Football fans have the Super Bowl. Movie buffs have Oscar night. So where do hot rodders go to see the biggest names from our hobby in one place at one time? We head to the National Street Rod Association's Street Rod Nationals in Louisville, Kentucky.
The 35th annual Nats was the best Nats we've been to in a while. Construction at the Kentucky Fair and Exposition Center took away a bunch of primo power parking spots, but the 400-acre facility was still big enough for the 11,500 pre-'49 rods that showed up from all over America.
Inside the Expo Center building, aftermarket manufacturers showed off their latest parts, tools, and gear--including 160 new items on display in the New Products exhibit. Anybody with any dough left over after visiting more than 300 commercial vendor displays could spend the rest of it in the huge swap meet area.
On Friday, R&C hosts the Pro's Pick competition. NSRA gives us a corner of the grounds where anybody registered in the Nats can park for a few hours while the R&C staff and some of top builders around inspect and evaluate the high-end iron, finally selecting 12 Pro's Picks.
Of course, our list of faves goes far beyond those dozen award winners. We came back from the Nats with hundreds of photos of America's finest rides. We only have a few pages to show 'em, so here's a small sample of the stuff we saw.
For a look at the Nats in its entirety, you've got to go to Louisville. NSRA has booked the Expo Center for August 4-7, 2005. Before you go, visit www.nsra-usa.com.
Pro's Pick: Ken Barnhart from...
Pro's Pick: Ken Barnhart from Ken's Street Rods, showed with his 350/350 full-fendered '32 roadster, built very traditionally from an original-bodied car and riding on a TCI chassis.
Pro's Pick: Don Montgomery's...
Pro's Pick: Don Montgomery's Mercury model '33 Chevy is a rare car. The elegant custom coupe was a runner-up for Goodguys Street Rod of the Year.
The lines of a '33 roadster...
The lines of a '33 roadster never looked nicer than on Tim Kerrigan's full-fendered version, riding on a pushrod suspension. The Ford 4.6L is backed up by a five-speed. The roadster won America's Most Beautiful Street Rod at Goodguys Pleasanton.
Greg Porter's '34 Plymouth...
Greg Porter's '34 Plymouth is stuffed full of traditional East Coast style with a six-carb Hemi, radical channel job, whitewall slicks, and serious gold 'flake paint.
Pro's Pick: George Lange's...
Pro's Pick: George Lange's '49-flathead-powered '32 three-window nails the traditional hot rod look, and rides on a Deuce front suspension with '36 Ford rearend parts in back.
Pennsylvania's Frankie C took...
Pennsylvania's Frankie C took a custom approach with his '38 Ford sedan-turned-hardtop. Looks pretty slick to us.
Pro's Pick: We really like...
Pro's Pick: We really like this trend toward contemporary cars with a traditional twist, which is the route Scotty Gray took with his '33 Speedstar. The Ohio-flamed hood hides a 509 big-block.
This '29 roadster was built...
This '29 roadster was built in the '50s by sprint car racer Karl Kinser and Claude Kern. Kern has owned it since 1960 and has albums of photos, stacks of time slips, and hours of stories from the A's draggin' days in the '60s. He rebuilt it in 1996, adding a 283 but kept the original dash and Naugahyde bench.
One of the cars that used...
One of the cars that used to race against Claude Kern's '29 is this channeled, W-motor-powered '31 Model A coupe, owned by John Mandabach. It looked great cruisin' the grounds all weekend.
Pro's Pick: It seems like...
Pro's Pick: It seems like everybody loved Paul Brewer's chanelled and Y-block-powered '34 Ford pickup, loaded with East Coast-style, not to mention a Ford small-block with Offy heads.
Pro's Pick: We've showed you...
Pro's Pick: We've showed you shots of Don Enloe's '40 Ford before. The street-scrapin' sedan with the Fatman front end was back at the Nats to earn a Pro's Pick prize.
How low can an Olds go? Richard...
How low can an Olds go? Richard Eller's '47 fastback gets way down thanks to a GM subframe and air bags, and scoots down the road just fine with small-block Chevy power.
Phil Becker dared to alter...
Phil Becker dared to alter the sacred lines of his '40 Ford's lines with quad headlights, Corvette bumpers, custom taillights, and a '55 Chevy dash. The result is a cool custom rod that looks like it could've come out of the late '50s.
Jerry Marker's '33 Plymouth...
Jerry Marker's '33 Plymouth coupe looks cool as a highboy, thanks in part to a '32 Ford frame, which seems to fit perfectly. A Mopar Magnum 360 engine, leather interior, and Josh Shaw/Robbie Baker flames over black paint add to the appeal inside and out.
This '30 coupe, a popular...
This '30 coupe, a popular show winner and Hot Rod feature car in the early '60s, ended up in pieces in the woods, with the grille buried in the mud. Mel Lawyer has been rebuilding this old survivor since last November, bringing it back to its old-time show condition with the original flathead and three deuces.
According to current owner...
According to current owner Gary Kittle, this Cadillac-powered custom '32 roadster was originally built by Indiana's Bob Metz (who added fins to R&C's Dream Truck), made the East Coast show circuit in the early '60s, was featured in the January 1963 Custom Rodder magazine, and was stored away until November 2003.
Pro's Pick: Bud Ford's dark...
Pro's Pick: Bud Ford's dark blue '36 Ford has all the hallmarks of Lobeck-built hot rod (which it is). It's classic, classy, and tough, and powered by a ZZ4 and Turbo 350 engine/trans combination.
Pro's Pick: Wide whites, American...
Pro's Pick: Wide whites, American Salt Flat wheels, and classy maroon paint give Jim Nicholson's unchopped '32 three-window classic appeal. The inside is just as nifty with maroon vinyl, white rolls and pleats, and a '40 Ford wheel with column-mount tach. Hard to believe it's an old dirt track warrior.