The editors of Hot Rod are in the process now of building this ’68 Chevy Van for the 2012 SEMA Show in affiliation with eBay Motors. Working with Mackey’s Hot Rods of Huntington Beach, CA, they not only sourced the love machine, but every single last part needed exclusively on eBay Motors.

While they would love for you to vote for them, the key to this campaign is that you can be the winner. Vote for your favorite, even if it isn’t the Gasser Van and at the same time enter to win a $5,000 dream garage.

So whether you’re into rally, racing, off-road, or showcars, this competition has everything to offer so join in the fun and pick your favorite. See the entire video series now at www.builtfromebay.com

The editors of Hot Rod, Lowrider, european car, and Four Wheeler are in the process now of building SEMA projects sourcing not only the car, but every single last part needed exclusively on eBay Motors. Best of all, you can vote for your favorite and at the same time enter to win a $5,000 Dream Garage.

The effort is BUILT from eBay® – A web series that takes four automotive magazines and their selected garages and creates a competition to showcase eBay Motors amazing selection. Each team starts with the purchase of a niche-enthusiast vehicle, and then searches out and purchases each and every part to go with them. Whether those parts be new, retro, performance or new-old-stock, these four teams are being tested to pull it off.

So whether you’re into rally, racing, off-road, or showcars, this competition has everything to offer so join in the fun and pick your favorite. See the entire video series now at
 www.builtfromebay.com

The black Box for your car!

So i was browsing around and came across this pretty cool gadget. For not it is only available in Japan and for Hondas but I think they should develop this for all makes and models. Its a black box like they have in aircrafts that record accidents. It records audio and video 12 seconds prior to an accident and 8 seconds after. Its a way to prevent people trying to point the finger in an accident. It all get stored onto a SD memory card that can eaisly be transferred to your computer. (jalopnik.com)

What do you guys think? Do you think its something that should be developed and brought over here? I would want it in my old hot rod in case I ever get hit and someone tries to blame it on me


Lets Hear It!

Wally Parks Tribute.                

A few weekends back I had a great time, There is nothing better than a cold beer and a day at the races. It was the NHRA drag races finals in Pomona this year. It was a great time but one thing really stood out. Throughout the day during the final eliminations they were bringing cars out from the NHRA museum and lining them up down the outside of the track. At first i didn't know what was going on but I then realized what was going on. They were going to do a tribute to the late Wally Parks. They started pulling cars out from early drag racing days to the most modern cars such as a top fuel dragster and a funny car. They had introduce all these cars and gave a breif history about them as well. When the announcer had finished his introduction of the cars the greatest thing happened. They Fired up all of the cars that they had brought out. It was a great sound, hearing all of the engines roar and them reving it up. It was a great tribute to Wally Parks. Im just glad i was there to see it and be a part of.


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Public Transportation?

Well about 2 weeks ago I went on a little vacation, I had gone to NYC for the first time in my life. I really didn't know what to expect except for what a I saw on movies, but we all know what is in the movies is not always the case. I have never been on a subway either up until this trip. I always thought how much of a mess and confusing it had to be to catch the right train or bus and what have you. Much to my suprise that was not the case at all. It was easy to maneuver my way around the subways of New York, and if I did have a question the New Yorkers we glad to help.

While on one of my many subway rides I thought to myself how great it would be if the same system was used here in Southern California. I mean I know Los Angeles already has there little metro system but come on, All of So Cal suffers from horrible traffic. I think some sort of subway system throughout California would be great, of course I don't know how possible it would be but hey.. a guy can dream can't he?

What do you guys think?

Ice..... Yea, It's Cool.

So not to long ago( well its actually been a few months, but hey who's counting?) I had recieved a box of the new Ice, by Turtle Wax. Turtle Wax is claming that Ice "is the only clear polish that wipes off in one easy step". So to test the theory I decided to go out side and get my hands dirty and wash up my ride. Which in this case happens to be a lifted chevy truck. I washed and dried my truck and it looked pretty good.


Its about time i break out the Ice and see what this stuffs really made of. I decide to try out the liquid polish. It seems pretty easy to use. I put it on, rub it off... all that good stuff and my truck looks great. I actually didnt have my camera handy. I left it at the office unfortunatly. It did come out great though and I definitely recommend this product! So go out there and get your cars clean with Ice bye Turtle Wax!

One crazy weekend...

And this is how it began. I t all started Friday night when a few friends of mine talked me into driving out to Arizona to visit for the weekend and go to a concert there. I really didn,t take much convincing now that I think about it but non the less, convince me is what they did.  So i went to be early to prepare for the 5 PI  hour drive that awaited me the morning that followed. 4:00 AM rolls around and I finally head out on my quest for Arizona. I hope in my little Hyundai Elantra, to save me gas rather than driving a V8 Silverado with mud tires, And head on my merry way. Nothing but me, My car, and my Ipod on the open road. Well I am now about 3 hours into my drive and the sun is starting to come up, Its peaking over the mountain and shining in my eyes. I suddenly see something in the road and swerve to miss what ever it may be and my tires run over some dirt on the shoulder area. I try to correct it and pull it back onto the highway, but I over correct and lose control. My car spins out across the highway and I roll off the side. Not once, twice or three times but four times! I can still hear the sounds around me, I tell ya, that was one heck of a ride. Once I finally stop rolling I realize I landed topside which is a good thing but I see the engine smoking. I unhook my seatbelt and climb out the driver side window. I take one look at the car and realize I shouldn,t have been able to climb out. I check myself for scratches and I find one on my left arm that looks more like a carpet burn. Luckily a couple truck drivers stopped and made sure everything was fine, thank God they did, my cell phone was thrown from the car during one of my acrobatic rolls. Well after all the police reports, insurance claims and towing expenses I finally got to go home and rest. The moral of this story is always wear your seatbelt. I usually am partial to it, I am not one to always put it on, weather I,m a passenger or the driver. I know it,s annoying to hear at time and it gets in the way. But I do have to say, the seatbelt is what saved my life. So buckle up out there and be safe.

The 14th Annual Glendale Cruise Night

will be held Saturday, July 21, 5 to 10 pm on famous Brand Boulevard in Glendale California. Over 400 pre-1970 classics, muscle cars, kustoms and hot rods will be on display up and down the boulevard, surrounded by the sounds of a live Oldies Show with the Marcels (Blue Moon), Johnny Tillotson (Poetry In Motion), Chantays (Pipe Line), Al Wilson (Show and Tell), presented by Brian Beirne, Mr. Rock N' Roll. This year, the Cruise will spotlight all makes from 1930 to 1935, in addition to a celebration of the 75th anniversary of the 1932 Ford, the ‘Deuce”. For more information or registration, please call - vehicle registration / 818-548-2184, information Hot Line /818-548-6464 or visit www.glendalecruisenight.com.

And it Came Far Too Soon...

There's more than a little irony in the idea that I have been asked to do a new blog on the Custom Rodder website just as the magazine is being discontinued. Yes, you heard that right, Custom Rodder will be no more following the March 2007 issue, which is shipping off to the printer as I write this, and will arrive on newsstands and in subscribers' mailboxes in mid-December--just in time for Christmas!

It should go without saying that I think this is be a significant loss for those interested in personalized '50s and '60s cars. I really think that Custom Rodder has hit its stride recently, with the November '06, January '07, and upcoming March '07 issues being some of the strongest since I came on board a couple years ago. Then again, I may be a little biased. What do you all think?

As for the Custom Rodder subscribers out there, you will have your subscriptions transferred over to Rod & Custom magazine. Those of you who already have R&C subscriptions will have them extended. As it turns out, I will be making the move over to R&C myself, so hopefully I can inject some more coverage of '50s and '60s cars into the mix and help keep all of the Custom Rodder readers happy. I hope you'll continue to tune in, and to let me know how we're doing on our custom coverage.