Cacklefest’n Nitro Burning 1930 Ford Coupe

When Canada natives Ken and his partner Frank Bevacqua from Top Ten Hot Rods and Customs build a hot rod, they follow their motto: “Bad Done Good”. That exactly describes their ground pounding, nitro burning, fuel injected, hemi powered, twin McCulloch blown, tube frame 1930 Ford Coupe. Do I have your attention?

Built as Top Ten’s calling card of badness, Frank told me he loves the funny cars and front engine diggers you usually see at the popular cacklefest events, but where are the coupes? At drag races and for the first time at the 2009 LA Roadster Show, cacklefests are awesome. If you’ve never seen and more importantly heard a “cacklefest” then you’re missing out. Imagine 5-20 nitromethane or “fuel” burning beasts from the not-forgotten yester-year of drag racing’s lined up, and lit up, usually at night or just dusk to see the signature yellow flames shooting from the exhaust pipes. You know you’re in the right place when the push cars used are 1960’s vintage too. But that’s another story!

This car’s built for show, but damn it would be fast! Featuring a 1957 392 Hemi with Enderle fuel injection force fed by matching, twin (yea 2 of them!) 1957 McCulloch superchargers modified to run without clutches to feed about 20lbs of boost, EACH… to the 7:1 Hemi. Frank says about 1000hp on gas and maybe 2 large on fuel. All that runs through a Chrysler 4 speed.

The talk of the SoCal Speed Shop’s Friday-before-LA Roadster open house, this car was heard by many. My friends and I all mistook the McCulloch blowers for turbos because of the ear piercing whine they made when Ken romped on the throttle for a grinning and growing crowd of onlookers. Anyone who heard it knew it was not ordinary “rat rod” as it barely idled, popped and whined begging for the nitro that would’ve sent us all gasping for air. Perfect!

Construction on this fuel coupe, while rough-looking at a glance is all professionally done and appears race ready. The Hemi is supported by a custom full tube frame and cage built from cold rolled 20 gauge. A 9 inch trac-loc with 4:11 gears is found out back with a vintage army surplus oxygen tank that looks right at home. Walking from front to back, looking closely you’ll see the full length belly pan and get stopped in your tracks by the wild 22″ wheels up front.

Those 22’s are from a horse drawn International Harvester sickle mower. Highly modified to fit the Ford spindles and motorcycle tires, the Top Ten guys say they might make more. They must have answered, “What are those wheels from” about 10 times a minute! The back wheels are 19-inchers, also from a tractor (of course?!) widened with Ford Centers.

Other cool details? Dig the1947 Canadian Cockshutt grill (yea, another tractor) and the 1936 Oldsmobile accessory steering wheel mounted on the swing away steering column. It’s a tight fit in there and it looks all business.

A great as this car looks with natural rusty patina offset by the polished fuel injection tubes and unmistakable Hemi valve covers, this will be a finished, painted car with chrome and polish enough to be a sure hit at any cacklefest.

I’d link to Top Ten’s website, but I can’t find it! I’ll be emailing Frank and Ken to tell’m about this story and beg them for regular updates. We’re close friends now see… I introduced pinup photographer Mitzi from Mitziandco.com who was there shooting with the lovely pinup model Mimi La Minkz (http://www.myspace.com/Mimilaminkz) and we grabbed a few shots. If I ask Mitzi nicely, maybe I’ll features all of those shots in our pinup picture gallery.

You dig’n this too? Let me know by leaving a comment and be sure to encourage the Top Ten guys to keep feeding us regular updates. Thanks for reading!

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David Perry’s Pinup Book goes to DVD: Hot Rod Pinups

Written by: Erock805 (Erick’s Garage)

It opens like a shot, not knowing the music, it felt like motor head, loose, violent, and melodic and real…what you see is what you hear…a front engine rail blitzing through the lights. Smoke and raw fuel and flame blasting from the pipes…you can almost feel it in your chest. The track lights lit up the night just like you remember they did. You can almost smell the nitro… Perfect!

At this point, I am not even thinking about the pleasures of the flesh I am about to witness. All I can think about is the first time I heard that sound, felt the thunder and cried in joy as the fumes burned my eyes…

David Perry…creator of Hot Rod Pinups, the DVD, my new hero.

Then came little Ruby Rae, and a song that defined what I was witness to…a real live girl. Ruby quickly reminded me what I was here for. I’m watching a pinup video… a first for me. Sure, I’ve watched a ton of hot rod flicks, and gasser movies, they usually have a couple models, but never a video featuring pinups…
Back to Ruby Rae, once she started working about the shop, I quickly forgot all about the nitro. In fact her opening silhouette was enough to make me wanna propose. I bet that wouldn’t go over to well with the current luckiest girl in the world… Princess. Who am I kidding…no way, I ain’t gotta a chance. Plus I’m not sure any other girl in the world would have the patience to put up with me and my 5 car habit.

Back to the show…Hot Rod Pinups is the Real Deal. Real cars, real life style and real ladies. The ladies are not the waif plastic Paris Hilton ladies so mainstream today. Nope, real live girls that are all hot rod: Beautiful curves, lines and features – Ladies that have style, comfort and strength. A moving experience.

Now I am no rockabilly king, I am a rocker, a metal head yet I enjoy most music and I know what’s good. So believe me when I tell you this soundtrack has something for everyone, its ruff, melodic and surprising. The tunez from Gearhead Records fits the scene on the screen better than most of the Vids I have seen. There are few things worse than watching a good video and not being able to tell one song from the next and for Hot Rod Pinups, each song, while in the same genre, transitions well. The mix breaks up the babe-mania, and adds depth to the experience. It takes you up and down and all around town. I need this sound track for my ride.

Everything about this flick kicks. The Sets are real. The tattoo and auto shops, parties, drags, and Bonneville are suited perfectly for the fair pinup vixens that drive us wild! These are real venues for real girls. This DVD is well put together and everything worked: locations, sets, wardrobe, cinematography and tunez. It all comes together like pb and j. its right so go getchya one!

Gearhead Records is my new brand…well done Mr. Perry I dug it. I wonder if I can continuous loop a DVD?

You can grab the DVD and Hot Rod Pinups I & II all from Amazon.com. The DVD was listed at $18 bucks and the books are both around $23.

Hot Rod Pinups II – Book Preview

2010 Pin-up Girl Wall Calendars

Instead of working on my projects in the garage, MyRideisMe has me spending most of my free time on the web, working, or sometimes just surfing. I caught a (insert nifty surfing metaphor here) wave when I found David Perry’s website, DavidPerryStudio.com. I contact David when I saw this picture:

I recognized the the lovely Heidi Van Horne and I recognized that’s the cover from a book for sale in the MyRideisMe.com Amazon store. The book is: Hot Rod Pinups by, none other than, David Perry. Here’s the description of that book:

For as long as young men have been channeling, chopping, and hopping up rods and customs, women – whether loyal girlfriends or trouble-seeking “bad girls” – have been integral to their scene. In this unique portfolio evoking great 1950s pin-up artists like Vargas and Elvgren, talented photographer David Perry depicts models in and out of cherry-picked rods and customs wearing painstakingly chosen period dress and hairstyles. More than 100 photos present these modern-day pin-ups under three themes: Garage, Cruising, and Race. In addition, essays explore each topic and are also accompanied by pulp novel covers, period mags, and ads that place the photography in a historical context. Captions identify the car owners, photo location, and, where appropriate, interesting car specs and histories. (so there’s more to the book than just his fantastic photos)

David’s originally from Denver, CO, and grew up in So-Cal, but he’s out of Benicia, California now, not far from where I grew up, so I wasn’t surprised when he got back to me and gave me permission to show a SNEAK preview of his new book, Hot Rod Pinups II.

I spent a bunch of time trying to figure out what pics to include in this blog… you know, the ones I liked best, but my favorite was followed closely by my favorit-er and soon my favorit-est. Here’s a bunch of pics, you decide!

One thing’s for sure, David’s got a winner here. Several of my favorite shots are taken directly into the sun. How’s he do that?

<— Click on any of these images to see them full size —>

Buy the Book: Hot Rod Pin-Ups II: Gearhead Girls and Dragstrip Dolls

Pick 2 as your favorites, I dare you!

Stroll around DavidPerryStudio.com and you’ll see that he’s done a few books, has prints available of most of his pics and you can even send an E-Card including one of his pictures. I’m gonna use that to tell my Mommy what I want for Christmas… but I’m not gonna do that as a Happy Birthday to my ex-wife for her 30th birthday. That’s another story though. Here’s the print I’ll be ordering for my office.

Heck, he even makes music. (Hey Dave, save some creativity for the rest of us, would ya?)

(all pictures used with permission from David Perry)

Please join MyRideisMe.com and get your own Custom Garage Space (that one’s mine!) to put pictures of your car, project or whatever you’re driving!

Buy the Book: Hot Rod Pin-Ups II: Gearhead Girls and Dragstrip Dolls

Pinup Pinstriper…

2010 Pin-up Girl Wall Calendars

Sometimes, this is easy. I’ve made some great new friends thru MyRideisMe.com and one of them is Justice Howard at JusticeHoward.com. I got to chatting with her today and she let me in on a new set of pictures for her Diva Dolls Promotion.

What is it about this picture that makes me want to be a pinstriper?

The striper’s name is Paulie. I hope he gets in touch with me so I can let everyone know how to get in touch with him.

Then, the lovely model is Frenchy La Femme. She’s got a Myspace page, but you have to be her friend to see the pics… sorry! The good news is, you can see them right here at MyRideisMe.com in our Pinup Gallery, or in the Hot Rod Dollsters Gallery at JusticeHowards site. There’s alot more to see over there too!

Enjoy the great pics!

MORE of pinup model Frenchy LaFemme <– Click here as December 2008 Pinup of the month

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Check out all the Pinups here MyRideisMe.com Pinups Models & Hot Rods

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Aircraft Pinups and Blown 4360cu. in. Radials

2010 Pin-up Girl Wall Calendars

An Aircraft museum doesn’t have much to do with MyRideisMe.com or does it. But, pinup art on the noes of aluminum beasts that appear way too damn large to fly and a blown 4360 cu. in. radial motor are too cool to skip.

Here’s the pics, first the “Maid in the Shade” found somewhere around 42 degrees north by 9 degrees east.

Followed by the lovely “Miss Murphy”

And my favorite, the beautiful honey standing hitching a ride on “Sentimental Journey”

I don’t know much about planes, so I won’t go into that detail, but I was curious about nose art. I found some info I’ll pass on. The following info is from a blog called “Creation Robot“. There are several links to more info.

The subject matter in nose art varies but largely stayed within a few mainstay topics, namely the cartoon characters and female pin-up. The females occurred in various stages of dress, or undress, and were very popular. The style evolved and became more wild and provocative. As a result, the Army Air Force tried to restore a sense of decorum with AAF Regulation 35-22 in August 1944. The regulation didn’t prohibit nose art, but did try to, unsuccessfully, institute a “sense of decency.”

According to some accounts, the farther the planes and crew were from headquarters or from the public eye, the racier the art. For instance, nudity was more prevalent with aircraft based in the South Pacific than of those in England.

Nice. In a quick google search, this is the best site I could find for more examples of nose art: Savethegirls.org

Now for the horsepower part of the story!

Here’s a picture of a 28 cylinder, supercharged, air cooled 4-row radial engine. Who dreamed that up? Is it so far from the bench racing that happens now? But with a different purpose, make no mistake. Produced between 1944 and 1955 this 4,360 cu. in. behemoth put out nearly 1 H.P. per cubic inch. Keep in mind the notorious Chevy V8 came out in 1955 at the end of service for this baby. So why do you think they stopped at 28 cylinders? It even had a cool name, the “R-4360 Wasp Major”. I love it.

Want to have a look around this website? Start here in the Killer Garages. Thanks for looking! If you like what you see, please JOIN!

Check out all the Pinups here MyRideisMe.com Pinups Models & Hot Rods

With Liberty and Justice for YOU!

I hope you’ve made it over to the MyRideisMe.com picture gallery by now and checked out the growing events pages and even better the pinup model pages!

I’ve been contacting pinup model photographers to see if they’ll share their pics with MyRideisMe. I post their homepages and contact info in hopes that they’ll get more traffic at their site in return for the pics. I got lucky finding an ad for the “Diva Doll” Pinup package in the pages of Car Kulture Deluxe. Justice Howard, a professional photographer, is offering a special “Photo Fantasy” that includes a CD of your professional photos complete with hair, makeup and styling service. Justice offers these photo shoots regularly, but you’d better sign up to make sure you get your spot.

Contact her at her website: www.JusticeHoward.com. It’s worth a look anyway cause there’s some pics at her site that I dig, but they’re, “a wee bit spicy.” Thanks for the support Justice!

Care to comment? While you’re here, please JOIN MyRideisMe.com

Check out all the Pinups here MyRideisMe.com Pinups Models & Hot Rods

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Pinup Models Wanted for MyRideisMe Gallery

MyRideisMe.com’s new picture gallery needs pinup models! What’s better than girls posing with cars? I’ve been getting a few request for info about pinup model pictures (Special thanks to Frenchy from Kitten Koffin Zombies at Myspace)

Here’s the info you’ll need:

Here’s the link: Pinup Pics so you know what it looks like. I want to fill it up with hot (but not nude) pinup or bikini models . I will only use models with cars or bikes or both. As much as I like the other pics, please, ONLY send pics with cars and bikes.

To give proper credit, I need:
1) Model’s name (and I can add her website as a click-able link too)
2) Photographer’s name (also click-able link)
3) Contact info (email or myspace page, whatever they want- also a click-able)
4) I’ll also do clothing lines, bags and what-not, as long as they’re posing with cars and bikes!

Email all pics (zipped to one file please) to: pikesan at myrideisme dot com (spaced out to avoid spam)

Each model can send as many pictures as you want. Each set of pictures will be setup by photographer or model, but NOT both. If you have lots of pictures of yourself, but by several photographers, please put the credits in the picture BEFORE sending them, or let me know that I don’t need to give photo credit. Here’s an example of how to insert credits into the photo:

In the meantime, please tell your friends, boyfriends and husbands about MyRideisMe.com or join yourself! It’s a little like Myspace, but only for gearheads.

And if you want, check out all the Pinups here MyRideisMe.com Pinups Models & Hot Rods

Here’s my ride to see what the site does…

Thank you!

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Billetproof Pinup

See all of the My Ride is Me pictures from the show HERE

MyRideisMe. com will attend the 2007 Billetproof show in Antioch, CA next weekend, September 15th. I can’t wait for the show. This is the first time MyRideisMe.com will be properly represented at a show. Here’s what we’re handing out. I hope you enjoy it! I sure do!

It’s been my pleasure meeting Dirk Behlau, the photographer and Zoe Scarlett, the beautiful pinup model. They both have cool websites and myspace pages, check them out!

Dirk’s Myspace:

Zoe Scarlett’s Myspace:

Check out all the Pinups here MyRideisMe.com Pinups Models & Hot Rods