Produced by the Right Coast Association, the 12th Syracuse Nationals at the New York State Fairgrounds drew almost 7,600 cars this past July, with attendees from all over the United States and Canada. Having wanted to attend the show for a number of years, we finally made it this summer, thanks to the constant harassment from our old pal “East Coast” Artie (just kiddin’!).
Artie hosts Artie’s Party as part of the event, with pinstripers giving their time for free to participate in one of the biggest panel jams we’ve witnessed. All the artwork produced is sold through a series of auctions over the weekend, with 100 percent of the profits benefitting the McMahon/Ryan House Child Advocacy Site, a not-for-profit organization in Syracuse. This year $62,000 was raised through the auctions. Good work ladies and gentlemen!
Looks like Simon Steel’s ’29...
Looks like Simon Steel’s ’29 roadster started life as a coupe or sports coupe, but now it just plain rocks! With a six pack on an aluminum-headed small-block, and a bare aluminum—but comprehensively dimple-die punched—interior, we were all over this roadster!
The three-day event also featured three of the actors from Happy Days, 15 bands, firework displays, and 350 vendors, in addition to the cars in attendance, with the furthest travelled coming from Oregon! Out on the edge of the fairgrounds a barn hosted the Old Skool Roundup, with some neat (and it has to be said, not-so neat) rods of the “ratty” persuasion. Amongst their number though were some cool traditional rods and some seriously neat survivors, making for a great show-within-a-show.
Also part of the event was the Winfield Award, where well-known customizer Gene Winfield picks his Select Six from a number of entries, all displayed in one of the many halls on site, then chooses a winner that represents excellence in automotive design and build techniques.
Even with three days to get around the show, we felt we hadn’t seen it all (we did, we always do. Thank goodness for golf carts!), which is always the mark of a good event. Check out www.rightcoastcars.com for information on the 2012 event.
The ’59 El Caminos don’t need...
The ’59 El Caminos don’t need much in the way of bodywork, though Vern Conway lost the side trim and door handles before coating his in “look-at-me” orange and adding Budnik five-spokes.
Our two favorite rides at...
Our two favorite rides at Syracuse were both ’60s-inspired candy red rods, namely Simon Steel’s ’29 and this one, Keith Shand’s Hemi-motored ’32 three-window. You’d be hard pressed to find a more stunning Deuce. Thanks for the refreshments too, guys, wheeling a golf cart through those fairgrounds is thirsty work!
Not the lightest choice for...
Not the lightest choice for Gasser material, but who cares when it’s this mad; Mike Klein opted for a ’56 Buick Special, with a 383 stroker small-block and Turbo 350.
Bob and Carol Schofield’s...
Bob and Carol Schofield’s ’47 Tudor was looking good in primer, thanks to a healthy whack, molded fenders, and tunneled side pipes.
Chopped 6 inches, you could...
Chopped 6 inches, you could be forgiven for thinking Ron and Amy Lasker’s ’31 A coupe sits on a heavily Z’d chassis, but not so. It’s actually channeled 16 inches! A Winters quick-change is fed by a ’53 Flathead.
David Briggs brought along...
David Briggs brought along this late-’50s Flatty-powered slingshot, the single-axle trailer adding a little period feel to the whole tow rig ensemble. Left: The ’57 Fairlane will always be overshadowed by its same-year GM counterpart, but Bob Wilson proved that there’s no reason why that should always be the case with this cool mild custom Ford hardtop.
David Briggs brought along...
David Briggs brought along this late-’50s Flatty-powered slingshot, the single-axle trailer adding a little period feel to the whole tow rig ensemble. Left: The ’57 Fairlane will always be overshadowed by its same-year GM counterpart, but Bob Wilson proved that there’s no reason why that should always be the case with this cool mild custom Ford hardtop.
Who says you can’t mix themes...
Who says you can’t mix themes in one car? OK so it usually doesn’t work, but we got a kick out of Mike Rowell’s Lug Nuts Garage Gasser surf wagon. When did you last see a ’54 Chevy longroof with white fenderwell headers, a roof rack, visor, and a straight-axle? Never, we’ll bet!
We dug this old-time roadster,...
We dug this old-time roadster, especially with a photo album on the cowl crammed full of historical pictures, documenting this ’30 Ford’s hot rod provenance since 1957.
Though the majority of the Syracuse Nationals is an outdoor event, there are some indoor displays, as well as vendors, model car displays, and Artie’s Party, the pinstriping and artwork section. Also indoors are the cars competing for the Winfield Award, created to recognize excellence in automotive design and build technique. From the many entries received, the finalists are displayed at the show, with Gene Winfield present to whittle them down to the Select Six, the winner is presented with the award during the Saturday evening dinner dance at the fairgrounds.
While traditional customs are present, Winfield doesn’t restrict his judging to the type of car he’s famous for, as evidenced by this year’s winner, the chopped, channeled, and sectioned ’71 Javelin of Lenny Legere, dubbed “Mistress”. Sitting on a tube chassis, and painted pink over candy gold, the Javelin was barely recognizable, resembling a ’70s European sports car, which isn’t surprising when you learn it was built 21 years ago! Of course our favorite to win was Rick Bennett’s traditional Merc, with many, many subtle mods, some of which had to be pointed out to us. Of course Winfield spotted them all!