Hey, where's your coverage from the 2012 V-103 Car and Bike Show?

Well, glad you asked. This year, I wasn't feeling it. I went, but I honestly wasn't thrilled like how I am with other car shows. (Note: With car shows, I'm like a little kid on Christmas day.) It was all wrong.

I guess they thought it was cool to leave it on the hitch.

First up, there's only two radio stations in Atlanta that plays Rap and R&B music, and V-103 chose to have their car show the same exact day as the competition's Birthday Bash Concert. Splitting that demographic wasn't smart because naturally people was going to go to Birthday Bash and partake in the events leading up to it- including the guys who had better cars that was featured in the show. Guys know how girls in Atlanta are, and most girls (not women) are attracted to shiny things, regardless if it's real or not. So of course, they would rather drive around and see how many girls they can pull.

Because of the first comment, there were more bikes than cars there. And the cars that were there, were mostly wheel and tire customizations. That's okay for a Bugatti, but for a Dodge Charger??? Bernie doesn't like wheel and tire shows, if that's the case, I would go to a car dealership.

Three, some of the cars there shouldn't have been there. Like this Dodge Magnum with the crappy matte black paint job. I have never painted cars. I've only painted my condo, and powder coated a wheel at SEMA, but I'm smart enough to know that paint jobs should be done even. I didn't photoshop anything in this photo, that's how uneven the car was painted. AND it looks like it took them five minutes to paint it.

Four: the reason why I liked this particular show in previous years is that the radio personalities put their cars in the show. The only personality from V-103 that put anything in the show was Greg Street. No Frank and Wanda and No Ryan Cameron. Major no no.

Five: Because they scheduled the show the same day as Birthday Bash, naturally the performers were going to go to Birthday Bash and perform for a larger crowd and get more money. Duh, I know I would have if I had any musical abilities. The car and bike show has pulled big names to perform- Rick Ross has been the headliner, so has TI. This year it was R Kelly, what song has he had since I moved to Atlanta? Step in the Name of Love was good, but it wasn't that good. What I'm saying is that they needed to go back to what worked in the past. Even Fat Joe pulled a bigger crowd and we're not on Trinity Ave in the Bronx.

SIX: WHY WASN'T  BABY'S, BIRDMAN'S, BRYAN WILLIAMS' BUGATTI and MAYBACH ROPED OFF FROM THE VERY START??? I know he can afford those cars, but don't allow kids with sticky hands and women with mile long nails to touch the cars. Auto Extremes had it correct from the beginning by roping off T-Pain's Bugatti. Duh, that's common sense. Halfway through the show, they decided to rope off both cars, but that should have been done before the doors opened to the public.

Seven: They did a last minute pull in, where if you wanted to be a part of the show, you could have arrived between 8am- 11am. But they didn't tell everyone that, so cars like this...

... couldn't be a part of it or they had to park outside, because they didn't tell anyone. And yes, they drove from Florida to be a part of the show.

Granted they still have a huge turnout. Girls bought out Rainbow, 5-7-9, Rave, Dots, Citi Trends and all the other $10 or less clothing stores in Atlanta to make sure they were seen.

Next year, I'm showing up when they're pulling the cars in, because I'm not going to be caught dead with the crowd that was there. And that's why I only showed off the photos on this page and not on my gallery because this show wasn't my best work. As a published photographer in print media that's sold worldwide, I'm big enough to admit that.

Always glad to run into Block and his donkasaurus... but I know there's a lot of guys who are ready to battle Block on the donk game.

Bernie's Car Show Coverage: 2012 Gold Rush Rally Meetup: Atlanta

This past Wednesday was the Atlanta stop for the Gold Rush Rally. Because I was a virgin to automotive rallies, I didn't know what to expect, so I went in positive AND with an open mind. And you know what? I'm glad I did.



I got there a little too early. Despite media registration being open from 10-5, I got there at 2, knowing I should have gotten there by 5. The Gold Rush Rally participants have partied way too hard in Vegas (well, who could blame 'em) and they got to Atlanta uber late. Which meant, when I got there, there were only 6 cars. But those 6 cars carried a bit of weight to them.



To park within the area and to partake in the actual rally aspect, you had to get decaled. Gold Rush Rally was smart, and they brought with them Vinyl Styles, a automotive graphic company out of San Francisco to decal every single car at every tour stop. Let me repeat that. Every single car at every single stop. I asked them, how many decals do you put on each vehicle. Their answer... 25. And they decaled every vehicle- from the stock Chevy Surburban that confused me to the matte black Bugatti, and all those in between.



There were 19 cars that showed up- not counting the Subaru that belonged to one of the media and the factory Chevy Surburban and GMC Yukon. There were Lambos, Ferraris, A Rolls Royce Phantom, An SLS or two, an Audi R8 that had a questionable front license plate (the Georgia Flag), a Mercedes S550 that had the AMG accessories, a Mercedes Benz CL63 that was actually the AMG level, and the car that stole the show- the Bugatti Veyron that stole the show. But everyone knows that a racing event can't be considered a racing event without the two vehicles that are considered God of the import world- the Nissan GTR and BMW M Series, and they were both there as well.



We're all friends here, so we both know that when it comes to shows, I'm a critical person. I like cars to be at shows. However, even though there were 19 vehicles there that totalled to over 5 million dollars (if they were brand new), the Gold Rush Rally stop was the most productive show I've been to since SEMA. I met some great people- The Vinyl Styles guys, The Vossen Wheel guys came (the same Vossen Wheels that I feature on my site often), Jason from ATL Autorsports, Sunny from Speed Mischief, and I did meet more but I'm horrible with names. Basically the people who showed up are those who truely had a love for cars, not guys who customize cars to get girls.



I really hope that Gold Rush Rally comes back to Atlanta. Rallies don't come here, those are mostly a West Coast thing. That's why I made sure I attended. If they do come back, I hope they listen to the Gold Rush Rally volunteer who suggested for the Rally to be in Buckhead as opposed to Midtown. Midtown Atlanta is okay, but it was a business area- everything closes early in a business area.

P.S. I wish Gold Rush Rally would have given me a gift bag. Certain media members got one and I didn't. For more photos, well not much more (I mean, there were only 19 cars), click here to check out my Gold Rush Rally gallery

Forgiato Wheels shows off a Bugatti Veyron

Forgiato Wheels released shots of a Bugatti Veyron wearing their super luxurious type of wheels, the Forgiato F2.01 wheels. Remember just last year, Forgiato released the Forgiato 2.0 line, which is a high performance luxury line of wheels. Basically it's more luxurious than their original collection of wheels- because we all know that Forgiato Wheels aren't priced for everyone.

Al & Ed's Autosound Worked Their Magic on a Bugatti Veyron...

And it is the most gorgeous Bugatti I've seen...

Good news everyone. This Bugatti is for sale and for a mere $1.4 million, it could be yours. I don't know who this Dirk A. Photography is, but he took some great photos.

Forgiato beat ADV.1 Wheels to the punch...

Awhile ago, ADV.1 Wheels posted on their site about how they were going to be the first one to offer aftermarket wheels for the Bugatti Veyron. Well, it looks like Forgiato Wheels beat them to the punch. At SEMA, Platinum Motorsports brought many, many cars. All of them were very impressive, but the one that stole the show was the white Bugatti Veyron... the one with the first set of aftermarket wheels.

According to Forgiato,

Forgiato brought you the first custom Lamborghini Reventon and now we have followed it up with the worlds first Bugatti with aftermarket wheels. Forgiato continues to push the envelope in the wheel industry. This special project would not have been possible without our collaboration with Luxury 4 Play, Exotics Boutique, and Platinum Motorsports. This Bugatti Veyron is painted matte white with 21″ and 22″ new Forgiato wheels from our 2.0 line that is not yet released.

I'm not an "exotic" type of girl, however, I do like this particular Bugatti. I honestly think Bugatti should take a page out of this book and offer the matte white, since in person, it looks so gorgeous. A lot better than that tired red shade.

Maybe next time, ADV.1 Wheels. Please believe me when I say that this car looks even better in person. I'm pretty sad because I would have loved to see, in person, what tricks Platinum Motorsport have up their sleeve for the LA Auto Show.

Guess what ADV.1 Wheels will be the first wheel company to do?

ADV.1 Wheels was presented with an opportunity that is also a major challenge as well. A client wants the company to create an aftermarket wheel for a Bugatti Veyron, the problem is... no company has ever made them for this particular car. The amazing part about the whole thing is that the owner is very aware of all of the issues and is willing to do whatever it takes to get this done.

According to Matt of ADV.1 Wheels, "We’ve been researching this for a couple weeks now and before accepting the job I wanted to make absolutely sure that we could engineer a 100% oem compatible wheel without any possibility of damaging the car or causing any safety issues.

We’ve had multiple inquires from Veyron owners but none of them were the right type of customer for something like this due to the insanely strict control Bugatti has on any modifications done to these cars. it’s impressive how much precaution they take to avoid liability and any safety risk, I can fully understand their position though. If someone unqualified were to change a tire on this thing and then the owner tries to break the sound barrier and a wheel falls off imagine the liability they might have to deal with if someone gets hurt. We’re the same way with our wheels, we don’t allow anyone to disassemble them and / or refinish them for the same reason, if they’re not rebuilt properly someone can get hurt and we’re potentially responsible."


To finish reading the story, head here.