Car Art and Hot Rod Art Become Fine Art Have you ever met Tom Fritz? Chances are, you'd remember if you had. You probably noticed the dark display at one of your favorite car shows, then you were drawn in by the vivid paintings filling almost every bit of dark.  I last ran into the flip-flop wearing, ultra soft-spoken Fritz at Barrett Jackson 2010. I don't know crap about art, especially fine art except for what I like, and I like what Tom's throwing down. Tom's art is all the more sweet when he takes the time to talk with you about each piece and fill you in on some of the catchy titles like: "Feeling the Belts", "Raising Merry Hell II", "Ancient Barbaric Amusements" and one of my favorites, "Quick Sombish".  (link to Fritzart Gallery) Tom wrote about the making of "Quick Sombish" from the concept sketches to the in-process work and of course, the finished piece (shown here). To date, it's one of my favorite stories at MyRideisMe.com and a recommended read for any artist. Read about this Wheels up front engine dragster by clicking here. To pass...

At the Grand National Roadster Show, one exhibition hall, #9 I think, always has a theme.  Last year, it was former America's Most Beautiful Roadster winners. The hall was filled with with AMBR winning roadsters from back when the show was still in Oakland, CA. This year, the theme hall was the "History of the Race Car". I just published another story about the Drag Race cars in this hall, but this one's just about this 1969 Corvette named, "Revolution" and owned by the late Mike Mitchell. In a hall filled with wild race cars, this one, as you can see stands out. The paint is fantastic!  The "Fastest Hippie" theme is carried out throughout the car with the psychedelic rainbow patterns on the side then the jumbo hookah on the hood and the zig-zag man near the cockpit. I bet Mike was alot of fun! (click on these pics to see them full size) Researching for this story, I found a bit more info about Mike Mitchell, and about his passing in 2000. The story's written by Phil Elliot at our friend Draglist.com.  The story's called, "Farewell to...

You can almost smell the tires burning cruising through the "History of the Race Car" hall at the 2010 Grand National Roadster Show.  The exhibit, of course featured drag racer from the way-back-machine, especially my favorite: Nose in the air gassers! Getting up-close and personal with the "Outer Limits" Mopar, I'm reminded of a buddy who saw his first altered wheelbase A/FX'r and asked, "Who'd do that?!"  That's exactly why I love them! Make noise, look near ridiculous and have more fun than anyone! I want one, and some day I'll get it.  I might have to build my 61 Rambler American wagon as a gasser. Low-buck, fast and loud = funner-mostess. Continuing my stroll, I found the, "Fastest un-blown Ford V-8 powered dragster running in National Nostalgia Drag Racing." ...and it's driven by a woman named Kathy Lloyd out of Castro Valley, CA. According to their show card, the car was built in 1969, then restored in '85, then back-halfed in 1996, no doubt to return to racing. Safety rules have changed, juuuuussst a little since 1969. Running on a cocktail of 85% Nitro and 15% methanol, this...

Lance and his website HotRodPlanet.com is becoming quite a car show promoter in Arizona.  This is his latest effort and I'm sorry to get this up late for THIS WEEKEND 2/13/10.  Here's the info you'll need. (Click on the flier to see it full size) The show is SOLD OUT, but you can still take in the 200+ cars and the Air Museum. Mustangs & Muscle Cars – Car Show at the Commemorative Air Force Arizona Wing Aviation Museum February 13, 2010 The public is invited to attend the Commemorative Air Force’s (CAF) Arizona Wing Aviation Museum’s Mustangs & Muscle Charity Car Show, sponsored by Berg Ford on Saturday, February 13, 2010. This shows theme features WWII P-51 Mustang fighters, along with both classic and new cars. The car show is open to all makes, models and years of muscle cars, street rods, 4X4’s, Exotics, Imports and motorcycles. Come see the cars cause this show is SOLD OUT. Mustangs & Muscle Charity Car Show will be held at the CAF Arizona Wing Aviation Museum located at Falcon Field Airport, Mesa, AZ. The Museum is located at 2017 N. Greenfield...

Get set for the Second Annual Rockabilly Reunion this weekend February 12-14, 2010. How often can you get Rockabilly music, a pinup model contest and Rockabilly music all for FREE for you and your ride? Voodoo Swing is set to perform at the event held on the shores of the Colorado River at Windsor State Beach in Lake Havasu, Arizona. “We’re thrilled to be playing three days of music along with other great acts for some of the biggest rockabilly music fans in the country who truly appreciate what we do”, said Voodoo Swing’s front man Paul “Shorty” Kreutz. The Rockabilly Reunion is free to spectators of all ages and there is no charge to enter a car for display. Voodoo Swing plays throughout the weekend along with multiple rockabilly acts. The band is scheduled to play a welcome party at Nautical Inn Resort on the island at the beach in Lake Havasu City at 9pm on Friday evening following the poker run held at Windsor State Beach in Lake Havasu City on both Saturday and Sunday. Carnival rides for all ages will be in place throughout the weekend....

Part 1: Introduction The idea to shoot some informative welding videos has been brewing for a long time, and when Pikesan asked if I'd be interested in doing something with MyRideisMe.com, that was the final straw!  Although it's taken almost a pair of years to finally have something to show, I think you'll enjoy and hopefully benefit from the series. After I started the Welder Series parts assembly videos on YouTube, people began emailing to ask why I weld the way I do, and to please offer some tips.  I was flattered that people were even watching the videos, let alone asking me for welding tips!  From the beginning, they were never intended to be welding tutorials - I was just putting parts together! Basically, in these videos, I'll be bringing you into the Welder Series shop and blabbing away about welding.  The videos  will be loosely broken down into categories based on whatever aspect of welding I feel like talking about at the time.  I might even slip in some general shop tips once in a while... What I won't do is tell you what type of gas...

  1948 Hot Rod Show display with Jack Andrews, Charlie Nordon and Ed Iskenderian...Pic Courtesy of Ed Iskenderian.  Click to Enlarge. I know hot rods and customs is what brings us car guys and gals together but, its the people that make this hobby what it is.  Everyone has their own story.  My passion for the automobile started with my dad and uncle.  They have hot rodded off and on since they were teenagers.  It was their hobby, their passion.  It's what kept them out of trouble when their dad passed away at the age of 15 and 12.  My dad has tons of stories of his '64 Mercury Comet Cyclone on the streets of Azusa, Calif and the original Irwindale Dragstrip.  My uncle has stories of tearing up GMR (Glendora Mountain Road) in his Nova and Datsun 510.  Most of my close friends are there because of our common interestes in cars.  My brother and I and my cousin have our own stories of cars (and motorcycles) that we have customized that we can share with our kids.  It's the Hecht pasttime.   Gardena Speedway, September 15, 1946 photo...

Member Benefits If you don't like free stuff. Stop reading now. I've posted some how-to articles from the Lincoln Electric website in the past and since then have kept in touch with the well known welding brand. Lincoln even included at tiny MyRideisMe.com back in 1997 in their iWeld newsletter when we barely had any content.  (Sure wish they'd do that again!) So now, Lincoln has asked MyRideisMe.com to make sure these brand new Viking welding helmets go to deserving members. So how do you get one? (If you don't want one, this might not be the right website for you!) How to WIN one of these welding helmets: Members Only. If you haven't signed up, click here to sign up now Members must have an avatar in their garage. (it's easy, just click on it!) Maybe that's enough rules. Write a welding tip and leave it as a comment below.  My Ride is Me is a community. Car people, in my experience are a friendly bunch and willing to lend a hand. Do that now and get some new gear! Ideas for Welding Tips: Tips or tricks you've...

Well if I could paint like Tom Fritz, I would. If I could draw like my friends Brian and Dwayne, I'd probably do that too.  Since my creativity's pretty much limited to taking pictures, I'm doing my best to catch up to the great shots taken by Swanee, my main man shooting for MyRideisMe.com. Swanee's yet to lay down his shots from GNRS, so here's mine, FISHEYE style. A fisheye lens is an ultra wide-angle lens that takes in an extremely wide, hemispherical image. A side effect of this super wide shot is the distortion.  I'm shooting with a 10.5mm fisheye lens. Sometimes that distortion looks kinda cool with the swoopy angles of a custom or in tight on the details of an engine like the Stromberg powered flathead in Blackie Gejeian's "Blackie" Roadster. Sometimes, the look is just sinister!  This is the grille from "Camel Toe Racing" 1932 Ford.  The closer you get, the more distortion. I'm just a couple inches off this grill and I probably cropped the shot some. Too bad I have to give the lens back to my boss! Shooting in the Suede Palace...

The Antique Automobile Club of America or AACA museum is a perfect place to spend a couple of hours while avoiding the chill of an East Coast winter. So, on a recent trip to Hershey, PA the wife and I thought we would try and do just that. The museum is an awesome facility with a great variety of vehicles. For just $10 you can relive the great history of transportation in the 20th century. A very knowledgeable staff is always available to answer your questions as well as entertain you. You can even hold a wedding here with the museum offering many different choices of locations for your reception. How cool would that be!? The Antique Automobile Club of America’s Museum opened its doors to the public back on June 26, 2003. Since then, it has been the home to many rare and historic cars. The museum is constantly rotating its inventory to keep things interesting so you never know what you might see. Currently on exhibit, through the beginning of April, are the Camaros and Firebirds presented by Freysinger Pontiac GMC Buick. Over 20 vehicles are on display in this...

With all the talk going on about the AMBR winner at the Grand National Roadster Show, I wanted to take the opportunity to show you some of the other great award-winning cars on display. There must have been well over 100 awards given out during Sunday's award ceremony! This is not including awards given out  in the Suede Palace (those cars don't run in competition with the others, it's more of a  low-shine exhibit if you know what I mean.) To start with, this sweet 1952 Chevrolet Coupe won the George Barris Kustom D'Elegance Award. I dug it for it's cool green paint by Gene Winfield as well as it's cam shaft front grill. There were lots of nice wagon's at the show, as I'm partial to wagons they really drew my eye. This 1963 Falcon Squire stood out to win in it's 1955-1979 Conservative Wagon class. I'd heard about this 1932 Ford roadster, dubbed the Platinum Bomb, as it was progressing. I hoped it would take home first prize, but it only got class recognition (this is, however, the most competitive class in the entire show!) Built by...

We already covered the Grand National Roadster Show's big winner of the coveted America's Most Beautiful Roadster award.  The title now belongs to the 33 Ford named, "Possessed". So now, I want you to feast your smoke filled eyes on the "Contenders".  Usually the GNRS has 12 cars running for the AMBR, but this year, only 10 made it.  Here's 4 of them.  Which one's your favorite? The bright orange 32 roadster shown here first is my friend Todd Stevens from right here in Arizona.  Todd's got a gorgeous late 40's or 50's Mercury convertible he runs to the local Goodguys show, but in stark contrast to that cool cruisers is this nasty injected Hemi Hot Rod! Doug Jerger, the builder and another friend just a flew blocks away, runs Squeeg's Kustoms in Mesa, AZ and is no stranger to America's Most Beautiful Roadster competition. In 2008, Doug built is own AMBR roadster and we showed his shop and 32 Ford in this story. I know that just like Doug's 32, Todd will drive this car and drive it hard. Shouldn't that score points some how with the judges?...