Off The Beaten Path
Gold Rush Car Show is located in what's known as the City of Gold. What started out as a small car show back in the '80s, and has turned into a huge success. The show is put on once a year, during the same weekend as the Oroville, California, Feather Fiesta days (May 10th). A huge parade and many events go on at the same time. All the money raised goes to a local non-profit organization to help with the community. Everyone involved happily donates his or her time to make this an event worth coming back to. More than 250 trophies were awarded to the judges' favorite picks.

Time to head back to the dirty, dirty. It's been a couple of years since I've been down to the good ol' dirty South, but man I miss it! Many of my closest friends from out of state reside in the few states surrounding the area, and having won Show of the Year, what better excuse to go out and stretch my legs, than check out one of Mississippi's biggest and best shows?

For the past few years in the world of minitruckin', there has been an ongoing battle between two (or possibly three, however you look at it) different groups: those who believe in building a truck yourself, and others who have no problem with paying for someone else to build their truck, or those who buy a completed truck. Each side slams the other side with insults and opinions, yet nobody's going anywhere.

Hard Luck Of The Month
Justin Sharadin has run into some bad luck, as of late, when it comes to his '97 Sonoma. On a rainy Saturday morning in April, he was on his his way home from a friend's house, then somehow found himself driving off the road into a field. However, that wasn't the worst part: as he tried to recover and stop the truck, out of nowhere a ditch hit his truck head on. Then, as a kick in the nuts, when he tried to get it covered the insurance company said, "Go pound sand." To sum everything up: his '97 Sonoma is totaled, Justin is looking for another insurance company, and he's searching for a new ride. Justin told us he plans on getting another S-10 or Sonoma, and he hopes to be minitruckin' again by summer.

A few months ago, my wife Sandi told me that she wanted to go to the Paso Robles show that had recently been moved to Santa Maria. She has attended this show for the last three years, so it really came as no surprise. We have a '69 Chevelle station wagon that is used for a daily driver, but it isn't a show-worthy piece by any means. It needed an overhaul if it was going to be seen by the "kustom kar kulture."

Things are finally starting to calm down as I settle into the new Associate Editor position. The time has come for me to start on the journey of writing my very own column, so welcome to "The Grind." Since this is my first column here at MT, I figure I might as well introduce myself. A couple months ago, Editor Mike Alexander somewhat introduced me as he said goodbye to Ernie Macias in the July Issue of MT, but I'm sure you would like to know more about who I am and what I am about.

Hello, and welcome to the very first edition of The Hot Seat. Each month, we are going to take a person that has been a vital part, a mentor, or made some significant impact on the scene, then expose him or her, and make them blush for your reading enjoyment. So sit back, light a match, do a courtesy flush, and enjoy this month's installment of The Hot Seat with the President of Low Rollers and Show Promoter of End of Summer Bash, Phil Fowler.

Hard Luck Of The Month
Leon Stollings of Palm Coast, Florida learned the importance of checking his work-the hard way. He installed new 'bags and air lines in the front of his Dakota. When he was done, he jumped into his truck to roll it out of the garage and wash it. Well, he soon found out that he forgot to check one thing: his brakes. Leon must have removed the brake lines from the calipers when changing out the 'bags and forgot to bleed them upon reinstallation. So, when he was backing out and found that he had no brakes, it was too late to do anything-except hit a dirt hillside in order to stop before rolling into traffic. And for that, we are sure that Leon will never forget to bleed his brakes again.

The Energy Department is predicting a summer of record gas prices. Regular gas will average as much as $3.60 a gallon, although the national average price could spike as high as $4 a gallon at times, according to government analysts. Regular gasoline now costs 11.9 cents more than in the last few months and 56 cents more than a year ago. Mid-grade gasoline sells for $3.69 a gallon, and premium sells for $3.79. Retail diesel is up 2.1 cents to $4.066, which also sets a new record.

Ever since I was a wee tyke, riding around in my slightly modified tricyle, I've always been-shall we say-artistically inclined. That's a nice way of saying, I've always loved art, detail, fabrication, tattoos, and anything to do with creative outlets of expression. However, I've never quite had the skill to do any of it as well as the pros. I can't draw a stick figure to save my life, but I can envision the craziest mods on a vehicle in my head all day long. I can't photoshop my buddy's face onto a woman's body just to make fun of him (yes, they've done that to me before). But, I can look at the horizon and picture the most amazingly composed painting, photograph, or a rendition of that exact moment of nature's beauty in a million different ways.

Have you checked out the Mini Truckin' magazine Article Archives on minitruckinweb.com yet? While somewhat hidden among all the cool things you'll find on the web-site, these archives are a fantastic resource, and we really want to make sure you don't miss out!

Hard Luck Of The Month
Sixteen-year-old Cody Rouse has had some bad luck with his body-dropped Nissan Hardbody. Cody got his license two days before the accident, and the first day coming home from school, he parked behind his mom in the driveway. Well, about an hour later, his mom walked in the door and told him she hit his truck. She wasn't kidding, either, she plowed right into it. From the looks of it, she might have had a running start, too. It crushed his core support and fender, the radiator and condenser were toast, and the radiator fan was destroyed when it smashed into the hood. It was a horrible day for young Cody. So, to ease his pain and suffering, we are going to hook him up with a one-year membership to the FBI Brushed Club and also a mystery gift from FBI.

Mahindra Vehicles to hit U.S. Auto Market in 2009Mahindra SUVs and trucks, the first line of Indian-made automobiles to debut in the United States, will offer a blend of ruggedness, performance, and affordability; highlighted by a clean-burning diesel engine. It's built with top-of-the-industry green technology, which was designed to reduce emissions and maximize fuel efficiency.

The way life kicks me in the butt ...It's like every single time I make fun of or give someone a hard time for something, I get it back tenfold. A few months back, Ernie Macias kept getting sick, so I was constantly making fun of him for it. So guess what? Yup, I've been sick for almost two months straight! Which I guess I deserve for the way I was hounding him about it, but that's beside the point.

MT Tattoos
Kustomz Ink Klothing is our sponsor for the infamous MT Ink section. We figured it made a great pair! Make sure to check out kustomzink.com for the latest on kustom minitruck gear.
Once again, it seems that minitruckers are as down as they come, whether it's reppin' their club, their favorite magazine, or just our one-of-a-kind lifestyle. The tattoos remain one of the most popular Minitruckin' Lyfestyle sections, so keep submitting your pictures to mini.truckin@sourceinterlink.com to ensure a shot at getting in the mag.

Today is the first day of the rest of my life. You see, today is the last time I get to write my own column as the Associate Editor of Mini Truckin'. The time has come to move on to other things. I didn't say bigger or better things, because as a hardcore minitrucker, nothing is better than working for the magazine that I have adored for so many years.

There's a new clothing company in town, we think it has a message you should really check out.

It seems all I've been writing about lately is change. Things have beenreally crazy for me this past year, and this change is just the beginning. Since we print three months in advance, by the time a lot of you read this, the news will already be widespread. But, yes, it's official. My previous partner in crime, Ernie Macias, left his Associate Editor chair to pursue a business that he started a couple months back. I'm super proud to see him succeed, as we've really grown close during the last few years. He's vowed to continue helping out here on the magazine when he can, but his new company will be keeping him pretty busy.

Michael Lepker is one of the coolest old-skool minitruckers out there. He pretty much puts everybody's dads, grandpas, and friends to shame. While most dads are tinkering on some old Chevy or a ridiculous Model A, Mike Lepker is building minitrucks. Not just any minitruck, either, but a truly cool and old-skool one. He started messing with trucks in Escondido, California, back in 1974 and has since owned more than 18 Datsun 620s. We sat down to talk to Mike and this is what he had to say.

It's that time of the year again, time to gear up for another show season. By the time the ink hits this page, the 2008 Show Season will be in full swing. After being locked in the office for the last two years working on magazine improvements -among other things-I'm itching for some fresh shows. I'll be hitting a few big and small new shows across the country that I've never visited before. So, if you see me cruising around, or if I looklost, come by and say what's up.

As we reached the 20-year mark of Mini Truckin' magazine, it made me wonder about the next generation of minitruckers. What will they build and what will they drive? Will our lifestyle and hobby disappear in the next few years, or grow stronger? It seems from the extinction of new minitrucks by manufacturers, we can only wonder what the future will hold. But then again, I've seen hot-rodders, who are still finding Model As in barns to this day. So, could there be stashes of minitrucks somewhere, too? My hope is that as long as there are minitrucks floating around, somebody is going to cut them up. Maybe Ford or somebody will start importing those weird minis from Asia, which we don't get in the States, to help us deal with these pricey gas years.

A long time ago, back in 1975, when disco was getting ready to be the next big thing, and vans were still the coolest thing on wheels, a young man straight out of the Army, joined a club, called Westside Truckers. Back then, there weren't too many minitruck clubs around. But, Westside Truckers was one of the best in the Southern California area. About one year into his membership, Bob Hase, along with a few other members of Westside, came up with the idea to throw a show. Not just any show, but a truck run on New Year's weekend. After some discussion, they came up with a name, a name that would be later known as the biggest minitruck party of the year, Resolutions.

We've all been told "nothing is certain except death and taxes." Life has a strange way of continually reinventing itself through both little and big changes. Change, my friends, is inevitable. But, it's what you do with the change and how you handle it that matters. This year, we've officially lost one of the best shows on the West Coast, as we bid farewell to The Resolutions show. Although it's sad to see it go, it was amazing to see all of the support that the minitruck community gave to help this show go out with a bang. There were lines all the way to the street on Thursday night!

Painted Logos

Hardluck Of The Month
It's time for another installment of a minitrucker's worst nightmare. This month we heard from Steve, another guy who gets to cut up his truck; brought upon by all the wrong reasons. On August 13, 2007, Steve parked his truck in the same spot he always did, laid it out, and walked away. Thirty minutes later, some crazy chick slammed into it with a Jeep Liberty and claimed she hadn't see it. She slammed it so hard, it got pushed back seven feet, which is amazing since it was planted firmly on the ground. The good news is Steve got it back from the insurance company and now it's getting body-dropped. Good luck with the Blazer, Steve.