has resisted the flow of dough from its northern and southern brethren. Urban sprawl has yet to conquer its pockets of agriculture, manufacturing, and overall laid back attitude. It remains the sleepy beach town, where both free time and surfing are worked into one’s daily schedule. Sure you can find a restrauntuer who supplies the finest wine and a $30 dollar steak or fufu lorange, but I will stick to a great burger, an amazing shake and unrefurbished bowling alley. Old Town Ventura is still a real old down town that has yet to be bombarded with food and clothing chains. Stroll around to a few of the antique shops and you will...

Damn slacker! Oh well, better late then never. I did take quite a few shots at in the Suede Palace at the 2008 Grand National Roadster Show in Pomona, CA. For those of you who missed it, the Suede Palace is a show within a show featuring vintage hot rods and customs that pushes back against the modern looking 20+ inch-wheeled billet monsters of the main hall. Some might say that's where all the "rat" rods are, but look closely, there's more to the Suede Palace than just flat paint. With help from his wife Celeste, Axle from the Shifters Car club puts the best of live music and vintage hot rod movies together with DJ's playing doo-wop, rockabilly, rhythm and blues and surf. The vendors inside sell the unique items Suede-folk are looking for. Also, 2008 marked the first year that Bombshell-n-Ink will host a vintage style pin-up contest sponsored by PinUpGirlClothing.com. Somehow I missed the pinup contest... don't miss Pinupgirlclothing.com... it might be better than the Victoria Secrets catalog! So here are a few of the shots I like... the rest are over in the events picture...

If you've never had the chance to visit a premier classic/hot rod show, then you might be wondering, what's it take to hit that level? It's trivial to say, "You need alot of money." While that's true, it's like they say, "Money can't buy love" and you can see and feel the sometimes years of effort it takes to put a top quality car together. A new friend from over at icwires.com would also like everyone to know that alot of the big builders farm out work too. Not everyone's an expert at everything! From the concept illustrations to the wiring to the paint and body, these cars must be done right. Alot of times, they define right and set the trends for the next super show cars. So take a look at the ultimate Under-over. These pics show the detail you could put into your rod or muscle car if you wanted to. Before the "You gotta drive it" crew chimes in, I agree. But if these cars sit on blinged-out rotating displays with their rotors chromed and headers polished and nary the tiniest oil stain on their...

Grand National Roadster Show Pictures So I'm hanging with my new buddy Brian from Problem Child Kustoms and we run into Chip (the louver guy) and his friend Craig in the Suede Palace of the Grand National Roadster Show. We'd all been taking in the cool as hell customs and old school hot rods. I heard Craig say, "This one was my favorite until we saw that modified. You've got that black modified, right?" He was talking about this bitch'n 31 Ford Coupe with Caddy power and my 27 Roadster back in AZ. (click to make it bigger) I hadn't seen the trick pearl, metallic white with purple panels modified yet. Where's that?! So I rushed over to the building right next door, the only building I hadn't seen yet. Amidst the nostalgia dragsters and some of the coolest rides I hadn't photographed yet was this killer little roadster. I was stunned. The detail and finish on this car rivaled anything in the America's Most Beautiful Roadster hall, plus it screamed old school hot rod and custom show car from the way back machine! Channeled, paneled and white-walled, this...