COOL BLAST
January 19, 2023
THE AUTO BUILDER
Featured
GOD OF FIRE CORVETTE
“Corvette Bill” Bartenstein and his son, Bill Jr., are renowned around the state of Hawaii—more specifically Kailua—for their car-building talents. But that’s not all—at the 2007 Barrett-Jackson auction at Scottsdale, Arizona, a candy-blue Bartenstein-built ’69 Pro Touring Camaro fetched a record $182,000. It just so happens that this Firemist Red ’66 Corvette Sting Ray resto rod—another Bartenstein creation—rolled across the B-J auction block that same weekend and sold for an incredible $130,000. So what makes a Bartenstein-built car so attractive? Let’s take a closer look.
Keeping Your Cool
Even though we all dream of blasting through the desert at 130-MPH like Robby Gordon, most of our 4×4 adventures take place at a much more reasonable pace. Unfortunately for our engines crawling along a boulder strewn dry river bed or climbing a goat trail through a mountain pass does not always allow enough airflow to keep our engines cool with a belt driven mechanical fan. Belt driven fans are designed to keep your engine cool when traveling down a street or highway not while crushing boulders at 3-MPH and 1,500-RPM. So what can we do to keep our rigs from boiling over this summer? Follow along with us as we install a pair of 11-inch electronic cooling fans along with a programmable fan controller both from SPAL USA.
Driven Racing Oil: GP1 Racing Products
Driven Racing Oil, born from Joe Gibbs Racing, is formulated specifically for all-out race and high performance engines. What makes Driven’s products different? In simple terms, Driven’s products are unique because they always put the “Motor ahead of the Molecule”. While other oil companies are in love with chemistry and have no real world understanding of how the products are actually used, Driven keeps things in the proper order. The oil is for the motor, not the other way around. Driven’s product development team looks at the motor and how it is used; then they design application specific products using a “zero compromise” approach that delivers a measurable performance advantage.
Spotlighter
Winter WOW
World of Wheels Chattanooga Kicks Off the Show Season
Just after New Year’s, when the cold really starts settling in, one of the first major indoor car shows of the year rolls into town. The O'Reilly Auto Parts World of Wheels Custom Auto Show has become a yearly tradition—mixing hot rods, customs, and classics with a dose of pop culture to create a winter event that gives the whole family a reason to get out of the house.
Author
Jamie Dent
Photography by Scott Killeen
58th Annual Chattanooga World of Wheels
The 58th annual Chattanooga edition took place January 9–11, 2026, inside the spacious Chattanooga Convention Center. Held every year during the second weekend of January, the event transforms more than 100,000 square feet of exhibition space into one of the South’s premier indoor showcases of custom automotive craftsmanship.
A Stop on the Legendary World of Wheels Circuit
Part of the legendary World of Wheels circuit, the Chattanooga stop brings together an impressive mix of hot rods, customs, classics, motorcycles, and radical builds—all polished and displayed under bright convention hall lights. For builders and enthusiasts across the Southeast, it’s a chance to debut winter projects, connect with fellow gearheads, and kick off another year of car show season.
A Winter Tradition for Car Enthusiasts
Blending serious automotive creativity with entertainment and family-friendly attractions, World of Wheels continues to deliver the kind of high-energy indoor show that has kept it a winter tradition for nearly six decades.
