Retro-Future Meets Kustom Meets Robot

I figured I’d post a view of the new tee’s I designed for Max over at Bio Kustumz (motto: “We Suck Less”)…

Max had requested something robotic, with an early-1950′s Cadillac, and machinery. I rolled with that, and came up with the artwork above, incorporating a robot customizer putting the finishing touches on his custom Caddy, while his sidekick offers up some potential ornamentation. Sadly for him, the little pooch is being waved-off on the fuzzy dice. I threw in some mixes of retro-future and fictional machinery, along with a ton of killer little details.

The shirts will be hitting soon, and this is the first in a planned series of “artist tees”, and will feature some big names like Max Grundy, Dwayne Vance, myself and others! …so get to Bio Kustumz’ site and snag a few!

... and hey-- if I may be of service to design YOUR next killer te, hit me up on my site at ProblemChildKustoms.com. Thanks!

LeMans Giveaway

Win FREE stuff! Refer a friend to subscribe to our newsletter here: http://tiny.cc/oq0tj , and we'll send a random current subscriber and one of his/her newly subscribed friends a copy of LeMans on DVD, starring Steve McQueen.

Does it really get any better or easier? I submit that it could not.

Consider: Last week, we gave away two copies AND a book! (Art of the Hot Rod by Ken Gross, a killer coffee table book LOADED with studio shots of hot rod goodness) simply for being you and being a part of Studio PCK.

"How's it all work?", you ask.... Easy as this: Head to the link above, and drop in your details to become a subscriber to our e-Newsletter. It's fast, easy and FREE. (we'll never use your info for anything nefarious, nor sell it, spam it, etc.) Then, as a subscriber, you'll be entered for our random giveways and shiny, informing and entertaining e-News.

Even better: Once you're subscribed, send the link to friends, neighbors, car club pals, co-workers... and have them put YOUR name in the "Referred by" box, and bingo... you're BOTH entered to win the DVD (you'll each get one). DVD's will go to a random referred subscriber AND the subscriber who refers the most new folks. Obviously, you can only win if you're a subscriber, so what are you waiting for?

Spread the word, or sign up and THEN spread the word! Thanks!

Garage Sale!

If you're a fan or friend of ours on Facebook, then you've probably seen what we've been doing with the page, and how it's starting to take on a life of its own. Between the blogs, sneak peeks and more, we're stoked about the new features, and are adding more all of the time!

One popular feature has been the Garage Sale (you'll need to be a fan to view it)... We've been offering one-off's, originals and protoypes, and have much more on the way. Some has reached actual bidding war, while other items have gone for literally pennies on the dollar.

We have two new items up for grabs this weekend, with an anaglyph (a 3D image) that hung in the Hot Rod Art Book: Masters of Chicken Scratch show at GINAC Gallery last year... It is framed, includes killer Wayfarer-style glasses, and is signed. A true one-off collectible indeed.

We recently packed and shipped off this original:

...which was a detailed, mixed media Tour de Force, and the new owner is stoked.

Get in on the deals, and grab some great stuff as we make room in the Studio for new projects and capabilities! Hope to see you there, and thanks!

New Summer Tees at HUGE Savings

We have a limited number of our well-received (and obviously popular!) Art Ragz series of t-shirts, and in sizes from small through 2XL (adult sizes only). What's great is that, for under ten bucks, you get a THREE COLOR (yeah, 3 colors!) design, printed on the back, and our logo up front... all on a lightweight tee that's perfect for Summer. Even better: with the low price, you won't live in fear of messing it up in the garage, shop, studio, environmental disaster, using it to choke a hippie, pie-eating contest, whatever.

These are Gildan Ultra Blend tees,and the printing is light enough (and has enough open space, too) that you won't get that dreaded "sweaty back" feeling... And, as if that weren't enough, we threw in some 'flake, too... because, after all, what's cooler than THAT?

Here's the front, BTW:

You can buy some tees in our online store... As we said, limited quantities remain, and Summer's here, so grab 'em while they last... And, as always, thank you for the support!

When the Rubber Hits the Road

While it certainly sounds like the event which might signal the close of a truck stop tryst (We apologize for that. Brian apparently found the good coffee again –Ed.), but we’re more interested (for the time being) about the 2010 Amsoil/Street Rodder Magazine Road Tour car leaving the shop, and hitting the wide open spaces, highways, side streets and assorted roadside tourist traps that make our country great.

The Shadow Rods-based hauler made a grand entrance on May 16th at Southern Rods in Greer, South Carolina, and we’re stoked all over again! Built by our pal (and Hall of Famer, no less) Zane Cullen over at Cotati Speed Shop in Santa Rosa, it’s a killer combination of traditional style, reverence to the Bay Area’s storied hot rod past, and modern reliability and power. The car looks incredible with a track nose, hood blister, and so much of that trademark Cotati Speed Shop attention to detail that we can’t begin to list it all here…

You can keep up with the Tour Car  on the official blog HERE, and see where Jerry is headed, where he’s been, and where you can join in the fun, too! And if you can, head on out and join the fun!


…and hey…. if I can be of use to design YOUR next ride, website, whatever… hit me up on the site! www.problemchildkustoms.com

Ideas for Custom Cars

Ideas upon ideas… Oh, we get lots of those… and while we could write a book about the ideas Brian throws out there each day, we just can’t afford a blanket insurance policy that big. Suffice to say, then, that it made our day when the new Motorbooks Custom Cars Idea Book hit the doorstep…


Alan Mayes (managing editor of Ol’ Skool Rodz and Car Kulture DeLuxe) has thrown down a nifty collection of photos reminiscent of the Motor Life, Car Craft, et.al. specials and columns of the 1950′s and 1960′s highlighting custom car ideas and trends, and packaged them neatly in this 160 page (with, dig this: 536 COLOR images… yes, over 500 color photos!) book. What this amounts to is a great reference piece for the garage or den or studio. Imagine having all of your Google searches for headlight and tail light, top chop, grille and other ideas in one book?

For me, it’s a great lunchtime companion… seriously. A couple of times a week, I take a break to just sit back and eat something, and this book is a tremendously fun way to kill a few minutes, and stretch the brain, car-wise when the mood hits. It’s laid out in an almost intuitive fashion, spanning Pre-War models, the ubiquitous ’49-’51 Mercs, and then on to 1950′s and 1960′s cars, before diving into show rods, trucks and a few late-models. There are even handy sections (a-ha! a pun…) on front and rear end treatments, chassis, paint, trim and more.

While I’d certainly love to see more on show rods, it’s a great overview, and again, collection of custom cars. It certainly works very well to spark your creative side when planning a project, and excels as an overview of popular customizing techniques. This book would be a fantastic primer (pun count: 2) for anyone new to the hobby, and certainly a great quick-reference guide when the inevitable “do you know that car?” conversation pops up.

My only gripe would be with some of the photographs, which seemed sourced rather than shot with the specific intent of being used in a book of this nature. A few more “head-on” shots or closeups would have been great, but overall, the message in each photo (and all are captioned, by the way… which is FANTASTIC) comes across loud and clear, and the clarity of every photo is great. Highly recommended for your reference library, and well worth the cover price.

Speaking of the price, you can scoop up a copy in our bookstore, and save a few bucks, too ($8.50 to be exact)!

Custom Cars IDEA BOOK: Coupes Sedans Pickups
Alan Mayes
Paperback
160 Pages
Illustrated with 536 color images
Motorbooks
Availability: June 8, 2010

One Lap Camaro Takes First!

James and David hit the proverbial road on the 2010 Tire Rack One Lap of America, and pushed 3528 miles in eight days, competing in road course (long and short variations), 1/4 mile and skidpad events. The entire event pushes man and machine, and the guys placed first in Vintage American! An outstanding achievement and well-deserving of praise indeed!

We in the Studio were stoked to be a part of it all, and were sponsors alongside the big dogs like OPTIMA Batteries, Hellwig Products, ISIS Power, Camaro Performers Magazine, Currie Enterprises, Heighton Restorations, Speed Tech Products, Spectre Performance, FM3 Performance Marketing, Pozzi Racing, and Mothers Wax’s and Polishes… Hell, we even rode along (logo-wise on the spoiler, anyway! As the wife said, it gives us some street cred, making us kinda like the “Carlton Banks of street cred… known for doing something well, but still funny to watch dance.”)…

…making this our near-official domination, appearing on and off-road, in the air, and on the sea. All we need now is to sponsor a submarine, a train and some form of spacecraft, and we’re golden (we’ll settle for a hoagie wrapper, a scale model of the Enterprise and a few laps around a Christmas tree on a Lionel. Not picky, you know…).

Our sincerest congratulations and a hefty swelling of pride for the team, and best wishes on the next conquest! HUGE thanks, too, to all who grabbed a t-shirt and helped to support grass-roots racing at it’s finest.

No doubt that this win puts a little something extra in the meaning of the shirts, and I can’t begin to tell you how cool it was to have the opportunity to play a part!
(if you haven’t grabbed one yet, hit the boys up HERE, and grab a few!)