“Way up north in the Pacific Northwest, there was a kid who loved cars.

Back in the day, before the dawn of the internet, a mighty cartel of print publishers ruled the nation’s magazine racks with an iron fist. Motor Trend, Road and Track and Hot Rod were towering automotive authorities and via their ink-soaked pages, one could view the vast, twinkling automotive landscape from a newsstand in Anywhere, USA.

At the end of every month, when the latest issues of the glossy car mags hit the racks, the aforementioned kid would be sitting on the floor at the drugstore on a Saturday morning reading about a ‘Secret Mid-Engined Corvette,’ the latest ‘Pony Car Shoot-Out,’ or a ‘Kustom Kar Show,’ somewhere off in a sunny, mythical Los Angeles or dirty, gritty Detroit…The trajectory to an automotive journalist, unbeknownst to him, was just beginning.”

I wrote that two years ago when I left my soggy hometown hamlet of Seattle,Washington to take over webzine Corvette Online in Murrieta, Califonia. Just as I started to get comfortable, I was appointed editor of Rod Authority, a sister publication here at Power Automedia dedicated to hot rods and kustoms.

I brought years of car enthusiasm and a severe case of fiberglass “fever” to the party at Corvette Online. I took the mag to new heights in traffic and interest during my tenure. I met—and reported—on most everyone involved with the Corvette, from shade tree mechanics and parts emporium impresarios, all the way up to Corvette Chief Engineers.

My only reservation about being the Corvette guy was that I wasn’t “allowed” to like other cars. Kind of like being editor for a Jazz magazine, but secretly rolling a playlist with Metallica and Motorhead…

I wish I had a picture of my office mate’s faces when I brought my Jade Green 1976 Thunderbird down from a relative’s in Sacramento. I bought the car for $2500 and had a lot of fun with it. They were horrified.

I’ve owned over 35 cars in my life running the gamut from Fords, Cadillacs, Corvettes and even a funky old Saab. Mostly though, I dig all kinds of cars with a special affinity towards American iron (and fiberglass.)

When veteran automotive journalist Bobby Kimbrough – and former Editor of Rod Authority – offered me the position, I was extremely flattered. While I now had a chance to cover all segments of the car hobby, I also had some incredibly big shoes to fill.

Little did I know, all the fun bullpen banter we have around the office regarding–but not limited to–hot rod babylon, Gene Winfield, Linda Vaughan, Larry Watson, Eddie Cochran et al., probably contributed to my candidacy for the new Rod Authority big cheese.

I am very passionate about the culture surrounding hot rods, customs, and muscle cars. It might be the most important aspect of the gig and I bring forward my perspective from the rear view mirror to today’s current trends.

My current stable of cars includes a C4 Corvette–natch—a 1999 LS1 powered Trans Am, a 1976 Cadillac Seville and a big ‘ol 2002 Ford Van.

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I have a soft spot for Cadillacs, I’ve owned seven. A ’58, ’60, ’67, ‘two ’76’s, ’92 and an ’06. My latest is the aforementioned Seville that I bought from a couple up in Beverly Hills last year. A two-owner car with 79k original miles, it was in “as delivered” condition, way back when Gerald Ford was in the oval office.

Inside, along with the musty scent of 42 years, it smelled remarkably like Mom’s purse, with a carefully curated bouquet of Certs breath mints, Oil of Olay and aged leather.

It was also one of the last GM car’s touched by the gifted hand of design guru Bill Mitchell. I’ve always wanted one. I paid $5000.00 and drove off into the sunset.

Running a Olds 350V8 with an ancient Bendix fuel injection system, it came F.O.B from Detroit, Michigan in “Innsbruck Blue,” (the Winter Olympics were in Innsbruck, Germany that year ) and a white vinyl top.

I am especially interested in the “zone” between low-riders and “California Customs,” so the first thing I did was kit out the old Caddy in Supremes and whitewalls. The guys at Truespoke Wheels helped me get the right size, offset and whitewall width and I think we hit the bullseye.

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The car is tight, and steers and drives well. An E-Rod LS3 V8 would be right at home in the car. Internally, the car’s heavily based on F-Body/Nova architecture so there’s plenty of parts interchangeability there.

Sadly, although GM made almost 200k Sevilles from 1976-1979, most have gone to the crusher. Soft trim, sheetmetal, body hardware and badging are darn near nonexistent.

The State of California and the fresh air zealots at CARB be damned, I think certain Seventies cars will be the next era of Detroit iron that will be granted a new life from the custom car movement. Camaros, Firebirds, Cadillacs, Lincolns, G-Bodies, even old AMCs are cheap, ready and willing…

NSRA and Goodguys have raised the ceiling of participation from early ’70s to 1987. So whether or not you like this era of cars, they are now technically “antique” and are ready to attract a new segment to the hobby.

Having said all that, I’ve always had an ever evolving roster of cars and with my new title, maybe it’s time to build an early Ford or scour the web for a two-door, Exner designed Mopar wagon…

I have a tricky task ahead of me straddling all facets and strains of custom car culture. My goal is to create a hot rod goulash of old school cool, white collar and blue collar builds, how-to-tech, music and culture.

Most importantly, I want Rod Authority to be the “tip-of-the-spear,”  educating newbies and young folks as they will sustain the continued existence of our beloved hobby.

I’d like to hear from you, our readers, as well. Let me know via Rod Authority contact page and Rod Authority Facebook what’s most important to you.