Hot Rod Car Show - California Gold

When the Goodguys West Coast Nationals rolls around at the end of August, the summer show season is far from over, but we really like being able to hit a national show not very far from home after months of traveling all over the United States.

After a summer on the road checking out the latest and greatest rods and customs from every other corner of the country, it's a treat to get back to the West Coast to see some of that famous Golden State iron. The Bay Area has always been the center of some of the greatest hot rods and customs-and it's Goodguys' home turf. Every August, Goodguys packs the Alameda County Fairgrounds with countless outstanding cars. Some are brand-new cars making a late-summer debut. Some are recent show-stoppers making the rounds of Goodguys shows, just like us. Others are old local favorites that have been making the pilgrimage to Pleasanton for decades. This time, we had the tough job of selecting a handful of these top-shelf rods and customs to receive R&C Top 10 awards. Those picks, along with a few others from the weekend, are presented on the following pages.

Our favorite wagon in the woodie corral was Gerry and Gail Gamet's '51 Ford.	The European-looking hardtop in the pro area was, in fact, the smoothest Kaiser you'll ever see.	Richard Diamond got help from legendary custom builder Bill Hines in the buildup of his on-the-ground, chopped '51 Merc.
Phil Blodgett has owned this '36 Ford cabrio for 12 years, but it has only been finished since March 2006.	Skoty Chops' chopped '30 coupe is channeled over a custom chassis, and Z'd 6 inches in the front and 12 in back.	When Rick "Zoomie" Hanson was a kid, he built a model of the Black Widow Model T roadster pickup, and has always wanted to build a fullsize version in the style of a late-'50s/early '60s show circuit vehicle.
Maybe Buick pickups will start getting popular after people see Cliff Brace's '39.	It's the ice pearl paint that draws people over to look at this '50 Merc, but there's plenty more to see on Chris and Bette Addington's custom, built by Chris along with Tim Robison.	Peter Scialabba came to Pleasanton with a bunch of beautiful traditional-looking cars and trucks, but the one that really appealed to us was this original-steel '29 Model A roadster, built like it would have looked in 1962.
We saw Keith Kaucher's '54 Ford Victoria custom being built, featured it back in October, and love seeing it at the shows.	Casey Tollini acquired this '48 Chevy pickup when he was 12, finished it five years later, and has spent the past three years driving it everywhere.	Abel Reyes made minimal external mods and kept all the brightwork on this sky blue suede '52 Chevy hardtop, including the hood ornament, but brought the body down to the ground.
Soncy Road Body Shop in Amarillo built this chopped '50 Ford woodie from the ground up for Mike Hamel, using the original wood.	This '36 Chevy was already hot rodded when Bruce Brincka got it about four years ago.	Darin Houston owns this small-block-powered, suede-in-the-shade, chopped '32 five-window.
You might not think of '53 Chevys as classy, but some beautiful bodywork, lowered stance, and Thundercloud metallic paint do the trick on Robert and Shelby Smith's two-door post.	Larry Freeman went the other way with his snow-white '54 Chevy hardtop, retaining the body trim, and building a cool resto rod.	Our prediction that Ts are making a comeback was supported in Pleasanton by Gary Hubback's '27 turtle deck roadster, with a pair of Strombergs on a Thickstun intake manifold (with a Thickstun air cleaner) feeding the '36 Bohnalite-head Flathead.
It must be a blast to drive this cool Deuce highboy, owned by Dave Davidson.	Russell Martin kept his '22 Buick roadster true Bu, with the exception of the reshaped and boxed '28 Chevy 'rails.	This Flathead-powered '31 coupe was already a chopped hot rod when Garran Soohoo started rebuilding it.
Lil' John Buttera has been setting trends for decades and drew a crowd with his '28 roadster, built by Steve Moal, Jimmy Kilroy, and John himself.	This chopped and dropped '50 Ford, the property of Gary and Joan Levering, looks great with spots, smoothed sheetmetal, side pipes, and a monochrome copper paint job.