ProRide’s Project X-Box is taking longer than planned according to ProRide’s Denny Terzich, but good progress is still being made. The homage to PHR’s own Project X is still on pace to be revealed at the 2013 SEMA Show in Las Vegas this fall, and will feature many cool design elements. One of the coolest things is the Art Morrison chassis with a modular rear suspension that can be changed between a four-link and a three-link—one for drag racing and the other for road racing. The AME chassis should make X-Box a terror on both the quarter mile and the road course—a first for a Pro Touring car. (Speaking of Art Morrison, congratulations to the AME crew for building chassis number 1,000!) X-Box will get a 1,200hp pump-gas LS powerplant. In the profile photo you can see the wedge-cut roofline and rear brake cooling duct. More details to come!

On May 7, 2013, Jack Reacher hops into a 1970 Chevelle for an exhilarating car chase on Blu-ray, DVD and On Demand from Paramount Pictures. Tom Cruise plays the lead character, Jack Reacher, performing all the stunt-driving himself. The film was adapted from best-selling author Lee Child's wildly popular series of novels, Jack Reacher.

Eastwood's Pottstown, PA, retail store is reveling a grand reopening celebration set to fire off on April 19th - 28th. During the event, Eastwood is hosting free hands-on training classes covering topics such as welding and automotive refinishing. All visitors to the retail store who bring out their collector vehicle during the grand reopening celebration will receive a free gift and exclusive discounts.

This year marks the 110th anniversary for Buick; the company leaves behind a trail of quality cars and is currently cursing towards an even brighter future. Throughout its 11 generation history, Buick has sold more than 43 million cars - that's the equivalent of every vehicle sold in the United States over the past three years.

With its chrome-topped tail fins and chrome hood rockets, the '57 Chevy rolled off General Motors' assembly lines as a classic from the factory. Surprisingly enough, the '57 Chevy Bel Air is among the most sought after cars in America - for car thieves. In 2012 alone, forty-two '57 Chevys were stolen; a total of 23,250 Bel Airs have been stolen from 1958 through 2012.

The weekend of April 6, 2013, marked the Goodguys 13th Meguiar's Del Mar Nationals, which featured three full days of sunshine, nice temperatures and fantastic rides. As a perk, the fans were treated to the 6th annual Goodguys Editor's Shootout Autocross. Some of the nation's best autocrossers duked it out on the course throughout the weekend. "Fast" Mary Pozzi drove her '72 Chevy Camaro to the weekend's fastest AutoCross lap (53.243) earning her a coveted spot in the upcoming Goodguys Autocross Finals Shootout in November presented by BFGoodrich.

It's been nine years since Art Morrison experimented with his own project '55 Chevy (Project GT55) at the Goodguys "Street Machine of the Year" competition. For the project he used his own chassis design, and has since assembled and sold 1,000 of the Tri-5 GT Sport chassis. Engineered in 2004 as a groundbreaking "bolt-on" high performance chassis for 1955-57 Chevrolets, Morrison has produced a product that's established a proven reputation for success.

This may not seem like an imminent issue, but it's one that will affect everyone in the car hobby as the deterioration continues. The Bonneville Salt Flats are a historic and pertinent part of the automotive hobby. Regardless whether you're into classic, modern, American, foreign or some other type of car, the Salt Flats are important for the automobile hobby in general.

We heard a new term the other day. It's called a "Facebook Vacation." It's when people take a break from living on the Internet, and step outside into the bright light of day. Put your sunglasses on people, because you are about to go on a Facebook Vacation, and this one can actually net you free swag, like a full set of custom gauges from the Auto Meter Custom Shop, or a full set of Mickey Thompson ultra high-performance Street Comp tires.

If you're a fan of '50 and '60's automobiles, you recognize their style from a mile away. With fender flares, distinct cone-shaped taillights and lots of chrome, these cars are more than "grocery-getters," they're art. Beyond the eye-catching exteriors, these cars have equally as impressive interiors. From the steering wheel, to the door handles - every inch of these cars are decorated in either an art deco style or the conceptual trend of the '60s. Regardless of how you perceive the styling of the '50s and '60s automobile, it's tough to not recognize the craftsmanship involved in designing, engineering and building these rides.

We spent this past weekend traveling to the Dallas area where we witnessed a ton of great muscle car action at the Goodguys 3rd Spring Lonestar Nationals. It's without a doubt one of our favorite shows at one of our favorite venues! We were there specifically to capture all the action on the Street Machine Autocross, which takes place on the infield of the Texas Motor Speedway near turn 4. There's plenty of asphalt for the toughest muscle machines in Texas to duke it out for the title of fastest Pro Touring car in Texas, and the Lonestar crowd did not disappoint! The weather was picture perfect (except for the high wind!) and the cars clawed for every ounce of traction their 200 treadwear tires could get. We'll be bringing you all the details in the August issue of Popular Hot Rodding, but for now you can check out the six-minute highlight video by clicking here! Our next stop on the Goodguys tour will be the Meguiar's 13th Del Mar Nationals in Del Mar, California on April 5-7. We hope to see you there!

Suspension Breakthrough:

When you look around the automotive world, it's clear to see that hot rodding and V-8 engines are distinctly American creations. Sure, you can find a smattering of V-8s and/or hot rodders in pockets around the globe, but the United States is the home office for both. Where you find bent eights, you'll find hot rodders, and vice versa. The two enable each other.

Surveying the dyno facilities at the University of Northwestern Ohio (UNOH) the last Sunday of September, the scene was alight with activity. Inside the expansive receiving area a group of engine builders were busily unloading the crates containing their competition engines and essential parts. UNOH student team members selected to serve as assistants worked steadily prepping engines, carefully mating them to their assigned dyno docking carts. Stacked and ready for the festivities to begin were pallets of AMSOIL synthetic engine oil, and the necessary drums of VP 100 and VP Q-16 fuels. Down the hall, the adjacent dyno rooms were silent. The first of the competition engines for the morning start of the 2012 AMSOIL Engine Masters Challenge had already been married to the SuperFlow/DTS Powermark engine dynos and were ready to run. Over the course of the next five days this would become the epicenter of horsepower, where a collection of 32 determined engine builders put their talent and reputations on the line in a battle of power supremacy to claim the title of "Engine Master" in their respective division.

Maybe if the hacks in Hollywood werent so busy telling everyone how to vote, they might actually make a decent car flick. In a ridiculously obscene era of performance thats spawned 580hp ZL1 Camaros and 650hp Shelby GT 500 Mustangs, the best Tinseltown can come up with are movies in which pitching a car sideways like a hooligan is supposedly a novel concept. Please. Every good ol boy in America has been doing that since he turned 14. And thats with one hand tied behind their backs and the other hand strumming a banjo. On the flip side, back in the day filmmakers had a knack for making something out of nothing.

The year 2012 marks the 11th year Popular Hot Rodding has presented the AMSOIL Engine Masters Challenge. Over the years, weve had various format and rule changes that were designed to mix things up in the interest of diversity, but one thing that hasnt changed over time is our belief that the engines featured in PHR should be, above all else, street worthy. Its an indisputable fact that the vast majority of younot to mention the staff here at PHR--would rather spend their money on a tire-smoking daily driver or weekend street warrior than, say, an NHRA index racer or an alcohol-fueled circle track car.

Smudges on the shifter handle? Yes, sir! Dirt, wood chips, and tiny pebbles embedded in the carpet? You bet! A fresh layer of dust caked on the valve covers? Of course! When the task at hand is making a car look all pretty for photos, stuff like this can drive you nuts, and Randy Robison's '70 Mustang fastback is guilty of all three offenses. It even has a subtle-yet-peculiar wrinkle on the driver-side quarter-panel. For those who value pragmatism over pretentiousness, however, there's an endearing element of authenticity to all these quirks. You see, you'll never find minor blemishes like this in the typical checkbook machine because that would require actually driving the damn thing. In contrast, Randy drives his car often, he drives it hard, and he built it himself on a real working stiff's budget. While pricier g-Machines might flash more bling, this pony stomps them all with a big wallop of track-honed pedigree.

Remember those games in kids' magazines where you try to spot the differences between two pictures? Bob Bertelsen's '71 Camaro would be great for the car guy's version of this game. There's not a body panel on it that hasn't been re-formed, modified, or otherwise massaged, but most of the changes are so subtle, without a stock example sitting next to it, they escape the eye. That exemplifies what Bob does as a car builder. He works with the original design, and without trepidation, crafts it into the vision of how he sees the car in his mind.

RideTech & Goodguys Team Up For '69 Camaro Build

Ever since the first car mags started dyno testing hot rod V-8s over a half century ago, there's always been a kernel of suspicion over the results. There's just too many questions about who stands to gain by good (or bad) results, whether the dyno is correctly calibrated, and how the results are interpreted. Even if claims of favoritism are unsubstantiated, there's still the fact that magazines frequently publish tests done months apart on dynos in different places. It creates an uneven playing field that we've lived with so long that we hardly question it anymore.

What if you went to work one day and your boss had a sit-down with you. The news: He's going to pay you 5 percent more, you have to do 5 percent less work, the work you do will be 5 percent easier, your commute is going to be 5 percent shorter, and you get 5 percent more vacation time. When you go home that evening, your wife is 5 percent better looking, and that cold beer waiting for you in the fridge is 5 percent taller and 5 percent colder. Suddenly, 5 percent is a number that sounds pretty righteous.

Got a car you want the world to see?
Send specs and pix to johnnyhunkins@yahoo.com

Participant Teams

They say what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas. When it comes to the SEMA show however, nothing could be further from the truth. Every year in early November, the Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA) holds its annual trade show in Las Vegas at the Las Vegas Convention Center-the crossroads when it comes to all things performance and automotive aftermarket. Vendors, buyers, and automotive media occupy this jewel in the desert for an entire week, catching up on what's hot for the coming year. To show off their wares, companies entice the best car builders with the most creative chops to display their masterpieces under the spotlight. It is indeed a spectacle like no other, and in spite of SEMA being a trade-only affair, you can't blame us or anyone else for telling the world. Nope, the secrets of SEMA are not stayin' in Vegas!