Alisa's blog

The Hotrods of the 50?s were power cars. They were big and bold and more powerful than most cars today. In those times, gasoline was something that was very affordable, priced at around 25 cents a gallon. The fact that hotrods of those times were gas guzzlers did bother people much.

Some of the well known hotrods of the fifties were the 1954 Dodge and the 1958 Plymouth Fury. The Chevy and Ford came out with their replies to the hotrods. The Chevy Nomad was one of the most popular cars of the fifties. The Skyliner and the Fairlane were both big, had a sports car look and were equipped with large powerful engines.?

Many major car makers had their own version of the 50's hot rods . All of them attained a loyal following that lasts even today, with every classic car fan desiring for a 50?s car.

The SEMA show is a global premier automotive specialty products trade event. It attracts the automotive industry’s brilliant minds and the latest products in the automotive market. The show is however not open to the general public. The event is held at the Las Vegas Convention Center. It attracts thousands of industry leaders from over 100 countries. The participants who come together hail from diverse areas – cars, trucks, SUV’s and RV markets.

The 2007 show, covering about 2 million square feet of exhibits, drew over 60,000 domestic and international buyers. The displays are categorized under 10 sections and there is a special section for new products with almost 2000 newly introduced parts, components and tools. The show also offers educational seminars, networking opportunities, special events and more.

Continuing a 24-year old history of awarding students pursuing a career in the automotive industry with scholarships, SEMA has listed 93 students to be credited with this benefit for the academic year 2008-2009. More than $130,000 have been allocated for this purpose.

The 2008 SEMA show will be held between Tuesday to Friday, Nov. 4th – Nov 7th at the Las Vegas Convention Centre.

Customizing vintage cars seems to have taken a new outlook as more proud owners refuse to recycle but restate their attitudes with hot rods and lowriders. The cars of the 60’s and 50’s have their own charm and coupled with some customizations, they become hot and raging among youth.

Customized cars stand for personal style statements and affordability. hot rods are custom cars that are usually painted with flames and redesigned to give that superior look of the bold and beautiful. They are typical American cars that are redesigned with superior high performance engines. They are a perfect combination of the past style and current technology. If it is style, attitude and youth, it can always be a Hot Rod! Check out the hot rods pictures and there are not many words left in admiration!

The BMW M5 from BMW is a high end performance version of the BMW 5-Series. It was unveiled first at the 1984 Amsterdam Motor Show. The M5 has been manufactured from various 5-series versions like the E28, E34, E39 and most recently the E60.

The first BMW M5 was the based on the E28 5-series. It was a saloon that had the performance of a sports car. The M5 used the 535i chassis and an evolution of the engine from the M1. It was the world’s fastest production saloon.

The M5 was made available in four versions. Three versions of the M5 used the M88/3 powerplant that was capable of churning out 286 HP except one version, which used the S38 6-Cylinder engine that was fitted with a catalytic converter and was capable of delivering a toned down 256 HP.

Transmission was through a 5-speed manual gear box. The 286 HP engine had a top end of 153 mph whereas the 256 HP version could achieve a top end of 148 mph.

Traditional hot rods are built by using parts that were made no later than the sixties at the latest. The first step is to pick a theme for the car. Once you have zeroed in on an era you are building your car on, it is necessary to stay within that time frame.

The parts that go into the car should be ‘period correct’. To slightly elaborate on this, a 50’s car would have had a generator and not an alternator. The tires need to be bias-ply instead of radials.

The choice of wheels is an important aspect to focus on when building a hot rod. Going back to the birth of hot rodding and oval track racing in the ‘20’s, most hot rods were early Fords that used early Ford steel wheels – stock/modified. The early ‘50’s saw magnesium wheels becoming standard on many cars.

Chrome steel wheels and aluminum discs came later in the 50's hot rods . Early ‘60’s saw the introduction of spoke wheels. An excellent book penned by Mike Bishop and Vern Tardel can be a valuable guide for someone intending to build traditional early Ford Hot Rods.

A bikini car wash is something that usually happens in summer, where young attractive girls clad in bikinis offer to wash cars for a fee and also provide some fun filled entertainment at the same time.

There are also instances where, as part of a fund raising campaign for a school/youth organization/charity, chic young girls, usually high school or college girls clad in bikinis attract donors with vibrant signboards displayed on the roadside, and offer to wash their cars.

A bikini car wash could also help as a promotional aid for auto parts stores, sports bars and sports clubs. Good ways to make a car wash click off well would be; having the event in a parking lot situated in a high traffic area, advertising on local radio stations and putting up attractive pre-shot posters of car wash babes around the area.

A low rider is a term that is used for a car or truck whose suspension is modified so that it rides as low to the ground as possible. They are often the classic cars of the ‘50’s even though many ’40 and ’60 model cars have also been modified. Lowriders normally have factory offered accessories along with after-market accessories added on.

The invention of lowriders has been attributed to Chicanos originally, unique to Mexican & Chicano culture in San Diego County. Low riders have become common in the urban youth culture in general since the early ‘90’s, mainly in the West Coast hip hop.

The lowriding scene today is varied, with many diverse cultures, vehicle makes and visual styles. One of the very well renowned places for lowriders has been the Whittier Boulevard in East Los Angeles.

There are several magazines which are dedicated to chronicling the Lowrider art and culture; the ‘Lowrider Magazine’ currently published by Primedia, being the best known.

Car videos are a great source of entertainment. There’s a host of them available on the net, which are amusing. Stunts involving drivers who perform some amazingly precise maneuvers and jump stunts that involve cars executing some exhilarating moves are indeed a thrill to watch.

Drag races that depict those ultra powered cars doing spectacular wheelies are surely a delightful sight. There are also some really well controlled screeching tire smoking spins that one can get to see.

Where there are cars, there have to be girls… hot car models and car wash babes . Car girls add spice to car races and shows... Go ahead and treat yourself to some car videos .