2011 Billetproof Car Show – Suede Finishing Touch

NorCal Hot Rods and Custom Car Show Pictures- N/K

The sun was far from coming up when I was standing on the corner of 10th St in Antioch waiting on Villainz car club member Scott Coppack to pick me up. The night before I told Scott I would love to help the guys set up around the House of Style booth which feature phenom pinstripers-slash-painters Kyle Martin and John Christensen. Come to find out Scott had already pulled in to the show and was setting up. If it wasn’t for Villainz John Lemoine with his sweet burnt orange 49 and his keen eye for black sticker-mobbed camera cases I probably would have been out in front till they let the public in. Well… probably not, but you get the picture.

(All of Nick’s pictures from Billetproof here in the MyRideisMe.com Hot Rods and Customs gallery)

Upon entering the show, we grab our swag bag, pay the reggie fee and head to our designated area, which I might say was quite perfect! Under shade trees, right across from pinstriping mad men Rich Luna and Mr.Wims booth and their neighbors custom cycle fabricating kingpins: Behind Bars Inc. Looking to your left and you have the Road Lords charity pin-up dunk tank, which I might add was a huge hit! With all the proceeds going to the Scarlet Fever Fund and your shot at dunking a trash talking pin-up, come on!. When there’s a charity involved, you will usually hear the Road Lords name in the same sentence.

As we razz Scott about this morning, we helped get all the outstanding pinstriped and flaked art pieces from the trunks of Kyle and John ride. Safeway bear claws and the scent of Starbucks filled the morning air as the sun started to peak over the hills of Antioch. The rest of the guys pulled the coolers filled with margs, pop ,chicken, tri-tip out of the rest of the trunks for the BBQ later. Around 7:30 AM, I broke away from the pack to scam out how the this years show was going to shape up. By 8:00am it was already looking jam packed and the gates didn’t open to the public till 10:00am. You could just feel it in the air that today was going to be special.

I returned to where I had my photo equipment and started to get ready for the shooting frenzy. I figured that I could get a jump on things and grab my first pin-up shoot with the lovely Olivia Freda before they started letting the crowd of custom rod spectators in. As I roamed the back of the fairgrounds snapping up some shots of the custom collective, I grabbed Olivia and headed back where the Persueders car club was set up. We proceeded to shoot with Persueders CC, Danny Dornan’s super bad green 61′ Chrysler Newport and Ki Hansens burnt orange 56 Merc.

After the very cool photo shoot I rolled around snapping more pics of the show. While making my way back up to the front of the fairgrounds I turned around to rap with some of the hosting car cult of Billetproof, the Dragoons, and I noticed in the span of two hours all the rides I shot doubled in size. I still had the whole front of the fair to shoot. This was going to be big. When I pulled up to my rest spot, aka John and Kyles House of Style paint & pinstriping booth, I looked around and noticed that the public was being let into the show. “Holy smokes, it’s 10;00!” I really had to pick up the pace before I had no room shoot.

I put back the last of my Starbucks and got on it. The Road Lords pin-up dunk tank was starting to fill up with eager spectators and pin-ups waiting to cool off from the soon to be scorching day at the show as I passed by. Oh yeah, you know I was going to stop back by for a few throws for the Scarlet Fever Fund. I made my way to the front of the fair and started to work my way back. Passing the stage where the bands and pin-up contest will be held and a more vendors than you can shake a stick at I noticed that Millers Chop Shop made it up from Reno, NV, so you know it was a must to snap a few off of their custom creations. (Click on any picture to see it full size)

I decided to head towards the inside vending area to catch some cooling off cause the Antioch heat was starting come on strong and I promised my oldest that I would get her a show shirt. I stepped inside and swooped up a couple of stickers, Billet 2011 patch and a show shirt for Mia. I noticed that they had the DVD’s this year again and I figured what a great photo op if I slapped down a MyRideisMe sticker right in the middle of all the Billet-propaganda. Billetproof had two indoor area’s with a ton of cool vendors. Not only where they indoors but outdoors as well. I would say 50+ vendors spread through out the show. Vendor wise, Billet hit on every gamut of the custom culture scene ranging from hand built mini rat rod cars and old school flaked cycle helmets to vintage clothing and accessories to hair styling for the gals and hair cuts for the guys.

If you where hungry or wanted to quench your thirst there was fare everywhere! From the BBQs of the many car clubs in attendance to totally cool carney food. I decided to head back over to where the Villainz car club was set up right in front of The House of Style. I parked it for a minute, cracked open a well needed ice cold marg and chopped it up with the gang for a bit. Every time I turned around, I saw more rides, more clubs and more spectators. The crowd grew every minute! Throughout the day I must have made several trips around the fairgrounds and I still don’t think I got every thing Billetproof had to offer.

By 1:00 PM the show was going at full bore. The dunk tank was packed to the gills, the pin-up contest was firing on all cylinders, the music was grooving and crowd started to look like a hot rod red carpet of who’s who in the bay area rod scene. That was probably why I ran into some of the A list photogs that the left coast had to offer. The likes of Mitzi and Co, Marilee Caruso, Chris Gomez, Lilly Fuentes just to name a few.

Of course with names like that behind the lens you knew the cast of characters the show brought in was going to be big time. Big time it was! You had just about every car club in a 300 mile radius of Antioch. Clubs like the Style Kings, Beatniks, Swanx, Road Zombies, Dragoons, Road Lords, Villainz, Persueders, Road Knights, Alley Cats, Relentless, Jalopies and Satans Chauffeurs where just some of the names. Along with the clubs brought the mad fabricators like Skoty Chops, Alex Gambino and the gang from Millers Chop Shop. Not to mention a Papa Het sighting as well. For those of you that don’t know who Papa Het is, he also goes by James Hetfield. Yeah, the James Hetfield.

After the Pin-Up contest, I roamed the show for some more shots and I noticed founders of NorCal Knockout Korena Goldstien and Hollywood Hank talking shop with long time Swanx guru Gunar Hansken. I had to step over and say what’s up, plus I had to ask Gunar a few things about the upcoming Fall Fiasco on Oct 8th. You know MyRideisMe will be all over the all you can eat taco bar that day! After a brief visit (sorry guys, I wish I had more time) I was off to continue my scheduled shoots. Pin-up/pin-striper Trisha Turner was next. Trisha is always a blast to shoot with. Not to take anything away from my other shoots w/ Kara Jeppeson, Brittany “Dixie” Cervantes and a mini shoot with Ms.Megan Taylor. What a day today was!

Going on my 11th hour at Billetproof 2011, the rides began to pull out of the fairgrounds. The spectators that where not staying for the after party where heading to the parking lots. The vendors had already started breaking down their booths, the bbq’s where being packed up and good-bye’s where being handed out. Speaking for myself I think this show was a great success. There wasn’t one bad vibe all day. Yeah it was a scorcher, but the feeling through out the whole car show over came the weather.

When I arrived at 6:00 am I felt that today’s show was going to be special and I was right. It was 5:30pm west coast time and Billetproof 2011 was coming to a end. In a way it was kinda sad because here in Northern California, Billetproof is the last big show of the car show season. Billetproof just proved again how big the Northern California hot rod scene has become over the years. After all the great shows of 2011 like NCKO,The Road Zombies BBQ, Kings by the Bay, The Gambino Sit Down, Skoty Chops Shootout, The Strangers show, Midnight Mass, Nite of the Hot Rods and the show that signifies (IMO) the end of the car show season Fall Fiasco, to see all those clubs and rod enthusiasts from all those shows gather for one last big bash is amazing to me.

This was my fourth trip to Billetproof and this was the biggest turnout I’ve experienced. I have to say the host club Dragoons car cult did a spectacular job on everything. This was the kind of show everyone will be talking about for a long time. Just a couple days after the show I shot a text over to Dragoons cult leader Max “Stashman” Ballesteros and asked him what kind of numbers Billet closed with. His reply was, ” 1000 plus cars. We got rid of all the registrations cards after that, it was a record breaking attendance for both cars and spectators, I can tell you that!” Not surprising. Hell of a way to celebrate your 15th anniversary!

In closing, I would like to say, with all the history surrounding this show that once pulled in a mere 26 cars and about 100 friends at a small bowling alley in Albany, CA… growing to what it has become today, lets just say Kirk and Jay would be proud. For more info on Billetproof you can go to Billetproof Homepage or go to the Dragoons CC Facebook Page. We’ll see you at Fall Fiasco and stay cool! – N/K

2011 Billetproof Car Show – First 7 Years

History of Billetproof – The Original

Fifteen years ago Kirk Jones and Jay Ward had a idea. The idea was to create a car show with unique, hand-crafted trophies and to express the growing old school hot rod movement. They held their first new car show at the Albany Bowl in Albany, CA. In attendance was 26 traditional cars and about 100 friends. The music was provided by The Stillman in the bowling alley’s tiny, packed lounge. The year was 1997 and the show was simply named Billetproof.

In 1998 on a rainy day at the Albany Bowl attendance jumped to 63 rods and the venue was busting at the seams. Billetproof was ready for a bigger venue. The next year in 1999 Billetproof thought they had found a new and bigger home. The MLK Jr. Waterfront Park in Oakland, CA. Right on the water, with grassy areas to relax in and fully equipped with built in BBQ’s to cook on, the park seemed twice as big as they needed… Wrong! On this beautiful sunny day in Oakland, 129 choice hot rods and customs filled the parking lots to the brim and with twice the amount of participants, Billetproof was on the hunt again for a larger venue.

Going back to their roots in 2000, Billetproof choose the Holiday Bowl in Hayward, CA. Surely with parking for 300 cars Billet found it’s new home. When a surprising 225 hot rods and customs showed up and the show was pleasantly full and you could still breathe. Billet thought this would be as big as the show would ever get. Little did they know, on Sept 29th, 2001 at the same Holiday Bowl with 300 car capacity, the parking area squeezed in 320 cars and had to turn some 40 rods away.

The 2001 Billetproof was sold out weeks ahead of time to hear bands like the Dynatones and the Sore Thumbs and to witness The Retarded Sparks Car Club chopping a Model A Tudor Sedan right in the middle of the show. For the forth time Billetproof had to pack up and search for a bigger venue.

In 2002 Billet found themselves in Livermore, CA at the Livermore Rodeo grounds. Granted the place was huge and a killer grandstand to see all the action. You would think, home, finally,home… but there was one thing that stood in the way of home. Dust and lots of it. That year not even two solid days of watering trucks could keep the dust off of 468 hot rods and nearly 3000 spectators. The biggest turn out in Billetproof 6 year history.

Speaking of history, in 2003 Billetproof landed in the Antioch Fairgrounds where it still stands today. On Sept 20th, 2003 on a typical scorching Antioch day, the Fair was bursting at the seams. 638 rods, customs, bombs and trucks were viewed by more than 3000 spectators! The addition of the Kustomizing Kompetition where two teams cut, welded and hammered out two Rancheros into there new shape with “WierdOh’s” winning. Since 2003 Billetproof has been blowing up the Antioch Fair grounds around the last week of September for the past 8 years and 15 years altogether. With past host clubs like the Poor Boys and the Swanx handing the torch Antioch-grown club, the Dragoons, this 15th year anniversary Billetproof pulls out all the the stops.

So if you are ready to roll into the show and enjoy the day, jump in, we are heading up to the gates of the Antioch Fair grounds for Billetproof 15!

-N/K

(Editor’s note: Nick, let me know where you got these fliers so I can give credit)

Billetproof 2009 – 2nd Annual Washington Washout

The 2nd Annual Billetproof Washington Washout was even more impressive than last year. MyRideisMe.com member Michael Nantz gives us the scoop and pictures of his favorite rides:

“There were spectators hovering around every car. The weather was some of the best you could hope for at any car show and there were some big vendors this year; the guys from SoCal Speed Shop in Sacramento made the trek up to Washington and were busy in their booth all day.

For the first day of this 2 day car show there were 650+ cars of all styles. There was the “standard” rat rods (which is a term I can’t stand but will say it anyway) to the traditional rods to some very rare and old customs.
At the show on day 1 the first car I came across was the 1930 Model A from Top Ten Hot Rods which was my favorite car of the show with its 1957 392 Hemi with Enderle fuel injection force fed by matching, twin 1957 McCulloch superchargers modified to run without clutches to feed about 20lbs of boost, EACH… to the 7:1 Hemi. All that runs through a Chrysler 4 speed.  When they fired this car up it brought back memories of being at the Fremont Drag Strip.  See our feature story of this Hot rod from the LA Roadster Show.

Throughout the rest of the day I took over 700 pictures and spoke with many of the good people at the show. Everyone I spoke to was having a great time and were glad they made it to the show.

Saturday night kicked off the downtown Chehalis Cruise Nigh. What a great turn out with everyone cruising main street. There was also a huge gathering at the Olympic Club which contains a vintage movie theater.
Day 2 of the show was a little bit smaller as this was the first year of the 2 day show. The final count I heard was around 300 cars which is still a great showing.

In the end I had a great time at the 2nd annual Billetproof Show in Washington and I highly recommend it to everyone. Next year look for a burnout contest on Sunday in a special area so that all can watch.”
Michael Nantz

This is what MyRideisMe.com is all about.  Readers and members sharing their passion, whether its your own hot rod build project or your experience at a local car show.  Michael gets it!!!  Follow his lead and let us know what you thought of Billetproof in Washington and at your local cruise! Leave a comment of shoot us an email.

Hechtspeed

Pictures from Billetproof 2007

2007 Billetproof Rocked! Here’s the pictures we have. We still have about 350 to add including a bunch of bikes. If you like what you see, please join! MyRideisMe is like a great party at 8:30 PM… the band’s setting up people are on the way… have a beer and enjoy until the music starts!

Click HERE to see all the car pictures.

Click HERE to see all the bike pictures.

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Pushing the Hot Rod Envelope

Hot Rod Semi – More than a Rat Rod

Imagine yourself at a traditional hot rod show like Billetproof, enjoying Antioch California’s cool morning breeze when you smell diesel fumes. Billetproof isn’t the kind of show where you can trailer your baby in, so something’s not right. Then you hear the whine of a giant turbo just as this beast rounds the corner:

Behold the 1950 Peterbilt owned by Michael Leeds. The name for this Hot Rod Semi is up in the air, but “Sneaky Pete” is the front runner. Michael comfortably cruised about 100 miles from Santa Cruz, CA thanks to the inline 6 Cummins turbo-diesel hooked to a 12 speed automatic transmission spinning highway friendly 2.92 gears. Michael guesses 12 to 20 mpg but driving range is no problem since he’s hauling 105 gallons in the polished aluminum fuel tank out back. This baby’s read to travel, even weighing in at about 7000 lbs.

Michael’s no stranger to giant scale projects. Ever heard of Blastolene? Michael designed Blastolene which was later purchased by legendary car collector Jay Leno. Blastolene’s got an M47 Patton Tank engine that’s 1800 cu.in. of aluminum, air cooled, overhead cammed badness making 1200 horsepower with 1500 ft.lbs of torque.

For Sneaky Pete, Michael’s concept was handed to Randy Grubb (remember the semi-truck chopper from Monster Garage?) who took over the build chores and had it on the road in 1 ½ years. The Peterbilt’s aluminum cab was chopped a shocking 11 inches to give it that nasty Bonneville Salt Flat competition coupe look. Up front, a custom made Posie’s Super Slide^TM spring mounts a smoothed front axle from an International garbage truck! All that’s held in place using hairpins that were formed from 1/4” DOM tubing. Yea, QUARTER INCH!

What’s next? Michael told me he’s filming a pilot TV show called “Green Machines”. He’s trying to bring radical rides like Blastolene and Sneaky Pete into the mainstream. I hope he makes it because from the moment Michael pulled in, he was surrounded by awestruck spectators trying to figure out, “What the hell is that?” Thanks for pushing the Hot Rod envelope and answering, even if just for today, the age old question of, “What will they think of next?”

Here’s the link to all the pictures I took of this truck.

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