Hot Rod Power Tour Journal: Day 5

We have made it to past the midpoint of the Power Tour! You would think that after nearly five full days of viewing some of the toughest, quirkiest, and most lovely hot rods and muscle cars in the country, that one may grow somewhat numb to their ongoing presence. Well, you would be wrong. The Tour has not come up to take a single breath in regards to its bold and brash presence. Every day upon arriving to the tour, I am ecstatic about the the sense of opportunity lying on the other side of the camera lens. Finding all the little details and exploring the stories behind each build is a ever flowing fountain of uniqueness. That is not to say however, that there hasn’t been a bit of redundancy. I’ve seen enough LS swaps to satisfy just about anyone wearing an “Affliction” T-Shirt. There is also a bit…Continue Reading

Hot Rod Power Tour Journal: Day 4

Real hot sunshine, big blue skies, and racetrack as far as the eye can see, this was the Texas summer day I had been so expectantly awaiting. The third stop along the epic rolling car show that is the Hot Rod Power Tour, landed at the Circuit of the Americas. COTA is one of the newest and most beautiful racetracks in the world. It currently serves as the ONLY location for Formula-1 racing, here in the states. The track resides just outside Austin and encloses about 3.4 miles of the finest pavement on the planet. The grounds include several state of the art facilities as well as beautiful amenities and grounds, easily supporting the nigh 12,000 people in attendance. As the the tour continues to press on, more and more vehicles turn up. There were most certainly outnumbering hot rods joining the gargantuan caravan, than there are ones saying their…Continue Reading

Hot Rod Power Tour Gallery: Rat Rods & Rainstorms

Photos & Words: Michael Phillips The 2016 Hot Rod Magazine Power Tour is an eclectic and eccentric car show on wheels. The tour, making its way from Baton Rouge, LA to Kansas City, KS makes several stops and take several scenic routes. Accompanying the tour and provided thousands of attendees as each stop’s show are innumerable hot rods and muscle cars. The mix is wildly drastic, however today, at he Royal Purple Raceway in Baytown, TX, was an overwhelming force of hard core ratty creations. The shear number of rusted out, chopped up, and slam’d down rat rods was enough to turn any eye. Combined with the ominous presences of deep purple thunderheads, bright silver lightning, and eventually treacherous rains, combined with the rat-rodders vehicles to form a perfect storm of pavement piracy and accompanying antics. Honestly, had there bin a bit more sand, and a bit less green, someone…Continue Reading

Hot Rod Power Tour Journal: Day 3

Photos & Words: Michael Phillips Another one for the record books, ladies and gentlemen, both in regards to the number of passion-built vehicles I was blessed to see and the amount of falling rain competing with the air’s stand-still moisture, as to which could keep the crowds more drenched. However, this California drought expert is by no means complaining. The summer storms are a welcomed characteristic to the already culture-soaked shows. Again, thousands upon thousands of vehicles made their way into the venue, The Royal Purple Raceway in Baytown, Texas. I think the phrase “everything is bigger in Texas” was first coined in regards to the clouds as their cover brought welcomed relief from the hot midday sun. Royal Purple Raceway is a equipped with a pro-series, race ready quarter-mile strip. This added feature of the track meant for the words “Power Tour” to be thrown into honest action. The…Continue Reading

Hot Rod Power Tour Journal: Day 2

Photos & Words: Michael Phillips One moment, blistering rays of sunlight are crashing through what feels like an invisible, silent shower floating in the air. The sun’s heat is nearly scorching of its own accord, but when coupled with the cranked-to-eleven humidity, Louisiana summer time feels like there’s no end point between the swamps and the “dry” land. The next moment however, the sun hides its face in favor of tumultuous storm clouds, day-lit lightening, and steaming rain drops large enough to fill a shot glass. Twice this glorious day for hot-rodders, heavy storms took us by surprise. The predictable, though shocking all the same, rain began to fall within the blink of an eye. The storms acceleration was plenty fast enough to rival even some of the meanest muscle cars in attendance on today’s first leg. In similar abrupt fashion, the official first day (our second day) of the Hot Rod…Continue Reading

Hot Rod Power Tour Journal: Day 1

Photos & Words: Michael Phillips Well, the time has finally come! After several months of planning and anticipation, the Hot Rod Magazine 2016 Power Tour is upon us. Every year the crew from Hot Rod and their many event sponsors make a multi-stop tour, smack-dab in the middle of the country. For 2016, HR Mag, Chevy Performance, and Continental Tires are making a three location pass through the south. The tour first begins in Gonzalez, Louisiana, then on to Oklahoma City, and finally Wichita, Kansas. During the tour, hundreds of home-built hot rods will caravan along with the tour train. Literally thousands will show up to the tour stops themselves. More then 3,000 vehicles were pre-registered for the Kick-off event in Louisiana. In addition to Hot Rod Magazine and the primary sponsors, a couple dozen supporting sponsors will accompany the entire tour in full force, with their best products and projects…Continue Reading

Homebuilt Hero: Joe’s ALL-IN 1965 Datsun L320

Much of life seems to be ruled by an imaginary pendulum, swinging back and forth between polarizing opposites. Of course there is a middle ground full of blurry grey lines throughout, but there always seems to be two endpoints at which stand opposite choices of equal force. The world of custom cars and trucks is no exception to this general rule of order. Some choose to keep things subtle, understated, and within the calm but pleasant waters of factory condition. Others tend to dabble in the deep end a bit, venturing from time to time into less predictable zones of modification. Then, there are the ones that take on oceans unknown and plunge headlong into the uncharted territories of complete customization. Many of us have felt that tension, attempting to settle on one side of the pendulum. For proud #teamslamd supporter, Joe Contenta, he eventually knew that in regards to his Datsun,…Continue Reading

Behind The Build: Cal Auto Creations ’62 Chevy Bubbletop

In the custom automotive world, there are unique rides and then there are vehicles that make up a level and category all their own. Here at Slam’d Magazine, we like to think all of our feature rides are in a class outside of the “norm” and this killer Bubbletop is certainly no exception to that. That’s because this is not just another gorgeous ’62 Bel Air bubbletop, it is THE Bubbletop — owned by Randy and Lisa Wilcox and built by the one and only Andy Leach his team at Cal Automotive Creations. Photos & Words: Lindsey Fisher If this car looks familiar, it’s probably because it’s been in the limelight quite a bit. Not only did it win the 2015 Barrett-Jackson Cup last summer at the Hot August Nights show, it was also named one of the top picks for the Battle of the Builders competition at last year’s SEMA Show.…Continue Reading

Forbidden Fantasy Makes Moves – Laughlin Show ‘N’ Shine 2016

In an expansive landscape of death clad desert, broken only by the rushing of the Colorado River, the Avi Hotel & Casino makes for a true oasis among plenty of false mirages. At this dream like action venue, some of the finest custom cars, minitrucks, and hot rods gathered for the new and improved Forbidden Fantasy Show ‘N’ Shine. After hosting this show in SoCal for the past 18 years, the club came together wanting to shake things up a bit and planned a HUGE change for the better. Hitting a theme that’s near and dear to us, Quality Over Quantity, the Forbidden crew sought ought a location that would allow for a limited number of quality entrants and provide a fun weekend getaway for those in attendance – NAILED IT. With this limited space and resort style atmosphere came some guidelines and every single car, truck, and rod on display was there for…Continue Reading

The Suspension Jamboree – SoCal Suspension’s Open House

San Diego is probably one of the most coveted places of residence in the United States, and possibly the world over. With fathoms of beach stretched along the coast, musical culture, an extremely laid back atmosphere, beautiful landscapes, and near perfect weather year round, the larger San Diego area essentially describes heaven on earth for millions of people. If you’re a gear head or car guy of any sort, many areas in SoCal resonate with culture and history. Home to a huge lowrider culture, east county also offers an array of off-road shops and most importantly for those who love both lowered and lifted rides – So Cal Suspension, with our good friend Eric Conner at the helm. So Cal Suspension is a full service aftermarket suspension shop, building some seriously killer rides made to crawl, jump, and best of all, ride Slam’d to the ground. Photos & Words: Michael Phillips SoCal Suspension has begun and upheld…Continue Reading

Lone Star Throwdown 2016 – Maxed Out & Makin’ Moves

Just when we though that the annual Lone Star Throwdown show could not possibly get any bigger OR better – boy were we wrong! Voted Slam’d Mag “Show of the Year” for 2015, they certainly had a lot to live up to for 2016. Never knowing exactly what the state of Texas has in store for us, we made the drive all the way from San Diego (roughly 53 hours round trip) to take part in one of the best all around events of the year.  Photos: Sean French, Stetson Bowerman, Mike Alexander | Words: Michael Phillips The Lone Star State truly needs no introduction. Any attempt will fall short of appropriately representing the richly nuanced domain called Texas. The gem of ‘Merican culture and western dreams maintains the claim that everything is bigger and better, within its borders. Such a claim is hard to deny with shows like the LST continually crushing previous…Continue Reading

Temecula Rod Run – Automotive Sublimity In The Suburbs

If you have never ventured to the town of Temecula, California, then do your best to imagine a picturesque example of suburban America. It resides as a near-perfect commuter city placed halfway between San Diego and Los Angeles. The city serves as a home to Southern California’s most prestigious wineries, roughly 100,000 people, and an unfathomable number of family minivans and small SUVs. The little city shares a beautiful valley with a couple of other small towns, all placed at the split of the I15 and I215 freeways.  Photos & Words: Michael Phillips Temecula is a town with a deep and rich history, tied extensively with Old West styles and traditions. At the heart of this culture is Old Town Temecula, a strip of seemingly ancient (at least for American timelines) buildings, both preserved and repurposed. There are also several modern buildings that have been erected in period correct architecture,…Continue Reading