Cruise Night: Utah Cruisin Car Show Taking the wife and kids to a local car show is one of my highlights of the summer.  We like to check out the Burger Stop Cruise In that happens the last Wednesday of each month in the summer time.  It's a small show by most standards, probably about 50-75 cars from the local area.  It's cool because its not all Mustangs and Camaros, there is a little bit of everything.  Variety is the spice of life is it not? I've seen this orange/red Model A coupe at this show before.  It also sports tons of Bonneville Salt Flats decals, so I know it gets run hard at the Flats.  Last year he came to the show with the Salt still stuck to the car. Here's the Model A coupe next to a pickup brother, both in a more traditional flavor.  Love the white walls and steelies with the white firewall.  Good lookin'! While the kids were waiting in line for some Clown-made circus balloons, I found a light blue convertible GTO looking showroom stock with some Cragars.  Dig the chrome everywhere. I...

As I mentioned in the blog about the Rocky Mountain Raceway's Midnight Drift event, I met Marco and his friend Rudy in the pits during the Midnight Drag and Drift event.   First of all, to you hot rodders out there who don't YET get drifting, let me tell you about the Nissan 240SX.  In a way, this car in Japan is similar in following and cult status as a Mustang or Camaro.  The similarities may be more than you think.  Rear wheel drive setup, Coupe body styling, small back seat, huge aftermarket support and fun to drive status.  The differences are aplenty as well though.  Mustangs get a solid rear axle and V6 and V8 engines and weigh 3200-3600lbs.  The Nissan 240SX (or 180SX or Silvia in Japan) comes with an independent rear suspension and 2.4L 4 cylinder (turbo 2.0L outside Japan) naturally aspirated truck engine in the USA and weighs about 2800lbs.  So, there's a little history on the 240 for ya.  Marco has owned his S13 (S13 is like what the Mustang guy's equivalent of SN95 or S197 chassis codes for the 1989-94 240SX, S14 for 1995-1998 and S15 for...

Check this out guys and gals.  I told you to keep an eye on Andy's Pinstriping blog didn't I?  Here's his latest work, getting ready for the Rat Fink Reunion 2010.  "As is tradition every year at the Rat Fink Reunion, The artist's give out an "Artist's Choice" award to their favorite vehicle at the show.  This years "trophy" from me is a metal panel that features my man Fink doing some ca-razy stripe and letter work...and to finish it off I also distressed the panel so it looks like it was hanging in Ed's shop in Maywood California back in the early sixties. I hope whoever receives this enjoys it as it was a labor of love to make!"  Andy   Click on the image to blow it up real big.  Looks even cooler! Rat Fink Reunion 2010, Manti, Utah June 3-5, be there or be square!  I hope to attend this year's event.  How often is there an event of this caliber in Utah right? Hechtspeed...

Japanese Legends...also known as JDM (Japanese Domestic Market) Machines, Japanese Nostalgic Cars, J Tin, you get the picture.  Domestically here in the US of A, we have classics like the 1932 Deuce Coupe, 55-57 Chevy Bel Air, 67-69 Camaro, 64 1/2-70 Mustang, etc. In Japan, the classics are cars like the Nissan Skyline, Toyota Celica, Corolla, Datsun 510 (Bluebird in Japan) and 240Z (Fairlady Z in Japan). JDMLegends is a new shop located in North Salt Lake, Utah.  They had their Grand Opening last July 2009.  So bummed I missed it.  Looked like a nice gathering of Japanese cars!  R33, R34 and R35 Skyline GT-R's in Utah at once?  Cooooool!!! JDMLegends' specialty is hunting down your dream JDM classic (25 years old or older) located in Japan, having it inspected and legally imported into the USA, where it can be delivered as is, or have the JDMLegends' special touch. The owner of JDMLegends is a Japanese car nut named Trey Cobb.  Trey started Cobb Tuning.  Initially a turbo Subaru tuning specialist, now Cobb focuses on ECU tuning for many platforms, including the new Nissan GTR. Above is the engine bay of a Toyota...

The Hill Air Force Base Museum in Ogden, Utah held a Car Show they call Wheels & Wings!  The entry fee for spectators was a money donation or canned foods for a local Charity.   I was surprised at how many people showed up.  Enjoy these photos of some of my favorite rides.  There were some great hot rods and customs.  I wish there were more warbirds and airplanes, as they make for great photo ops.  Go HERE for the full Picture Gallery.    ...

Bonneville Salt Flats Tragedy: With all the excitement about Bonneville Speed Week, before I post my first blog and pictures, I want to show my respect following the tragic death of a great family man and land speed racer, Barry Bryant. Unfortunately, I only knew of Barry Bryant of Anderson, California by his race car.  I told some friends about a sinister looking, long and bad, silver and black competition coupe that stood out as one of my favorites on the salt.  After describing the car as best I could, I learned it was the Bryant family's "Tom Thumb Special" Late in the afternoon of 8/9/2009, Barry Bryant crashed near the 5 mile marker on the long course at Bonneville traveling close to 200 mph. MyRideisMe.com would like to express our deepest sympathies to the family and friends of Barry Bryant. If you knew Barry, please leave a...

Bonneville Salt Flats - Our First Trip For over 61 years the Bonneville Salt Flats have been giving people "salt fever" during its annual Speed Week each August. This year Pikesan, Hetchspeed, and GreaseGirl met up at the flats to bring everyone at MyRideisMe.com a little taste of the salty stuff! And are you guys in for a treat!!! Not only is Speedweek home to land speed racings biggest event but its also one of the most amazing mix of cool people and cars you'll ever experience. So check back into MyRideisMe.com soon to catch a glimpse of some of the nearly 1000 pictures we took, coverage of build stories, records broken, life on the salt, and the people that make it all happen. We had the time of our lives out on the white stuff and we can't wait to share it with...

Bonneville Salt Flats: Welcome Home Bonnie! I think its only fitting that the first pic from Speedweek 2009 that we post is of our fearless leader, pikesan.  I'll let pikesan post most of the pics of his car "Bonnie" and her homecoming to the Salt Flats but, I took this cool rolling shot Saturday morning and wanted to share it with you all.  This was taken about 30 seconds after Bonnie and pikesan (suffering from a sever case of Salt Fever) made it onto the Salt for the first time.  What a cool moment! I switched to shutter priority mode on the D90 and started snapping pics while trying to drive (luckily the entry road is super wide). This shot inspires me to build my own roadster.  Well, that's it for now.  The MyRideisMe.com crew that made it out to the Salt (we missed you Swanee) for Speedweek 2009 will be sharing stories and a sizeable photo gallery.  It was also the first time pikesan, GreaseGirl and Hechtspeed met in person.  We had a great time and can't wait to share our experiences! Ok, this pic is just too good (imho)...

Bonneville Salt Flats Perfect Pusher: As part of the crew at MyRideisMe.com leaves for the Salt today and I leave tomorrow, we can almost taste it, the Salt that is.  Here's a quick picture of one of the many push vehicles you'll see at Bonneville.  But, granted, this is not your typical pusher.  Most of the time you'll see trucks and big sedans giving their racecars a push start.  This blown Caddy Coupe takes the Push Vehicle to a whole new level and is definitely showing off, and everyone loved it!  This hot rod gets its pushing duties done in style. 1 more day and a wake up until we get out on the white stuff.  Can't wait.  Did I say I was...

    The Bountiful, Utah "Coats For Kids" Car Show was just another example of small town USA and the car nuts that make up this great hobby/pastime.  Personally, I think its crucial that towns big and small keep hotrodding alive and passing the automotive genes onto the next generation by supporting and putting on car shows and cruise-ins like this one in downtown Bountiful, Utah.          Looking over these pictures again, I thought about how events like this create a sense of community and make family memories for years to come.  Nothing more american, or human, than a good car show with your friends and family.    Here are some of my favorite pictures I took while hanging with my family.  How else can you teach your kid to hang his arm out the window like a true hotrodder than by owning a '32 roadster?  How else will he know what a 4bbl carbed big block V8 sounds like unless he can stand next to it and feel the ground shake!  Shoot me an email at hechtspeed@myrideisme.com and I'll post up your "small town USA" car show pics and...

Bonneville Salt Flats: 2008's Pictures: I'm a little intimidated to tackle a story that even has the words: Salt Flats, Bonneville, and Speed Week included. The 2008 Speed Week day-trip I made last year was only my second time on the salt in Bonneville, the "Fastest Place On Earth" as the Bonneville Speed Week website declares. I wanted to share a few words and pictures from that day. I made the 1.5 hour drive out to Bonneville International Raceway with my good'ol 1959 JC Higgins rat rod cruiser pedal bike. The Bonneville salt-essentials strapped on the rear rack: bottles of water, sunflower seeds, sunblock and the old point and shoot camera. You need a bike just to get around the pit area. Why you ask? The pit area is 3 miles long and about 2 miles from the starting line!!! I spent most of my time near the starting line and in the pits soaking in sun, salt and of course the coolest "Car Show/Cruise-In" ever! OK, so there's no official car show, but that's what I call it. There are a few hundred old roadsters, coupes, muscle cars,...

Local small town car shows and cruise-ins are at the heart of the American Hot Rodding hobby. Layton, Utah is a good example. The cars at this show cover the gamut of usual suspects along with some nice surprises. This show is a monthly event during the summer months and is part of the JC Hackett's Rock-n-Roll Cruisin' Oldies car show tour in northern Utah and surrounding area.  The 2009 Calendar can be found on the site in Excel. I hope you dig these photos. Check out the gallery below. I was toting around my 3 sons (ages 6, 4 and 2), so I didn't get to stop and talk to any car owners and get more info on my favorites. Gotta pass on the hot rod blood, right!? Have you gone to a local cruise in spot or a big national hot rod event yet this year? If so and you took some pics, let us know about it. We'd like to see what the hot rodding scene is doing in your neck of the woods. [gallery =...