What’s up everyone! Spring is here and the smell of fresh rubber is burning in the air. With spring arriving, it brings the chance to shed the jackets and sport some shorts plus cruising your ride with the windows down. Only two words can best describe this feeling that winter boredom causes, SPRING BREAK! That’s right it’s time to party, cruise the strip and of course hit some of the wildest shows held during the madness!

This month we will be making a stop into Columbus, OH for the Import Life Tour. Impulse Productions have gone national with the Import Life Tour making stops all over the US. The show will be held at the Columbus Convention Center on April 10th 2004. For more information or directions to this event, check out www.importlifetour.com .

On the cover this month we bring a warm atmosphere from the sands of Panama City Beach, FL, with Kevin Benoit’s 1982 Chevy Blazer. Kevin representing Negative Camber never had the intentions of turning heads and dropping jaws when he built this one of a kind cruising machine. Needless to say when Kevin got bit by the Custom bug, the response from his eye catching ride was just the thing he needed to take his ride to the next level. Soon this clean cruiser will be receiving a makeover, while making a trip back to the paint shop for some custom design goodies!

To top off this months cover we bring you the seductive April Gauge Girl Jaclyn Hubbard. I was able to catch up with Jaclyn at the Spring Fling show held in Panama City Beach. While sporting the NC logo on the cover, Jaclyn her self has plans on Body Dropping her own dually and throwing sparks in more ways than one!

We start off this month in Indianapolis, IN for the 45th Annual World of Wheels. The event was held at the Indiana State Fairgrounds on the weekend of January 30th – February 1st 2004. The organization of the Indy High Winders prevailed in one of the smoothest operated events and pulled in a stellar crowd. For more information on next years events, check out www.worldofwheels.com .

For a little break in the action, and one hell of a good time, we bring you the East Coast Bowling Nationals. Freelance Photographers John Jackson and Mark Kottuoitz hooked up with Acrophobia to catch the lifestyle of there 5th Annual gathering. The excitement was held at Chacko’s Bowling Center in Wilkes-Barre, PA on February 7th 2004. For more information or extended coverage check out www.Acrophobia.net .

Next, I had the pleasure of covering the infamous Detroit Autorama in Detroit, MI. The 52nd Annual event was held at Cobo Hall on the weekend of February 27-29 2004. Where the Ridler Award is presented every year to the outstanding vehicle shown for the first time: it is one of the most prestigious awards to receive in the automotive industry. The hard work and creativity that went into the vehicles that were competing for the Ridler were breathtaking to witness. After a long weekend of debating between the judges, Albert Brockly from Lansing, IL was able to go home accomplishing what he came for… the Ridler Award! For more information on this event or to see the indoor schedule, check out www.worldofwheels.com .

Taking a jump back to last year, we spent a weekend with Photographer James Patten at the Last Blast Custom and Classic Car and Truck Show. The 2nd Annual event was hosted by Down 2 Earth Car Club, at the ITOO Hall in Peoria, IL on the weekend of October 18-19 2003. See how the guys from Down 2 Earth finish off one hell of a show season! For more information on next year’s event, contact Jim Wike at jwike@bwsys.net.

We caught up with Freelance Photographer John Jackson in West Palm Beach, FL for Blood Drag. The 6th Annual event was presented by Extreme Lowz at the South Florida Fairgrounds on the weekend of February 28-29 2004. With the rapid increase of success this event has had, the fairground has already guaranteed Extreme Lowz for next years two day show off! For more information and directions for next years event check out www.blooddraginc.com .

Last but definitely not least, Freelance Photographers Smalls, Michael McGill, and I took a trip south to Panama City Beach, FL to capture quality coverage of Spring Fling. Once again, Vital Signs were able to pull together an impressive collection of custom vehicles in the Frank Brown Park on the weekend of March 13-14 2004. I’m pretty sure a record was broken when not one drop of rain fell during the duration of the event. For extended coverage on this event, check out www.vitalsigns.org.

We have another stunning line up of feature vehicles for you this month. First up, is Kevin Wilking representing Rush Factor with a 1995 Mitsubishi Eclipse. I was able to catch up with Kevin at the Ass in the Grass show in Dayton, OH this past year. We were able to complete the aggressive look of Kevin’s Eclipse with the gorgeous curves of Model Iesha Hankins.

We end off with Nathan Wimmer representing Kollapsed Klearance in his 1998 Chevy S-10. I met Nathan at the Bristol Motor Speedway during the NOPI Mini Truck Nationals this past July. During the 2 ½ years it took Nathan and friends to create this unique dime, there never seems to be a stopping point to this project. Be sure to check out the new revisions to Nathan’s ride this summer.

As usual, if you have any questions or comments please do not hesitate to contact me!

Until next month keep your heads up and at least one frame rail on the ground! Peace!
BIG WOOD
bigwood@gaugemagazine.com