The cheese and the cars were hot in Madison. The weather was cool and wet-but that didn't stop anybody from having a great time.
When Goodguys figures out how to control the weather, they won't have to worry about getting soaked at one of their outdoor events. Until that day, we'll all just have to take our chances, hope that it doesn't rain, and deal with it when it does.
It was beautiful and clear when we got to Madison, Wisconsin, on the set-up day for the Goodguys Great Lakes Nationals, but the weather report warned us that the wet stuff was on its way.
We got lucky on Friday and had a nice sunny day. The Alliant Energy Center seems custom made for a car show, meaning that there is plenty of pavement for the various Goodguys corrals-Homebuilt Heaven, Youngguys, Pro's Picks, Deuces Are Wild, Fins Are Fifty, and Mighty Muscle-and a big grassy area with willow trees and a creek, for rodders who prefer that scene.
Mike Freund can be proud of his candy tangerine five-window. It's a Downs body, chopped and riding on a Super Bell front suspension with a rear triangulated 4-bar. Six 94s on an Offy intake top the 350 engine. The interior features a '34 Chevy dash and Glide seat. Best of all, Mike drove the car.
We weren't so lucky on Saturday. It rained off-and-on all day (making it easy to tell which photos we took on which day). The showers probably kept some cars away, but we liked hanging out among hardcore enthusiasts who want to, can, and will drive their cars regardless of the weather.
We had ten Rod & Custom Top Tin awards to give away. We try to honor owner-built cars whenever possible. That was easy to do in Madison, and many of our picks fit that description. We're always looking for regional trends, and a few things we noticed in Wisconsin were a high percentage of customs, a high percentage of drivers, and a high percentage of good Polish, Czech, and Slovak last names which we apologize for misspelling.
When we got to the show on Sunday, the rain was coming down steadily, the vendors were packing up, and Goodguys was sending the hot rodders home. We were disappointed about not seeing our R&C Top Tin picks parked together, and missing the rest of the final day fun, but we'd already had two terrific days at the Great Lakes Nats. We'll forget the crummy weather soon. What we'll remember are the hot Wisconsin rods and cool Wisconsin customs.
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Dan and Margie Larson took the road less traveled with this completely reworked '35 Dodge flatbed truck. He dropped the stock body on a handmade rectangular frame with Pete & Jakes front suspension goodies. There's a 318 under the hood, and '89 Cutlass seats and a '78 Olds steering wheel in the cockpit. |
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We showed you Steve Hager's ragtop '46 in last month's Louisville coverage. We liked it so much that we gave it a Top Tin pick in Madison. With a 7-inch stretch in the hood, and skirts built from the rood of this former 4-door sedan, and numerous other mods, it's a great owner-built custom. |  |
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Another Louisville alumnus in Madison was Jim Evans' '36 coupe, which got our attention again. The vintage-style LeBaron Bonney interior, Honda motorcycle blue paint, and '57 Thunderbird mill with a '57 Ford NASCAR air cleaner, are part of the appeal of Jim's homebuilt rod. | 
Ken Barnhart's sweet and low '55 Bel Air wagon is helping us get over our fear of 4-doors. Ken built it as a sleeper. Under the stocker exterior is nicely done custom cruiser, powered by a Ram Jet V8, with a 4L60 trans and Currie posi rear, plus a Heidt's tubular A-arm front suspension. |
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When it comes to homebuilt hot rods, it's hard to beat Dennis and Pat Shearer's '27 T modified. We especially liked the frying pan air cleaner, the horizontal shifter under the dash, the Halibrand champ car rear, and the homemade tubular rails. Not to mention the suicide front end, the Hallock windshield, and the bomber buckets covered in leather from an old sofa. |  |
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Who doesn't like a wet Willys? Especially a 392 Hemi-powered slammed '41, riding on an all-tube chassis built by Pro Stock builder Rick Jones. Owner Orland Koppes has 14,000 miles on the car, and says the way it sits right now is the way he drives it. That's awesome. Or crazy. | 
In addition to it's classic good looks, there is a mind-numbing amount of trick detail in Wes Johnson's Deuce highboy, starting with the spindle-mounted Torq Thrusts with custom centers. Specially fabricated special fasteners were used all over the small-block-powered roadster. |
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Of all the places to put a Hemi, an early Mopar is about the best. We gave Allen and Gloria Longmire's '33 Pymouth PD coupe an award for keeping it all Chrysler-powered, with a '57 392 running Street & Performance EFI, 518 transmission, and 8 3/4-inch rear. Even the purple is a Prowler color complemented by Lexus pearl silver (our secret). |  |