Best Of The Best And All The Rest

Hundreds of acres of grass and asphalt covered with thousands of 1948-and-earlier street rods. Weather determined to soak you to the bone or bake you alive. So many cars and trucks that, even in four full days, you probably won't see more than a fraction of them. Hundreds of vendors displaying thousands of new parts and products. Row after row of swap meet spaces, loaded with every kind of automotive hidden treasure.

It's the granddaddy of all national hot rod events--for spectators, enthusiasts, participants, vendors, builders, and journalists from all over America, the National Street Rod Association Street Rod Nationals is the show you have to go to, and Louisville, Kentucky, is the gearhead mecca in a pilgrimage that some of these hot rodders have been making for the past 36 years.

R&C was on hand for two reasons: to feast our eyes on the 11,333 (official count) cars that packed the Kentucky Fair and Expo Center, and to host the annual Rod & Custom Pros' Pick.

Who's eligible for R&C Pros' Pick judging? Anybody at the Nats who is willing to keep their ride corralled inside a roped-off area for a few hours on Friday while an elite team of pro builders and manufacturers inspect them all and select the street rods they consider the best of the best. We got shots of the 12 winners along with some of the rods and customs that caught our eye.

Patrick Quinn has owned his '40 Chevy for 20 years, but just finished building it before the Nats. He used numerous new old stock parts for the project, as well as C4 Corvette suspension components. An LS1 hides under the hood.

Tommy Brewer must like individuality because it's a safe bet he won't be running across another '35 DeSoto Airflow at most shows. It features a small-block Chevy and a Mustang II IFS.

Mike Bruns remembers seeing this '29 A Tudor around town in the early '60s, before it disappeared from the street for almost 40 years. He bought it, rebuilt everything from the ground up, and got it done earlier this year. The sedan may be newly finished, but the whole theme is reminiscent of the car's earlier era.

One of the great things about the NSRA Nats is the number of time-capsule rods you'll see. This '32 three-window has been in Steve Walther's family for years just as you see it here. Steve has done a great job of preserving the gasser coupe, which features everything that one looks for when building an era-correct gasser, including the blown Mouse motor, straight axle, cheater slicks, roll bar, spindle-mount five-spokes, and straining-on-the-leash stance.

Jeff Davis built this green Model A sedan using Pete & Jake's suspensions parts and a 350 mill. Grand Am seats covered with red and white rolls 'n' pleats, a '54 Olds wheel, and '40 Ford dash fill the interior.

The unfinished interior doesn't detract from the outward appearance of Steve Savanovic's shaved, chopped, and dropped '46 Chevy. It also doesn't prevent Steve from driving the car--which is powered by a trusty Chevy 350--all over the place.

Matt Klingler put in some late nights getting his Y-block-powered bucket ready for the 300-plus-mile trip to the Nats. As it turned out, it was well worth the trip as he won the NSRA giveaway '37 Ford pickup built by Downs Manufacturing. No word on which one he drove home.

Just the right amount of retained trim breaks up all that black on Jeff and Vivian Swafford's '48 Olds club coupe. The interior is mostly stock, dressed up with a Mexican blanket on the front seat.

Phil Beckee wasn't around his '40 coupe so we're not sure if the crossover custom/street rod was a recent build or a cherished keepsake. But we liked the quad lights and early Corvette bumpers and parking lights.

You won't find a small-block Chevy, or any small-block, under the hood of Lee Kuhrt's '36 Plymouth. He's a Mopar fan and went with a 440/727 combo.

"Built to beat on and still managed to break it" is how 'striper Josh Shaw described his Deuce sedan. The 327-powered '32 (with a Muncie four-speed) was a billet-laden trailer car prior to the accident that started the move toward a regularly driven, much-enjoyed rod.

If you're looking for non-Ford vintage tin, there's no better place than the swap meet at the Nationals. This '37 Plymouth two-door had 59,000 miles on the clock, original interior, a straight body, and was all there for $5,900.

This '32 five-window was also very straight, although not as complete, and reportedly changed hands for more than five times the Plymouth's asking price.

In comparison, this '33 Chevy could've been yours for only $1,750 (bullet holes thrown in for free).

Who knew a '37 Dodge coupe could look this good? Don and Judi Huster did, and the Nationals is the place to come to find these less-seen marques.

Here's a decked out Deuce of another brand. This '32 Chevy went the whole resto-rod approach with dual side mounts and trunk.

It's not too often that you'll see a '47 Plymouth with a Viper V-10 under the hood.

Rod & Custom Pros' Picks

Dropped floors, raised wheelwells, relocated rear wheels, Salt Flat rims, an Ardun-capped Flattie bursting out of the engine compartment, and flawless black finish only begin to describe Jon Hall's Deuce Fordor, but Jon can sum it up in two words: low and fast.	The crew at Legens Hot Rod Shop built this beautiful '42 Buick for Larry and Charlene Shaffer. Only 1,788 model 44Cs were built before the war, and according to Larry, only five remain.
Last year, Roger Ritzow's traditional, but completely unique, highboy took '32 roadster design into some uncharted territory. This year, more than a year after being named Goodguy's Street Rod of the Year, the EFI-fed, Flathead-powered highboy still gets people drooling.	The other Flathead-packed gray '32 roadster on our Pros' Pick list belongs to Phil Goller. Phil's steel-bodied, five-speed hair blower proves that a well-detailed, owner-built hot rod can hold its own just fine against a parking lot full of pro-built jobs.
Ted Hite's "mineral" colored '32 three-window combines a nostalgic appearance with modern performance (in the form of a TPI-topped Chevy small-block and six-speed transmission). Best of all, Ted's coupe is a homebuilt hot rod.	Greg Giampapa went through this '47 woodie wagon from front to back, adding a tubed rear chassis, Air Ride Technologies suspension, a few tasty body modifications, and a stunning interior. The drivetrain is an up-to-date injected LT1 backed by a 4L60E gearbox.
It took a lot of Candy Tangerine to cover Richard Bishop's 502ci Ram Jet-equipped '40 Ford, not to mention a lot of chrome, a lot of attention to detail, and a lot of what Richard refers to as "dental work," but the end result is a homebuilt beauty.	One of the oddest modifieds around is this rear-engined '27 T. The blown '48 Flathead and trans in the back spin a shortened differential attached to chain sprockets that drive the two rear axles. It's an engineering challenge builder Steve Grimes came up with and solved.
Gordon Peters' beautiful '35 Ford roadster, built by Neil Lea and his shop Rods & Restos, runs a 383ci small-block with a Muncie four-speed and features a Paul Atkins interior.	The sheetmetal on Tom Taylor's '39 Standard coupe is original. The chassis is original. The paint is not original, but the Gull Gray color is. The '57 T-bird 312ci engine with Mooneyes injection, Ford four-speed, and 9-inch rear are part of what makes this low-mileage car, built at Legens, a hot rod. For a closer look and a full feature, go to R&C's Web site and click on "Features."
Gai Wilson came very close to a Ridler win with his flamed purple Alloway-built Deuce. The long, low profile comes from stretched doors, hood, and wheelbase, plus some channeling. The stacks from the electronic Hilborn unit on the 600hp 502 is visible in this hood-open shot.	Jon Hall took home a second Pros' Pick award for this truly unique '27 T on '32 'rails. The uniqueness is in the fact that the body is a custom-built, larger-scale steel unit that was widened and stretched to fit the frame. Not quite so subtle is the blown Flathead, tied to a five-speed transmission.