Rad Rides Podcast

This story might be one of the most heart wrenching that I have done and when I first spoke with Rob Williams at World of Wheels Pittsburgh I knew his story needed to be told. It all starts with this Porsche 944, not just any run of the mill old car, maybe the finest restored 944 in North America, maybe the world. The project was started by his father and after his untimely death finished by Rob and rolled onto the Pittsburgh Convention Center floor, a dream his father envisioned.

Nick Rearick’s Skyline had already been imported and was quite possibly the cheapest R32 in the US at the time. He embarked on a journey over three winters to restore, upgrade and customize the car similar to an old school classic. The 1990 Skyline R32 was completely torn apart, gutted and put back together painstakingly all by Nick in his garage until it came out as his dream car.

Like the saying, “what’s old is new,” mini trucks are making resurgence and filling them with the latest technology and making these trucks cool again. Shawn Stemmerich is not new to this game and this 1997 S10 that you are about to read about and listen to, is a $2K truck that he’s owned for over 15 years, has gone through three different builds over its time.

On this crossover episode we talk muscle cars and professional bodybuilding with IFBB Pro Jennifer Zollars! We go into a deep dive of the bodybuilding world nd talk behind the scenes of a typical prep all the way up through show day. We also spoke about the podcast being hacked and some of Jen's favorite cars to photograph! You can find her on instagram @jeni.snax or on Facebook Jennifer Zollars or just catch her live during this upcoming season in the IFBB Professional league.

What you are looking at and listening to is the story of the lost 1981 Oldsmobile Omega that was indeed used as one the Official Pace Car for the 1981 PPG-CART-Indy Car World Series from the forgotten car era. This 1 of 1 prototype was the product of the GM beancounter reigns taken off using a mix of factory and aftermarket parts culminating in one of the raddest Omegas ever.

My faith in the Pittsburgh car scene has been rejuvenated with the first Steel City Cars N’at / Burgh Built end of summer bash. A collection of cars, trucks, lowrider, classics, exotics all gathered at the Soutpointe parking garage for a celebration of car culture before the hands of old man winter relegate these machines to the garage. Everyone behaved themselves, no burnouts, no donuts, no fights just a bunch of like minded enthusiast celebrating the freedom to drive their beloved machines and admiring each others works of art. I talked with three of the show goers in quick podcasts to find out some of the stories behind the 500 cars that showed up to the event.

Slate Performance is on a mission to become the premier custom and restoration shop in the Indianapolis area…and boy are they starting off hot. Their resume includes a CEO who worked on a NASCAR team to movie cars contracted by Universal Studios to wide body classic Corvettes pumping out 1000+ horsepower the quality and performance being pumped out is unmatched.

Within the past decade the phenomenon of cars and coffee started, presumably in California, where a group of car enthusiast started meeting in the mornings. No matter what the make or model, as long as you drove or rode it there you were admitted. Awesome, until like many things in our society it was ruined as it grew in size.

When putting together a car collection most go for some type of theme, a certain era of cars or only collect a certain make. For Justin Ross, his collection is based on some of his favorite designers and has a completely different take on what makes a car special to him. Names like Zagato, Giugiaro, and Gandini all continue to pop up when Justin explains how he built his collection. If you don’t know these names you should, they’re all designers that have influenced many of the iconic cars of the 70s, 80s and 90s and reason behind the rolling art studio that is Justin’s collection.

“Never forget” we use that phrase a lot, however it takes a unique person to truly never forget. We all love the classics, 60’s Mustangs, 30s hotrods, GM muscle, but what about the forgotten cars? Enter in Mr. Obscure, a mysterious man who has a passion for the rare, weird and forgotten cars of yesteryear. By day he works a normal job like the rest of us, however through the magic of sitting on the throne, educates the internet on obscure cars that 99.9% of us have never seen.

In every sense of the phrase “hand built",” EJ Talik is putting out some of the best hand built hotrods on the streets in America. Trained by fire he has learned the old school ways of swapping metal and has a resume that includes Riddler and Good Guys winning hotrods. His one man shop outside of Pittsburgh PA includes simple tools and a lot of man power. No big power hammers, not CNC machines, just EJ basic metal shaping tools and a shoulder with tendonitis that could tell a story.

For Cody James his daily driver Cobalt SS turned street/strip beast was built 100% at home out of boredom and to prove to his friends it could be done well and on a budget. The sticker on the side of his car is not only a metaphorical disclaimer but in every sense of the meaning, absolutely true. The car was built on blocks in a three car garage and is the only RWD Cobalt that still retains the unibody platform.

Like many of us aging Fast and the Furious kids we are at a point in our life where function sometimes outweighs form. So what is an aging car enthusiast to do? The unlikely four door that looks like a time attack weapon draped in black and carbon puzzled show goers and piqued the interest of the young and old alike.

For as much of a global economy as we live in there are still regional products that don’t make it around the world and when encountered in another environment seem alien. For Kris Laser and his son Kris Jr. their 1996 Honda Acty Attack truck would be an every day work truck in Japan but while driving on American roads its a show stopper everywhere it goes!

With the OBS market now as hot as ever these once frowned upon trucks are making a huge comeback along with the classic style of the time these ruled the car scene. Like a time capsule from the era Brian “Ham” Cunningham’s 1991 GMC is the embodiment of this era and was built to, “piss people off.”

For many of us looking to start a new project we run through the gamut of questions…budget, availability of parts, nostalgia and overall difficulty of building a certain model. For Joe and James all of these questions went right out the window when they decided to go off the beaten path and create two of the most unique vehicles roaming the streets and race track in Pittsburgh PA. Instead of asking why they have built these unique machines, we should be asking ourselves, “why not.” These two cars are strikingly more different than anything on the road, and the reason why custom car culture continues to have an endless supply unique vehicles that spark creativity for all ages.

Full of energy, big personality, mountainous laugh is underwhelming when describing John Kelly. He has lived an amazing life and in his late 30s has more life experience than more 70 year olds. During the podcast we spoke about F1, previous cars, military vehicles, Corvettes, overpaying for cars and totaling a 98 Ford Escort. A guy that is one of the reasons why the podcast came to fruition he is an inspiration to me through his work helping Veterans by advocating to suicide prevention.

Brian runs the aptly named Classic GBody Garage where he is dedicating his life to keep 82-89 Chevy, Pontiac, Oldsmobile and Buick cars on the road where they belong! Gbodies have always been on the fringe in the collector car world however with their time in the sun just beginning, Brian is at the forefront of the GBody movement.

Nothing makes me smile more when I pull up to a garage full of muscle cars, all of them wearing big fat cheater slicks. A quick glance around Christina’s garage you know this is a sanctuary dedicated to horsepower and classic American muscle. Let’s identify the elephant in the room, Christina is a woman in a hobby dominated by men, and while she wants to be known as a racer and elite car builder, she has put herself in a position that make many men jealous. As Christina put it, “I’m not trying to be a Tomboy and a girly girl, Im just trying to enjoy different things.” While this podcast and article is not about a woman in a mans world, it is about a unique individual that doesn’t fit the mold of traditional society.

There is a dying sector of the car world that isn’t glamorous, isn’t flashy and regarded by many as boring. Its the sector of the business that isn’t six figure builds and restorations and isn’t panel slapping collision work. Its the catch all of automotive repair and customization that is reliable and gets the job done. From brake repair, to wiring, metal fab and suspension set up Ian and Scott at Steel City Speed & Customs are the “blue jeans and t-shirt,” shop of the automotive industry. They can do it all and are the one stop shop for quick tune ups to full on builds but thier bread and butter is the down and dirty basic mechaical needs that 90% of us in the classic car world are in desperate need of…