There is no shortage of Slam’d vehicles along the coasts, whether we’re talking about the coasts right here in the states, or the coasts of further away locations, like Australia and Japan. But while the lowered custom car scene seems to be more prevalent in these ocean-adjacent locales, more and more land-locked pockets of slammed, airbagged and custom vehicles have made their way into the limelight and are gaining notoriety. One of those areas is along the eastern edge of the Rocky Mountain Region, tucked up against the foothills of the Rockies in Colorado. There, we attended the annual Hot Rods & Hawgs show last weekend hosted by our friends at Newstalgia and Thunder Mountain Harley, and we came across even more lowered customs and spectacular builds than we originally anticipated.
Photos & Words: Lindsey Fisher
Colorado is known for its vibrant outdoor adventures, landscape, and even a growing custom car scene, among other things. But most of the time, it’s traditional classics, hot rods and muscle cars that you see at the shows, rather than the low-slung builds of our coastal-residing brethren. That doesn’t mean, however, that Slam’d rides are non-existent around these parts, as you can see from the rides we caught out at Newstalgia Custom Paint & Design’s first show of the season.
This show is the brainchild of local community friends and family coming together to bring some car related family fun for all. Put on by Newstalgia Custom Paint & Design in correspondence with Fort Collins-based Covenant and Freakshow Tattoo shops, as well as Thunder Mountain Harley Davidson, the annual Hot Rods & Hawgs show celebrates everything that surrounds the hot rod and motorcycle communities: family, friends, passion, and of course, amazing rides. Lucky for us, the weather was gorgeous and brought out some of Colorado’s finest customs, bikes, trucks, and hot rods of all styles and tastes.
With designated parking areas separating four-wheel vehicles and two-wheel ones, crowds of enthusiasts enjoyed rows of amazing car and motorcycle creations at the spring show, as well as a number of vendors, a motorcycle stunt show and even helicopter rides. Judging for the show was taken care of by area car club, the Crossthreaders, which awarded plaques in nearly a dozen car, truck, and bike categories, as well as a Club Favorite category and People’s Choice category. Fittingly, there was also a Pinup Contest and live rockabilly music compliments of The Atomic Drifters for show-goers to enjoy throughout the fun-filled day.
We’ve shot a lot of amazing Slam’d feature vehicles from the coasts in the last several months, and we’ve got a ton more to come. But don’t be surprised if you see more and more feature builds coming out of Northern Colorado and surrounding areas in the future, as we’ll be hot on the target to bring you the BEST of the Slam’d world, regardless of their locale! In the meantime, enjoy some of the awesome rides we caught at the 2015 season-opening Hot Rods & Hawgs show and stay tuned for plenty more custom action coming your way.
