Hot Rod Pinup Sabina Kelly Photo by Shannon Brooke Standing tall at 5'10" at the top of the pinup modeling ranks (or close to it!) is May's Pinup of the Month, Sabina Kelley. Sabina Kelley the pinup can be seen all over in magazines and calendars, but she's reaching beyond now modeling internationally, in TV and music videos, too. She's been modeling for 10 years now, so there's not much she hasn't done in front of the camera. So much more than a pretty face, she's a professionally trained dancer as well with ballet, tap, jazz, hip hop, and pointe (you know, on the tip of your toes...) dancing on her resume.  She started as a ballerina in a small town but her talent and long flowing gorgeous-ness soon took her to Sin City where she performed as a showgirl in "Jubilee" for over 2 years at Ballys Hotel.  It's no surprise then that she's training for her own burlesque dance show to debut soon. (we'll watch for it!) After alot of trying and help from MyRideisMe.com friend and fellow Pinup Heidi Van Horne, I finally caught up with...

I heard from one of our favorite pinup models, Zoe Scarlett.  Zoe's the first pinup model we featured when she was on a flier we made for the very first show we attended in California.  She was our Billetproof Pinup here thanks to our friend and extraordinary photographer Dirk Behlau from Pixeleye Racing. And just for the record, Zoe's Swiss! From Switzerland, you know? No matter how many times I screw that up, that's not gonna change... So Zoe told me she's on a bottle of lemonade. Here's the scoop. Available soon, I'll try to post a link to where it's on sale. In the first time of history, Abbondio Aranciata has decided to use a still alive pin up beauty to cover their bottle. After intensive research, Abbondio found the well known Swiss Pin Up girl and discovered she's the only European doll on the world ranking of the top 10 pin ups. The Zoe Scarlett Limited Edition beverage will be launched worldwide in late March. In addition to the "Terroni in Los Angeles, " harrods " in London or the "Zanzibar" in Frankfurt the lemonade will also...

Kristabelle, don't shoot! Viva Las Vegas Rockabilly Weekender is no doubt it's own car show. The cars get checked before entering so there's no billet anything or any car built after sixty-something. But it's the people and more specifically the wandering pinups that make the show. Who doesn't love Hot Rod Pinups! Burlesque Performer Sophia Sirena If you're watching closely, you'll see well known pinups like Heidi Van Horne and Dayna Delux enjoying the show, but they're generally not posing. I guess you could say they've "made it" and get paid when they're shot. Dayna teamed up with Sabina Kelly to host a "Bottles and Pinup Models"  night at the Foundation Room at the Mandalay Bay and Heidi's doing a little bit of everything. She's acting, directing, writing a blog for the Houston Chronicle... she's busy but just as sweet as ever! Viva's become a hot spot for pinup models and the photographers that make their living shooting pinup. This is Mitzi Valenzuela from Mitziandco.com shooting one of many pinup models on the long (Wednesday to Sunday) weekend. Mitzi's contributed quite a bit to MyRideisMe.com and has shot with...

You just read that title and said, " a Gasser what?" I admit, I ain't right. I have strange tastes compared to some and I guess you could say I have a vivid imagination, too. How else can I imagine how nasty a 1961 Rambler American station wagon would look as a Gasser. I've got the idea in my head, but like alot of you, I can't draw, much less make a rendering like this showing my crazy dream to perfection! That's where artists like Joel Nelson from 1320designs.com comes in. (Click on the image above to see it full size. It's a higher resoultion pic perfect for a desktop wallpaper) Before continuing that story, let me back up. I dig wagons. I don't know for-sure why, maybe it was because my dad drove us around in 1967 Ford Wagon when I was a kid. My brother and I'd drop the back seat down and slide around in back on the metal floor. This was the mid 70's so seat belts weren't the rage they are now. Looking back, we survived alot of things that have today's parent's gasping!...

Anyone who's ever been to Viva Las Vegas - or even in Las Vegas when it's happening - can back me up on this...VLV is FULL of characters! Sure there's cars. Sure there's music. Sure there's drinking. But you'd be missing out on what Viva Las Vegas is about if you missed out on the people! Words can't seem to begin to explain this varied assortment of characters. So this year I snapped a few less shots of cars and a few more shots of people. 'Nuff said, I'll let the pictures do the...

Meet the Artists and Participate in the Working Studios! Motorburg announced that it would be presenting a “Design Center” attraction at the 2010 N.S.R.A. Nationals in Louisville, KY – August 5th through the 8th. Motorburg.com, the online resource for automotive designers, artists and enthusiasts, with an emphasis on rods & customs, will be heading up this uniquely entertaining venue. Motorburg.com features art and design galleries by an associate group of some of the hottest artists and designers in the industry as well as a thriving Forum of international talent. Increasingly, it’s becoming the “go to place” for an ever-changing array of articles and tutorials for all who appreciate the form and function of the American style of custom built automobile. Motorburg’s associate artist list reads like a “who’s who” of rod & custom art and design and includes: Darrell Mayabb – Thom Taylor – Jimmy Smith – C. Cruz – Greg Tedder – Ralph Burch – Brian Stupski – C. Smith… as well as CARtoon greats Nelson Dewey and Errol McCarthy. The Design Center gallery will display art by these associates as well as prints and portfolios by Motorburg’s...

Sometimes you get lucky. I'm not talking about your chances with MyRideisMe's April "Pinup of the Month" Notorious Ang, I'm talking about getting sizzling hot rod pinup shots like this one. (Click on any pic to see it full size) Swanee and I hit the 2010 Viva Las Vegas with one goal.  As #13 in a series, Viva's a show for hot rods and customs with a strictly vintage feel, so we wanted to shoot tons of great hot rods and pinups.  Done! Ang hooked us up with poses that flat MADE the shots. Girls looking for posing lessons, take note. We later found out the beautiful custom she's posing with is owned by Cart and Indy car racer Paul Tracy. We interviewed Paul and asked about his near Indy 500 win and his killer rides. More on that later... Luck was with us again at Viva Las Vegas when Ang graciously snuck away from her shoot with Ol' Skool Rods to shoot with another well known car guy's car, Bo Huff: This 1957 Ranchero's easily one of my favorites from the show. Clean, low, wide-open-beautifulness. As Pinup of...

We're HERE! After an uneventful drive through the Nevada desert we hit Vegas in the daytime. Not quite as exciting as the nighttime skyline, but who cares! We're here for the hot rods, customs and pinups that make Viva Las Vegas a must every year. Vote for your favorite here. Sunset's a great time to catch photos, even for a hack like me, but my man Swanee's doing his thing for this picture. Several beers later and with a dead cell phone and wireless that doesn't work, we're still getting these pictures and tons more up in the next few days. One of the best parts of the Viva Las Vegas is the pinups. The show's a gathering of all things hot rods, music and vintage clothes wearing girls with bright red lipstick, a flower in their hair and some great expressions on their faces! I'll try to catch this lovely lady's name at the show today. Update... didn't see her again on Saturday. Anyone know her name? Please leave a comment below. I hijacked what looked like a professional photographer shooting another lovely young lady in front of...

Drawing Cars with My Buddy Joel This blog post is a long time coming.  We at MyRideisMe have shown off a number of talented hot rod artists.  Joel Nelson of 1320 Designs is most definitely on that list.  I mean, just dig these drawings below.   Asking Joel how he got into drawing cars, he said: I got into drawing cars from watching The Dukes of Hazzard on prime time and Smokey and the Bandit. Thankfully CarTOONS was in full circulation too and that really put me over the edge! Then during the late 80's and early 90's, I really got into drawing Pro Street cars. Nothing was safe from becoming "pro street-ed". You could make anything look nasty by dropping it and adding a set of big 'n' littles!  I like to work with markers and pastels mostly but have been known to do hand painted work in Photoshop too. Nothing beats pencil and paper though! This first one is Joel's latest and is our own Pikesan's 1961 AMC Rambler Wagon gasser concept drawing.  You'll be seeing more of this concept from Joel in the future as he fine tunes...

Words and Drawings by Ryan Hadden See more at thehaddenhotrodshop.blogspot.com I am no Chip Foose, but I do like to draw cars. I have no formal education in drawing automobiles, but I did leave some killer renderings in the back of a few school books when I was younger! I hope that this quick tutorial will help you to do something a lot of guys / gals fear they cannot do. A few "tools of the trade". This is a shot of some of the tools I have collected over the years while drawing. Included in this photo are markers, colored pencils, pastels, a metal ruler ( I prefer them over wood or plastic), ball point pens, and erasers. Art supplies are expensive. If you are just starting out don't let a trip to the local hobby shop scare you. Honestly all you really need to begin drawing is no more than a pencil, paper, and a good drawing surface. It is also helpful to have reference material. This can include magazines, books, posters, photographs, internet (including websites like myrideisme.com, haha, thanks for the plug Ryan!), or 1:1 subject...

Hot Rod and Car Art I wish I could draw cars.  I was decent when I was young, but now I'm useless.  Ryan Hadden of Hadden Hot Rod Shop is a car nut who digs drawing cars too.  His own hot rod, a '54 "Plain Lorraine" F-100 pickup was featured in a blog where Andy Kawahara painted a "shop truck" door logo.  If you missed that, check it out HERE.  Ryan has helped friends visualize their hot rod projects by sketching their custom car and hot rod ideas.  You may have seen his work in the Andy's US Forest Service Truck feature. Such a cool shop truck idea.  Ryan captured it perfectly in his sketch above and Andy built it to spec. When choosing an artist to sketch your hot rod, there are many options.  The two biggest differences I see is an artist who uses pencil/marker and paper and the artist who uses a computer.  There are also differences in price.  There's artists out there to fit anyone's budget. This is Andy Kawahara's other hot rod truck (I see a theme here), a 1961 Apache done up in a Mild Custom look. ...

Story and Pictures by Andy's Pinstriping "I have a friend in Seattle that was doing some pre-Spring cleaning and needed to make some room for a new project so he called me. The offer was too good to pass up.  I was told that if I could find a way to pick up an old 1963 Chevy truck that i could have it. I had to fork out $350.00 to have it delivered from Seattle to my door step and after looking at the truck, I realized that was a great deal!   This is what I started with. A good original truck with a bad 90's Teal paint job...but I saw potential. I did some research as well and found out that this truck started life as a Forest Service truck, so sentimentality kicked in as I had a beloved uncle that was a Ranger all his life. All of a sudden, an idea was born... Obviously, it had a height issue that needed to be addressed ASAP!  This is after the front went down about six inches. This is what it looked like after the back went down...