The sun is shining and the roar of hot rods, classics, bombs, rat rods, kustoms and every other type of custom cars, trucks and motorcycles are cruisin’ in for the 18th Annual Ventura Nationals. 

This event is held annually at the Ventura fairgrounds in beautiful Ventura, California. The day was sunny with cool ocean breezes. You can’t beat this kind of weather for a custom hot rod show. We dig it!

With over 500 cars pre-registered, that number increased tremendously the day of the show.

As we walked along the rows of custom vehicles the number of cool cars were almost too much to see in one day. Because this was an outdoor show, people were everywhere and wanted to get their picture taken, it was awesome, we think the guys posed more than the girls! But that’s what this show is about, to be seen!

There were several cool activities that were happening. A favorite was the pedal car contest. These miniature customs had some fine looking paint schemes and rivaled the real-life cars. We wanted to take one home.

Vendors were everywhere selling cool T-shirts, artwork, food, and grooming products from Suavicito were there to keep guys and girls’ hair looking fine. Kustomz Gallery from Ventura had a very cool art show featuring some of the best car culture artists in Ventura county and the best part was it was all for sale.

One cool family we ran into was a mother daughter pinstriping duo, Liv and Devyn Gordon. We were impressed with Liv’s ultra detailed artwork on women’s fingernails. Now we aren’t experts on custom fingernails but we know cool artwork when we see it and the detail that Liv created on a tiny canvas like a fingernail was, well.. you would just have to see it for yourself.

Just as we were done checking that out we saw  Liv’s daughter Devyn who is 14 years old doing some pinstriping like she was a seasoned pinstriper. Her artistic skills were awesome! It was cool to see younger generation kids picking up the art of pinstriping. Good job mom! Check out their artwork @livgordon1 and @devynspinstriping.

After checking out the artwork and mingling with the fans, yes fans, we were told throughout the day “We love DRIVE magazine” so thank you to all you awesome Drive! Magazine fans.

We then ventured toward the stage where Jackie Mendez and her band laid down some cool tunes and the crowd was definitely feeling the vibe. Once her set was over the band, 40 Acre Mule took the stage and it was on!

This Dallas Texas based band blends soul, country and rock and roll into their music and blurs the lines to create a sound that appeals to everyone. Wow, Jackie Mendez, 40 Acre Mule how could it get any better?

Well, hold on there little campers, the headliner was the Las Vegas based band the Delta Bombers. Yes sir, this band blends it all too! With a stand up bass and heavy-hittin’ guitars and a drummer that brutalizes his kit at every show this was truly a fan favorite.

If you ever get a chance to see any of these bands live we suggest you do just that.

By the end of the day our senses were cooked. Custom cars, custom artwork, pinstriping, super cool bands, tasty food and we still had two feature cars to shoot, overall It was a good day!

We wanted to give a special shout out to Aaron Stein and his wife Holly, the promoters of the show. Good job guys! Looking forward to next year’s show.

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