Each Goodguys event has its own distinct flavor, from the early season excitement of Del Mar to the kickback attitude at shows like Puyallup and Rhinebeck to the valley of iron in Scottsdale. For many hot rodders and custom car guys--about 6,000 of them to be sort of exact--the big show of the season is in Columbus, Ohio, in July.
The fairground is expansive but spectator-friendly, the indoor and outdoor vendor areas are huge, the swap meet is first class, and even the food is great. But by far, the biggest reason we keep Columbus on our list of "must-go" shows is the outstanding number and excellence of the cars that show up. And Goodguys keeps the show running after hours with more show 'n' shine activity at the host hotel, where the parking lot gets packed with rods by dinnertime and the local streets become a parade of cruisers, with sidewalks packed with local spectators and the air thick with smoke from mysteriously melting rubber.
You know how Rod & Custom feels about traditional rods and customs, so when we're here, we're in '40s, '50s, and '60s heaven. Fans of contemporary street rods also have plenty to look at, as well as the truck guys, the musclecar crowd, and everybody else. You might even find something completely unexpected, such as the world's coolest Studebaker Lark. You never know.
While attending the Nashville show, we noted a movement toward two-door and four-door wagons. We noticed the same trend in Columbus, and we also spotted a huge number of hot-rodded trucks--from early roadster pickups to postwar Ford F-series trucks to weather-beaten (or faux weather-beaten) classics to handcrafted one-of-a-kind customs. As you can see from our sample of photos, they're everywhere.
Enjoy this mini photo album of some of our favorites from Columbus.
Wilson Payne has owned this...
Wilson Payne has owned this '50 Merc for 15 years and just got it together last fall. It's got a 3-inch chop, skirts made from a '55 Chevy, '55 Chevy 210 trim, and '56 DeSoto bumper guards in the grille. The Jim Gilbert interior includes a '59 Chevy dash.
Nobody could've missed Jerry...
Nobody could've missed Jerry Conklin's '51 Fleetline, known around the event as "the yellow Chevy." The paint on this on-the-ground custom is even brighter in real life, tempered by some white scallops. It also features a small-block, off-white interior, Cadillac taillight cones, and, if you look closely, flying eyeball side-pipe plates.
Rod & Custom Goodguys Top Ten
Prewar customs as perfect...
Prewar customs as perfect as John St. Germain's '36 Ford roadster are really rare. Extended front and rear fenders, '41 Packard grille, boxed '37 chassis, '37 Packard skirt trim, and '57 Olds dash clock bezels modified for rear exhaust tips are just the beginning of the details on John's ride. The Navarro three-pot intake on the Flathead runs 97s at each end with a Ford 94 in between.
This mostly homebuilt steel...
This mostly homebuilt steel '29 roadster pickup is the second car built by owner Jeff Eischen, and was just finished this summer. We liked the rear quarter-elliptic springs (made from '48 Ford springs cut in half), race buckets that remind us of sports cars more than bombers, and Wheel Vintique wheels modified with drilled holes. The car has 150 louvers and who knows how many real rivets.
Believe it or not, it took...
Believe it or not, it took Bill Layman 12 years to convince the previous owner to sell this '54 Mercury Monterey hardtop. He finally succeeded, and the nosed and decked custom Merc now sports a 3-inch chop, Frenched headlights, and a big surprise inside in the form of a 331-inch Cadillac engine fed by six Stromberg carburetors. It's a beauty.
Alex Test stripped his '64...
Alex Test stripped his '64 Ford Galaxie of all the trim parts and pieces, and drenched the rest with House of Kolor Sublime Green paint, which calls attention to the custom sheetmetal work on this clean car. Did you notice that the Galaxie side-panel spears have been extended all the way into the rear quarters? Imaginative details like that take this car to the next level.
You can't beat the looks of...
You can't beat the looks of Dale Renner's track nose '33 roadster, built with all the right traditional ingredients: Flathead, Toploader transmission with a Jeep trans top, quick-change rearend, and a two-tone paint scheme that would make the Pierson Brothers proud. A pair of LED '39 taillights and an owner-built windshield add to the style of this topless hottie.
Here's another sanitary, more-than-meets-the-eye...
Here's another sanitary, more-than-meets-the-eye custom--Jim Stockton's shoebox convertible, completed a couple of years ago. Jim mixed '50 Ford with Chevy power by adding a ZZ3 350 along with a reliable 700-R4 automatic transmission and a 9-inch Ford rearend. Hood emblems keep it looking deceptively conservative, and Air Ride 'bags hint at a slightly more radical personality.
After seeing Jack Matia's...
After seeing Jack Matia's '63 Impala at all the shows, we finally gave him a well-deserved R&C pick. Dave Rieger and the guys at Classic Revivals handled the construction and paint on this Ram Jet 350-powered custom, and just about everybody has figured out that it's a '60 Plymouth top grafted to the body, just like in Steve Stanford's Custom Rodder illustration.
There's a ton of traditional...
There's a ton of traditional East Coast style all over Matt Hayes' '31 Ford five-window coupe. Matt channeled the unchopped body 5 inches over the Brookville chassis, suspended with split wishbones in front and a four-link with coilovers in the rear. Triple Edelbrock two-barrels top the Chevy 350, matched with a TH350 transmission. The white top, firewall, and tire sidewalls set off the custom blue finish.
The newest addition to Bob...
The newest addition to Bob Phelps' Chevy collection, which contains either a cabriolet or roadster from each available year from 1930 to 1939, is this just-completed '33 cabriolet. The body is the original steel, mounted on a polished stainless chassis that has been stretched 9 inches, and beefed up Heidt's independent suspension on both ends. Power comes from an LS6.
Bill Taylor showed a lot of...
Bill Taylor showed a lot of imagination by taking a humble little Lark and cooling it up into a Stude rod. He did it with a 330-horse small-block, 4L60E electronic trans, Fatman IFS, an original interior, and 15- and 16-inch American five-spokes. The '60 Studebaker has 9,000 original miles on the odometer. We'll see how long that lasts once this car hits the road.