The list of exclusive and limited edition pieces that will be showing up at this year’s Summer Smash just keeps growing and growing. Check out this amazing CMC 1:18 scale Audi 225 Roadster that will be part of the charity auction courtesy of Joe Kelly Jr. and The Car Room Magazine.

This piece is a pre-production hand-sample that came direct from CMC. Its one of only three that were ever made, AND its the only pre-pro that was ever made in the color combination of white and red with unpainted wheels. Check out this list of amazing features:

• Over 1,600 individual parts
  Working steel spring suspension
  Working steering
  Opening stamped-steel louvered hood with real spring catches
  Opening trunk
  Removable spare tire
  Leather seats
  Materials list includes copper, brass, stainless steel, mild steel, leather, styrene, rubber, vinyl, and more

This piece was featured in the April / May 2009 issue of The Car Room Magazine as well as in an episode of "Playing With Cars." Its estimated to be worth over $500, so this should certainly bring in a good amount of money at the charity auction.

Here’s the episode of Playing With Cars that the Audi was featured in:

Be sure to check out the official Summer Smash website for more information on tickets and accomadations.

Its time for another road trip! This time the Diecast Ratpack is gathering in Holbrook, NY for another Saturday Nitro/Car Room TV mash-up show that you won’t want to miss!

Join Jeff Glasson, Joe Kelly Jr., Mike Zarnock and Ralph Riccardi (running the tech!) on the live video stream starting at 7pm EST (4pm PST) on Saturday March, 27th over at the The Car Room TV page on TheCarRoom.com.

While the live broadcast isn’t until Saturday night, you can always catch archived recordings The Car Room TV via the link below!

Click here to jump over to The Car Room TV page

The Car Room Magazine’s Joe Kelly Jr. and Hot Wheels Author Mike Zarnock join me for a special Saturday Nitro mash-up show. We’ve combined the standard live audio feed of Saturday Nitro with the video stream of The Car Room TV and topped it off by broadcasting from Mike Zarnock’s hobby room in Utica, NY.

Simulcasting the the show on both BlogTalkRadio and Livestream.com came with its share of technical hurdles, but I think things went fairly well for a first time effort. Please note that volume during the first two minutes of the audio stream on BlogTalkRadio is very low, but gets corrected soon after. We also had a few issues getting the video stream recorded properly in the beginning, so you’ll notice that the first few minutes of the show are missing when checking out the video clips below.

We really enjoyed teaming-up to try out this new format and its a sneak-peek of the direction I’ll be taking Saturday Nitro in 2010. Let me know what you think via the comments section below!

A local NBC affiliate in Utica, NY dropped by the Zarnock residence about 30 minutes before Mike Zarnock, Joe Kelly Jr. and I began the first ever live broadcast team-up between Saturday Nitro and The Car Room TV. The result of his short visit was this great segment that aired on the local news on Saturday night and Sunday morning.

This coming Saturday night, November 21st will mark a first for the live die-cast radio show you know and (hopefully) love! We’re going video! Yes, that’s right! Saturday Nitro will be joining forces with The Car Room TV for a special video edition. We’ll be broadcasting the standard audio stream over on BlogTalkRadio AND at the same time we’ll be making a live video stream available on The Car Room TV.

If that weren’t enough, both Joe Kelly Jr. and Mike Zarnock will be joining me as special guest co-hosts, while we broadcast from Mike’s Hot Wheels Hobby Room in Utica, NY.

The show will be starting at 7PM EST (4PM PST) and will last as long as as we have something to talk about! Use the links below to jump to the audio-only or video stream versions right before show time on Saturday night!

Click here to catch the video-stream on The Car Room TV

Click here to listen to the show’s audio stream (better for low bandwidth connections)

Remember – the show will start on Saturday, November 21 at 7pm EST!

Joe Kelly Jr. from The Car Room Magazine talks to Pro Diecast Customizer Chris “Night Stalker” Walker about his background and early influences for his one-of-a-kind designs.

Thanks again to Ralph Riccardi for manning the camera and all the great editing!

Joe Kelly Jr. from The Car Room Magazine had a great conversation about Hot Wheels Redlines and Redline restorations with Connecticut Valley Diecast Vice President, Bob Stickels. Yes, indeed – the same Bob from “Sticks Redline Garage” here on DiecastAUDIO. Enjoy!

Thanks again to Ralph Riccardi for manning the camera and all the great editing!

Joe Kelly Jr. from The Car Room Magazine talks to Luis Tanahara from The Custom Crew about their Sledster II designs and what collectors can expect to see throughout the rest of the year.

Thanks again to Ralph Riccardi for manning the camera and all the great editing!

The Car Room Magazine gets a visit from “The Prince of Darkness” who reveals the winner of their latest die-cast bundle giveaway that was available to subscribers. Congrats to collector Steven Lenz who ended up winning the 1:12 (THATS HUGE!) Sunstar VW bus, patterned after “Light”, a famous Volks Transporter that was at Woodstock. Too cool!

[via thecarroom.com]

Joe Kelly Jr. from The Car Room Magazine got me in front of the camera to talk a little about DiecastAUDIO and the state of the hobby online.

Most Hot Wheels convention-goers will agree that no convention experience would be complete without a Hot Wheels Vending Machine pull and a trip through the autograph line to meet your favorite die-cast designers. Joe Kelly Jr. from The Car Room Magazine witnessed it all and captured some of the fun!

Thanks again to Ralph Riccardi for manning the camera and all the great editing!

Get ready to witness some of the most detailed 1:64th scale die-cast customs you’ll ever see. I literally couldn’t believe my eyes after seeing Doug Woods’ work first-hand at the Wild Weekend of Hot Wheels 6. Joe Kelly Jr. from The Car Room Magazine sat down with Doug at the convention to talk about his amazing one-of-a-kind creations.

Joe Kelly Jr. from The Car Room Magazine was in attendance at the 2009 Hot Wheels Summer Smash and captured a series of interviews and video footage (thanks Ralph!!) that I’ll be sharing with you over the course of the next week. Here’s the first in the series featuring and interview with Hot Wheels author Mike Zarnock.

Despite the 1 hour delay due to technical difficulties (ala crazy hotel internet) we managed to bang out the first ever Saturday Nitro with a live studio audience! It definitely added a little extra excitement to the show that brought things to a whole new level. We also tried live streaming some video, but had some difficulties with the sound. Thats what you get for trying to add bonus features in the zero hour!

This show features special guests like Chris Walker, Lou Tanahara, Jim Lombari, Mike Zarnock, Lee Pearlman, Joe Kelly Jr and more!

Listen to the recorded show from the audio widget on this page or check out the catalog of previous shows on the Saturday Nitro page.

Attendees of The Wild Weekend of Hot Wheels 6 had the opportunity to gaze upon some of the rarest Hot Wheels in the world. Sid Belzberg, the new owner of RedlinesOnline.com (soon to be ToyCarExchange.com) graciously brought a small portion of his amazing collection to be put on display. Here’s a shot of the main display case. I’m sure Redline and vintage Hot Wheels fans will recognize more than a few gems in this one!

Click the image to see the larger version

Photo Credit: Victor Valle, Valle Photography

You can also watch Joe Kelly Jr. interviewing Mike Zarnock as they go through some of the great pieces in Sid’s collection!

[via photobucket.com]

Joe Kelly Jr. from The Car Room Magazine was in attendance at the Wild Weekend of Hot Wheels and shot this footage featuring Mattel’s Chris Parker and Mike Zarnock. The vintage Redline collection that Mike and Joe are highlighting is owned by Sid Belzburg, owner of RedlinesOnline.com! Special thanks to Ralph Riccardi for great camera work and editing. Enjoy!

[via vimeo.com]

Mike Zarnock & Joe Kelly Jr. film some video while discussing vintage Hot Wheels in-front of Sid Belzberg’s amazing collection

Posted via email from Diecast Convention Updates

This time we have a special round-table style, two-hour re-cap of the DiecastSpace.com Hotlanta Collector Experience with special guests Joe Altieri, Lou Tanahara, Eric Tscherne and Joe Kelly Jr. Each guest brings a unique perspective to their experiences at the convention. We even devote some time talking about the potential the next Collector Experience will have in 2010 at Walt Disney World, Florida. Enjoy!

Listen to the recorded show from the audio widget on this page or check out the catalog of previous shows on the Saturday Nitro page.

The Diecast Hall of Fame began its formation in the summer of 2008. The idea behind the prestigious award is to recognize all of those who have impacted the diecast and automotive world together for their accomplishments. In maintaining integrity and credibility, the Hall of Fame Committe was formed and currently consists of:

Tom Zahorsky – Johnny Lightning
Katie Roland – GreenLight Collectibles
Bruce Pascal – The Beachbomb “Holy Grail” owner
Luis Tanahara – Custom Crew and Sledster Designer
Chris Walker – Customizer
Carson Lev – VP Foose Designs
Bob Parker – Hot Wheels author
Mike Zarnock – Hot Wheels author
Joe Kelly Jr. – Car Room Magazine Founder

A person has the opportunity each year from March 1 until May 21 to submit applications online for consideration. The committee also has the opportunity to make their recomendations which is then compiled and placed into an online transparent voting process. Once the data is collected and the results are in, each committee member is sent the results and they must affirm the inductees in order for it to be a recognized induction.

At the Super Convention each year, inductees are recognized in a dinner/ceremony environment where they are presented with a plaque for their accomplishments and then issued a hand crafted diamond studded Hall of Fame Custom Ring manufactured by Jostens.

The Class of 2010 will be as follows:

Automotive Legends
• Dale Earnhardt Sr. (Post Humous)
• Tom McEwen
• Don Prudhomme
• John D’Agostino

Diecast Designer
• Ira Gilford (Hot Wheels Designer)
• Phil Riehlman (Hot Wheels Designer)
• MiQ Willmott (Hot Wheels Graphic Designer)
• Tom Lowe (Owner, Playing Mantis/Johnny Lightning)

Diecast Customizers
• Bryan Pope (Pope Designs)
• Lee Pearlman (Liberty Promotions)

Diecast Historians
• Charlie Mack (Matchbox Author)
• Mac Ragan (Matchbox, Hot Wheels, Johnny Lightning Author)
• Fred Wagenhals (Founder of Action Racing Collectibles)

Intriguing Collectors
• Jeff Glasson (HEY – Thats me!!)
• Dan Spaulding
• Bob Rosas

Carroll Shelby Lifetime Achievement Award
• Fred Blood (1-Stop Diecast)

RAOK Award
• Jim Lombari

Here’s a video of the announcements delivered by The Car Room Magazine’s Joe Kelly Jr. who MC’d that portion of the night:

Please visit http://www.spinyourtires.com for more information about attending the 2010 Super Convention and the Diecast Hall of Fame induction ceremony.

Here’s a quick set of some of the people from the diecast and racing industry that I met during SEMA 2008. While there were plenty of “booth babes” too, I refrained for filling my camera with T&A since there are plenty of other place to find those shots on the net. However, I did include one tasteful shot of the Toyo girls at the Toyo Tire booth. Enjoy!

Special thanks to my SEMA sponsor, DiecastSpace.com for making this content possible!

“WOW!” is first word that comes to mind after returning home from Las Vegas and four long days at the 2008 SEMA show. The event is truly a car enthusiast’s dream and definitely the place to be with over 120,000 attendees from around the globe enjoying the best of what’s hot in the automotive world.

From a die cast perspective, the manufacturer’s presence at the show was definitely pretty thin. The primary players this year were GMP Diecast, Shelby, M2 and Welly. Mattel was missing from the show this year however, Hot Wheels designers Larry Wood and Jerry Thienprasiddhi made appearances at the PPG and K&N booths respectively. The dynamic duo of Chip Foose and Carson Lev could be found at the BASF and Pirelli booths and Joe Kelly Jr. from The Car Room magazine shared some space with the GMP crew as well. Last but certainly not least, was “Big Lou” Tanahara and Bossco from The Custom Crew who let me camp out at the corner of the Rodtana booth and soak in the coolness of the Sledster!

Needless to say I took a TON of pictures and shot quite a bit of video over the course of 4 days. During the course of this week I’ll be grouping the shots and creating several small “themed” posts. All of the pictures will ultimately be up on my Flickr account, and I’ll update this post when they are finally up.

Special thanks to CJ and the crew at DiecastSpace.com for the sponsorship!

More to come – stay tuned!

A recording of my interview with GMP President, Tom Long is now available on the Saturday Nitro page! Our interview covered many aspects of GMP including how Tom started the company, their close relationship with collectors, and of course lots of talk about their many fabulous die cast products.

This show also featured surprise call-in guests Doug Shore who spent many years as Director of Communications at Irwindale Speedway and Joe Kelly Jr. from The Car Room!

Jump straight to the show page here!