2010 Grand National Roadster Show

This past weekend was spent in Pomona at the 61st Grand National Roadster Show, or GNRS for short. This is one of the most important car shows of the year, drawing big names in the auto industry. Along with about a dozen unbelievable cars competing for the coveted “America’s Most Beautiful Roadster” Award, there is also hundreds of other top-notch classics.

With all the talk going on about the AMBR winner at the Grand National Roadster Show, I wanted to take the opportunity to show you some of the other great award-winning cars on display. There must have been well over 100 awards given out during Sunday’s award ceremony! This is not including awards given out in the Suede Palace (those cars don’t run in competition with the others, it’s more of a low-shine exhibit if you know what I mean.)

To start with, this sweet 1952 Chevrolet Coupe won the George Barris Kustom D’Elegance Award. I dug it for it’s cool green paint by Gene Winfield as well as it’s cam shaft front grill.

Ultimate Street Car Invitational on SPEED tv

Hey ya’ll…what are ya doing this weekend?! If you’re not busy (like me) at the Grand National Roadster Show, you should catch the debut of Optima Batteries’ “Ultimate Street Car Invitational.”

I had the privilege of being at this event, and it was the coolest thing next to Speedweek! Where else do you get the chance to see street legal cars ranging from a 1927 Tucci Roadster to Muscle Cars to Modern Stuff take off head-to-head in race-car style conditions?!? Nowhere! So, pull up a seat and watch!

It’ll be airing on SPEED TV this Saturday, January 30th @ 11am ET and again Sunday January 31st @ 4pm ET. It’s an hour-long ride o’ fun!

Included in the 51 car and drivers, is a very expert “Grease Girl”, Mary Pozzi. You can learn a little more about her as you watch (she might look nice and reserved…but watch out!) I was able to meet up with her at the show’s premiere event here in Los Angeles this past week…and we made a little video just for you! It sounds like Mary may be gracing us soon with some of her expert Grease Girl knowledge, so be on the lookout!

Until then, have an awesome weekend, check back soon for tons of stuff from the Grand National Roadster Show, and enjoy watching the Ultimate Street Car Invitational!

Car Interior 102 – Rebuilding Your Seats

Looking at this picture now, I can no longer imagine my original plans were to simply slap some seat covers on and call it a day. I changed my mind when I realized these ol’ seats had been rat-infested and that the majority of my time spent with my car would be sitting in the driver’s seat! Making over my car’s interior was one of the first jobs I tackled alone on my 1955 Studebaker. Whenever I open the door and sit on my plush and sturdy bench seat, I’m thankful that I took the time.

This article is just one of an entire series focusing on how-to rebuild your car’s interior yourself, next up will be Car Interior 103 – Auto Upholstery. Before we get to upholstering, let’s make sure you’ve got a good foundation to put that pretty new fabric on.

Welcome to the garage!

Hello ladies (and gents too)! Grease Girl has had a lot of new visitors since my appearance on the Style Network (video clip is below)…and so I wanted to say a special welcome to you all and thanks for visiting!

I hope this is a place where you can learn and be inspired to get more familiar and more involved with your car! Since I started working on my 1955 Studebaker, its been empowering to realize that I can get in there,get greasy, and get the work done! Its also brought many good times and terrific new friends along.

Let me introduce you to some of the various parts of GreaseGirl.com

• All of the how-to articles (such as Changing a Tire 101) can be found under the tab at the top of this page titled “learning“.
• For more info about me or my car, look under the “the girl” or “the car” tab.
• Most of my stories are here at GreaseGirl.com, but I also write for another site called MyRideisMe.com. You’ll find some stories there (like this one on Hot Rod Art) that I haven’t posted here.
• Other than just learning about cars, I also go to lots of cool events…so if you want a little peek into car world or kustom kulture, you can check out stories like Droppin’ Anchor at Ink & Iron, Gettin’ Girlie at Viva Las Vegas, or even just Why We Love Cars!
• And lastly, I’ve gotten lots of comments and questions on my hair and look. Visit back, as I’m working on building a “style” section. In the meantime, you might have fun following a fellow vintage-inspired lady, Iris, over at her YouTube channel with lots of how-to videos for pin up hair.

I hope you have a wonderful time looking around GreaseGirl and more importantly, getting greasy in your own garage! I’d love to hear about your experience, so drop me a comment! And in the days and months to come, I’ll be here at GreaseGirl sharing with you what I’m learning on my adventures…subscribe so you don’t miss a thing!

Happy Trails until the next adventure,

Kristin

Car Interior :101

Happy 2010!! Now that the holidays are over, it’s time to get down to business! And for Grease Girl that means giving you more of what I originally set out for…to help the beginning car person get involved in the garage! While I hope my wish list will provide the topics for some great how-to articles over the coming months, I’ve got a few tech how-to’s up my sleeve already.

Next to mechanics, paint is priority for most.  However its my opinion that interior is more important, particularly if its a daily driver. Far more hours are spent sitting on the inside than viewing the paint outside, right!?! So what better place to start this year off than with the very first job I tackled on my Studebaker – the interior!

Get ready for a whole series of articles this month on redoing your classic car’s interior. Before jumping in, I thought I’d start with a few tips from a pro. Luis Loyola was kind enough to have me over to his shop, Loyola Auto Interiors, and share with us some terrific expert advice.

So sit down, relax, and get ready to get to work!