2006 Goodguys Hot Rod Nationals Indy - Big Wet One

Yellow flames pop against the purple 'flake on Jim Mathis' slammed and shaved '50 Merc, built by Mike Gamble Street Rods...

...Air Ride bags and Gene Winfield dropped spindles provide the drop. Ed Roth, Joe Bailon, and George Barris added their autographs to the inside deck...

...Triple Rochesters feed a SBC engine.

Fat chunks of 'flake and a chip-on-the-shoulder attitude set off Kirby Stafford's channeled '36 pickup...

...Our favorite parts? The 'striping, the firetruck taillights, the e-Bay mag wheels, the 302 and C4 trans, and the 1,100 miles Kirby's covered in the month since he finished.

The black, pink, and silver color combo on Tom Van Etten's '58 Impala reminds us of Good 'n' Plenty, which we unofficially nickname this low Chevy. The pink extends to the dash. The cleaned up grille and bumper, and the scallops look great.

Curt Albertie was as clean as his '27 roadster after his wet drive from Wisconsin. The cars is suspended with front and rear hairpins and front quarter elliptic springs. The roadster body is a one-off piece, and the whole hot rod was built for $16,000 as a tribute to the previous owner, who passed away.

It wasn't an illustration but a real '56 Chevy featured in the early '60s that inspired the paint on George Duryea's 210 hardtop...

...Modifications include the restyled '84 Daytona seats, homebuilt tube grille, and long shaggy white faux fur carpet. The Chevy was built to drive, and it came all the way from Saskatchewan to earn the Long Distance award.

Jeff Rittenhouse '49 Chevy Club Coupe retains a few pieces of side trim and loses the rest. There's nothing fancy about this 6-cylinder, three-speed car, which may be what makes it cool. Or is it the red steelies?

Not everybody could identify Danny Cornett's ground-level '51 Henry J, initially modified by Scott Sullivan, and built by Mac Nicewander. Front bags bring the reshaped front fenders right to the pavement.

In a sea of tasteful street rods, hot rods like Steve Anderson's severely chopped and channeled Model A sedan grab us right in the gut. Note the undropped axle, split bones, and straight pipes poking out of the blown 390 Ford mill.

This was the first big trip for Douglas and Kim Rusk's '53 Chevy coupe, which sat for years in original condition before they bought it four years ago. We like the clutch pedal, the Moon caps and the spots, but they had us with the painted grille and bumpers. Perfect.

"Mantis," created in the style of the show customs of Ed Roth's early '60s heyday. John Beecher III constructed the '03 Olds body from plywood covered with fiberglass, riding on a handbuilt frame...

...The top is foam board covered with 'glass and wrapped with cloth to look like a soft top. A built-up '74 Volkswagen engine powers it from the rear.

This pair of flat black beauts belong to James and Johnny Taylor. James' '41 Ford pickup runs a 5.0 Ford and Centerline rims. Johnny's '36 coupe has a 351 and Tremec trans, plus red steelies with caps and rings.

Brian and Charlene Baker did a sensational job with their subtly restyle '55 sedan, including filling the engine compartment with a big-block Chevy with an Arias Hemi cylinder head package...

...Under the lights at the Detroit Autorama, or in the rain at Indy, it's gorgeous.

One of the nicest woodies around, Gil Losi's award-winning ZZ4-powered '50 Ford, made the road trip from California to Indianapolis (and back) with Goodguys head honcho Gary Meadors.

Take a close look at Brian Zelenka's belly-scraping multi-toned '34 ford pickup for an eyeful of well-done metalwork inside and out. The bed features copper rails and a single centered '57 Ford taillight and housing centered on the tailgate. Seats are fiberglass buckets right out of the bowling alley.

The '61 Buick LeSabre isn't at the top of the list as custom car raw material, but after looking at the job Gary Karaz did on this mild custom, we wonder why not. Paint it, slam it, upgrade the rolling stock, and you've got a cool ride.

Bob Davis said he got the idea of running the pipes on the outside of the rear quarters from Spence Murray's '49 Chevy. This beautiful '51 is customized with molded '57 skirts, a '50 Olds windshield, '50 Jaguar headlights, and '53 Pontiac taillights. The 14-year-old acrylic enamel still shines.

Look how much you can do with some cool paint, a set of wheels, some pipes, and shaved door handles. Ron Barclay kept the rest of the cool '58 Pontiac Bonneville trim and turned this Poncho into a knockout. The engine is a 370. The 5-spokes are from Billet Specialties.