Top 20 Automotive Photos Based off of Nick Diamond's Instagram Page

This photo is actually from Kevin Wong's Instagram Page. Great shot so I had to use it.

Off of the strength of the DJ Envy post I created awhile back, I decided to create another one like it, but with another serious car enuthusiast.

Presenting San Francisco bred Nicholas Tershay, but more commonly known to the world as Nick Diamond, owner of Diamond Supply Company. When he's not being the creative force behind the Diamond Life Brand, or running two Diamond Supply Stores in Los Angeles and San Francisco, or overseeing the creation of the third store in the SoHo section of Manhattan, NY, or actively feeding his passion for skateboarding, or collaborating on his second line- the Grizzly Griptape, which is an outdoor line, he's showing off another passion... his love for cars.

At the time of this post, Nick had about 5,900 photos on his Instagram page (@NickyDiamonds). Judging by the posts on  his page, within one year- he acquired a few cars (two of which were Rolls Royces), was on a cover of a national car magazine, did a frame-off restoration, and also had one of his vehicles as a part of SEMA. Yes kids, all of this was within one calendar year. Don't hate, just get inspired.  So now, I'm showing you what a year in Nick Diamond's Automotive world looks like... in about 20 (or more) photos.

Last year at this time, Nick was on the cover of Dub Magazine along with his Diamond Blue Ferrari 458, Range Rover, Mercedes S550, and Chevy Malibu. But out of these four, the star of the show is obviously...

The Diamond Blue Ferrari. In this issue of Dub, Nick stated that he "always wanted a Ferrari but it always felt like something that was untouchable growing up". He finally bought a black one, and thought about how exotic it would look if it were Diamond Blue. Platinum Motorsports made his thoughts into a reality by doing a painted wrap on it since there wasn't a regular vinyl in that color. As icing on the cake, the brake calipers are painted Diamond Blue and the wheels are painted gunmetal.

Let's be real, we might as well refer to the Ferrari as the company car, since it's Diamond Blue. The car stands out and you'll remember it if you see it...

Like so. So why not take this shot, and make a couple of shirts out of it? Nick did.

And made some cash off of it. 

Just a Random day hanging out with Ben Baller.

Earlier I mentioned that within one calender year, Nick purchased two Rolls Royces. First he bought the Ghost. Of course Platinum Motorsports worked their magic on it by adding a two tone paint on it.

Then he brought the Wraith and had it lowered and blacked out the silver trim around the windows...

The final new car I'm touching on was a part of SEMA in 2013.

Platinum Motorspots chose Nick's Range Rover to be the first one to get the new Starke body kit and custom wheels, and had it on display in Vegas. And then after SEMA, I believe he made a few small changes....

Now for the fun stuff. Now Nick isn't just one of those "I only like new cars" type of guys. He's an old school Chevy kind of guy. Don't believe me??? First, he has stated that he does own a '66 Chevy Chevelle 397 SS, '68 Chevy Malibu 327 cruiser, and a '70 Chevy Chevelle 396 SS droptop. But he did add a new toy, or two, to his collection. Let's start off with the restoration...

When he first bought this 1969 Chevy Chevelle, it had Daytons, a chain steering wheel, blankets covering the holes on the seats, rust, etc. With a little-- okay I mean-- A LOT of work and a trustworthy body shop, his Chevelle went from this silver rust bucket to...

Snuck in a during the restoration process picture, along with the 572 big block engine. But for the clear after photo...

This is a gorgeous Rosso Corsa Ferrari red Chevelle. And the interior has custom seats in butter soft black leather and wood grain steering wheel.

He also asked his followers what's their favorite year of Chevelle's.

Just an average night... cruising down streets of LA in a 1967 Corvette Stingray that is all original even down to the paint.

So... Nick bought this '66 Chevy Chevelle exactly how it looks in this photo. His idea for it is to paint her black and put some new interior in since he doesn't have a black Chevelle. 

But he loves to show off his 1967 Chevy Nova. Nick truly lucked out when he bought this Nova, he didn't have to restore it. Just get in and drive....

Another one of Nick's favorite cars to show off (since he does play favorites) is his 1968 Chevelle. Within the past year, I believe he post photos of this Chevelle more than any other car... Facts: He's the second owner, everything is still original except the tires and the new paint which was repainted to the factory correct color. This car is as clean as the day it was purchased in 1968.

And finally... sometimes if you really want something and if you have to money to get it, then why not get it.

So Nick sent one of his friends all the way to Missouri, of all places, to check out this 1969 Plymouth GTX for him. His friend said it was perfect and Nick bought it.

Stay tuned for my next car enthusiast post...

Bernie's Top 10 Posts of 2013

 Happy New Year everyone!!!! 2013 was an interesting year. I had the opportunity to travel, meet new people, photograph great cars, but it was a rough year because I spent most of the 12 months with headaches due to my head injury. 2014 is a new year, which means the start of the car show season is just around the corner...

This post is dedicated to the top posts of 2013. They're not in popular order, but instead they're grouped together by topic, with the links to the post embedded in the paragraphs.

Three out of the top 10 posts were my top 30 picks from the Barrett Jackson Auctions. I forgot about the Palm Springs auction, so that's why Scottsdale, Las Vegas, and Reno are the only three that are listed. I enjoy going through the car list before the auction and look at every car that is waiting to be won. One day, I will make it to the Scottsdale auction, but it's so close to my birthday, and I travel at the end of January. Chances are, Palm Springs will be my first auction.

I also love to show off when aftermarket companies and car customizing shops show off their work. Prime example, when Forgiato released photos of my favorite Mercedes body, the CLS500 wearing their Linee wheels in Japan. My number one reason for traveling to different places for car shows, because I love to see how people in different areas customize cars. I may not agree with the choices of the customizations, but I still love to see it.

Platinum Motorsports showed off a matte grey Range Rover with carbon fiber trim and grille and red cross-stitched trimmed interior. I always enjoy showing off PML's work because not only they hired a great photographer, but the photographer captures not just the end result but the journey it takes to get there.


I'm sure you can figure out what the other five posts have to do with... Car show coverage, each from different cities and three out of five have to do with Dub Magazine.

My ultimate goal is to personally attend and cover the Tokyo Auto Salon. It didn't happen in 2013, and it's not gonna happen in 2014, but it will happen. The 2013 show had some great looking cars.

I may not have done the Tokyo Auto Salon, but I did conquer SEMA for the 4th year in a row! SEMA never disappoints, and that's why I live for SEMA. (Sorry, I've been living in Atlanta too long)

This year, the Atlanta tour stop of the Dub Car Show was bigger and better. Thank goodness...

However, the Los Angeles tour stop of the Dub Car Show is always a guaranteed success. Think about it, the most of the top customization shops are in California, plus the lowrider culture, plus the car club culture, and the majority of the US based aftermarket part companies are in LA.

One of my top goals for 2013 was to attend the Dub Car Show in Anaheim, California. Although it's a stone's throw away from Los Angeles (In NY terms, it's the distance from Long Island to Brooklyn... not very far at all.) I wanted to go to this show because I knew it would have been bigger than the LA show simply because the LA Show is an interior show and the Anaheim show was outside of Angel's Stadium. The show was so big, I was forced to split it into two posts: Part I and Part II

Honorable Mention: CEC Wheels customized a gorgeous Bentley Continental GTC in a Celeste Blue Pearlescent which is an extremely similar hue to Tiffany Blue (Robin Egg Blue). I wondered if CEC sold it by now? Hmmm... **Update: It has....

Stay tuned to see what I'm going to blog about and where I'll be to cover car shows. My focus is to bring more original content to Doing Donuts With Bernie.

Bernie's Instagram Feed: December 18 2013

2013 is winding down and Christmas is around the corner but that's not slowing down the work that the customization shops are putting out. I was able to put together a post of my top 12 photos (in no specific order) of some of the great companies I follow on Instagram. And hopefully after this post, you can follow them (as well as me) too.

West Coast Customs (@WestCoastCustoms) photographed this custom matte white and carbon fiber Range Rover Evoque.

Trendsetters (@Trendsetters214) along with Forgiato Wheels (@forgiato) Showed off this 2014 SRT8 Jeep Grand Cherokee sitting on Forgiato's Monoleggera Tratto-M series wheels in 24 inches.

These seats look so comfy. Platinum Motorsports (@platinum_group) has teamed up with the Bentley Motor Corporation to present the Beverly Hills Platinum Series. Bentley definitely collaborated with the right customization shop.

Exclusive Motoring (@exclusivemotoring) is finally showing off a BMW 550i customized with carbon fiber mirror covers, painted red calipers, and lowered on 20" Vossen wheels with color matched inserts and center caps.

Orlando's own Ultimate Auto (@UltimateAutoBoutique) released a photo or two of this 2014 Ferrari 458 Spyder wearing Savini Forged Wheels (21" in the front, 22" in the back), Novatech lowering springs, smoked lights, painted trim, an Escort radar, 3M clear bra and a partridge in a pear tree.

Straight out of New Jersey, Lux Motorwerks (@lux_motorwerks) released a shot of this all black Range Rover Sport Autobiography edition with custom emblems.

The only rainbow I'm allowed to taste (I'm on a diet/eating clean) is courtesy of Long Island's own Martino Auto Concepts (@MartinoAutoConcepts). Keep in mind that this is a very, very tiny percentage of Lamborghinis that Martino Auto Concepts have put their hands on.

MLB's favorite custom shop, MC Customs (@mccustomsmiami) was hard at work painting these brake calipers matte orange for a Chevrolet Camaro ZL1. 

One of Miami's big three, The Auto Firm (@theAutoFirm) released a photo of a vehicle that I don't really show off. I'm not a fan of pickup trucks, but I decided to show off one that the Auto Firm customized. This Ford Raptor is painted in Satin Black with gloss black accents, 2" lift kit, LED lights on the front, exhaust system, Audison Hertz Sound System, wearing 20" Custom painted Fuel Wheels, and on top of that, the proud owner of this vehicle is Michael Beasley of the Miami Heat.

Dub Magazine (@dubmagazine) released a collage of a 2014 Lexus IS350 F Sporton 20" Concept One CS-20 Wheels. 

Asanti Wheels (@AsantiWheels) is giving their followers a sneak peek into their 2014 Collection. Here we have the new Asanti 811 Wheel.

Right out of Kansas City, KC Trends (@kctrends) photographed a 2014 Mercedes Benz G550 factory painted matte black, but they added Forgiato Wheels' Maglia wheels in 24" mounted with Pirelli's Scorpion Zero Tires.


After seeing some of these photos maybe you found someone new to follow, other than me (@CarShowBernie)

Bernie's Car Show Coverage: 2013 SEMA Show Day 1 (Sneak Peek)

The 2013 SEMA Show happens to be the 50th anniversary of the year that SEMA was formed. And because it was an anniversary show, the vehicles that were a part of the show didn't fall short. There were a lot of vehicles and there were more vehicles showing up outside throughout the day (and probably throughout the week as well).

  

This year is my 4th year in a row attending it, and I had the exact same emotions that I had in 2010... EXCITEMENT!!! I'm like a child on Christmas Day when I go to SEMA. I get to go to a fabulous city, fabulous weather, I meet people from all over the world, and most importantly I get to photograph some seriously customized cars.

I took a lot of photos yesterday, and I'm putting this post together sitting in the Continental Tire Media Center. Here's the photos that I chose to show off from yesterday- Day 1 of the 2013 SEMA Show.

Matte black Jaguar XJL Supercharged. Beyond gorgeous...

Platinum Motorsports strikes again!!! This time, they murdered SEMA with a Carbon fiber Mercedes SLR McLaren.

Ultimate Auto of Orlando, FL brought my favorite customized vehicle of the year... the 2013 Ford Shelby. It took me awhile to move away from it.

Topo of TS Designs along with Chris of JC Kustomz brought this Dodge Challenger with the famous custom wide body kit that Topo is famous for. But that's not all that those two brought...

This completely blacked out Dodge Challenger with blacked out headlights AND taillights. This my friends is a perfect example of a fully blacked out vehicle. If you're going to black out a vehicle, go all the way. Don't just do 80%. The only color on this Challenger are the breaks... and if it was me, I would have made those black as well.

However, Topo and Chris brought the most instagrammed photo of SEMA 2013 (because it was definitely all over my timeline)

The 2014 Corvette C7 Stingray with the custom widebody kit and Forgiato wheels. And guess what? Someone has purchased the vehicle for $150,000 and it's going to Dubai.

You're not going to believe this, but the car above is a Infiniti G37 with a conversion kit on it.

 

I finally found my way to Forgiato's booth where all of Forgiato's vehicles had their wheels, steering wheels, and grills on their vehicles... However their indoor space...

Had not one, but two Lamborghini Aventadors... But those aren't the only Aventadors that Forgiato brought.

And yes, this is the Lamborghini Aventador that Nicki Minaj drove to Kmart. She did pull up in the "you can't afford this".

Each year that passes, this vehicle will remain a staple at SEMA.

 

Roadstarr Motorsports in Los Angeles brought Lamborghini Aventador.

I spent a little time at Galpin Auto Sports outdoor booth, where I saw this customized hot rod. I love the color scheme and the paint job.

 My favorite actor is in a new movie called the Need for Speed.

I had to do a little research to find out what this vehicle is above. I had the pleasure of meeting the Kepler Hybrid Motion Supercar. Roughly 800 horsepower and it does 0-60 MPH in just 2.5 seconds.

Forgiato also brought this wide body Nissan GTR as well.

Talk about creativity. This was once an innocent Chevy Cruze, but I'm sure it was definitely a hit for Halloween.

This was actually the one of the highlights to my day... meeting Stephanie Bueno. Remember when I went to the Dub Car Show: Anaheim? Well, it was there where Stephanie unveiled her late husband's 1962 Chevy Impala wagon, a project he was working on until his untimely death in June. She finished the project for him, and not only brought it to the show in Anaheim, but to SEMA as well. It's definitely a crowd favorite. Whether you know it or not, you've enjoyed Jae Bueno's photography, and now you get to enjoy his artwork again- the one that's on four wheels.

For a split second, I thought they were real. Don't judge me.

Models, but I have a lot more photos coming.

Asanti Wheels brought a Chevy Corvette C7 Stingray as well, and one of their wheel designs that left me wondering why.

The best booth space went to a paint company called Carnival of Color where they recreated a carnival, showed off the many shades of paint, and how the paint looks on a car. But the space really looked like a carnival- they even had a woman giving out freshly popped popcorn to solidify the carnival like atmosphere.

Again, this is just a very small piece of everything that I photographed. Check out Bernie's Official 2013 SEMA Coverage: Day 1 to see the rest of the photos. Don't forget to check out Bernie's Car Show Coverage: 2013 SEMA Show: Day 2, Day 3, and Day 4 while you're at it.