Story and Photos By: Micah Matthiesen

When you picture a Goodguys car show, you generally think of clear skies, lots of beautiful hot rods, and tons of custom cars and trucks all shined up to the nines. However, this year’s Goodguys 4th Spring Nationals got off to a bit of a rough start, with rain coming down Friday morning and into the early afternoon. But in true Goodguys fashion, the skies quickly cleared and the weekend weather answered the prayers of the thousands of hot rodders in attendance.

Roll in continued Friday afternoon with top vendors from around the country on hand offering special show discounts and goodies to anyone looking to score that next piece of the puzzle for that special project build waiting patiently in the garage. Walking the vendor we ran into plenty of the industry’s top names like Speedway Motors, MSD, Baer brakes, So Cal Speed shop, MTX car audio, PPG paint, Street Rods by Auto Art, Snap On and Ridetech all taking pride in their respective displays and product.

Saturday morning started out a bit damp but brought with it a much larger crowd. The show grounds had a buzz of people walking around with smiles and laughter despite the overcast weather and slight drizzle. As the sun began to break through the clouds and reveal the pearl and candy coated paint jobs you could tell the show field was beginning to fill to the brim.

A first time show goer might be overwhelmed with the size of West World show grounds and with everything that the Goodguys Spring Nationals has to offer. With a swap meet area the size of four football fields, an autocross course that overlooks the show field and a tent area that could hold another football field which houses even more vendors. West World definitely brings together everything needed to hold an event like the Spring Nats.

As we made our rounds we stumbled upon this super clean 1935 Chevy with a HiBoy style look and running boards removed. We were surprised by its subtle details and walked around it for a bit taking in all of the little custom touches. Sitting on a staggered set of 18- and 22-inch Billet Specialties, the agressive stance and massive engine make for quite the statement. Even under the tent the paint stood out in the dark with its straight toner black paint that was laid down by Charles Armstrong of Street Rods by Auto Art from Phoenix, Arizona.

Continuing our tour through the massive show field and gorgeous rods and customs on display, par for the course – we were like kids in a candy store. Taking in the sights and sounds of candy paint, big-blocks revving up and parking, and great stories of all kinds swirling around each and every build.

It’s these stories that we sometimes enjoy even more than the cars! Well, maybe equally – because the beautiful machines on display still have our heart racing and longing for more. No matter how many of these big events we attend each year, each and every story is unique, and each custom car has a style all its own.

Trucks, rods, customs - every genre was on display throughout the weekend to meet anyone's specific tastes.

Swap Meet And Fun For All

Swap meet and car show for Dad, model and pedal car show featuring a Revell Model Car Make n’ Take, PPG Kids Coloring Contest, Clowns and more for the kids – there is definitely something for everyone in the family to enjoy. The custom models that were on display could easily go head-to-head with the full-size customs from the show! Walking the swap meet you could find anything you might be looking for – a new project to tinker on, or just that unique part you have been searching for to complete that never ending project.

With rare intake manifolds, hub caps, wheels and engines to look at and sort through you could easily overlook the collectables that your dream “man cave” might just be missing. The swap meet vendors didn’t hold back this year, with vintage gas pumps, shot up street signs, old Coke-a-Cola products, and over a hundred cars and trucks for sale.

In the cars for sale area there was a even a killer ’55 Chevy and a Pantera, both of which were running and driving ready to take home (someone really scored big time on those deals!). If you were looking to get started on that next project you could have even scooped up one of the Ford Street Rod Chassis that were on hand.

You couldn’t ask for a better day then what was brought to Scottsdale on Sunday. Not a cloud in the sky, temps in the lower 70s and the deep paint just blinding the show goers as the cars gleamed in the sun. Walking down every row of cars you could see anything from a ’27 T-bucket to a ’67 SS Camaro.

With the colors brilliantly applied to row upon row of gorgeous custom steel one could quickly become overwhelmed and might miss something if you were to take too much time admiring a single car or truck that catches your eye. But have no fear, we stayed on track and only lingered long enough to capture some live images to bring your way.

All American Sunday And Autocross Action

The autocross and All American Sunday has become one of the largest spectator draws, gaining traction over the last couple of years, and rightfully so! Who wouldn’t want to take a crack at the course or watch the pros conquer each corner with hair splitting accuracy. This year’s Spring Nationals brought out around 26 entries competing in the autocross.

It was full throttle excitement watching cars and trucks being pushed to the limit as they peel out off the line and raced down the straight away. Some locking up their brakes as they set up for the turn and others just getting sideways. For one lucky racer on Saturday someone upstairs must have been on his side, with 5 turns left on the track he locked up his brakes in a fully restored 1966 Corvair stopping inches away from the concrete barricade. On goers watched as they thought he was going to smash up his freshly restored ride.

Regaining his composure, he fired the car up and finished the race. There were not just cars out this weekend on the track but the guys from No Limit Engineering were on hand with their red C-10 and won the truck category. But there was one car out this weekend gunning for that number one spot, Brian Hobagh and his 1965 Corvette. Brian was handling this course like it was nothing, navigating through every turn with ease, Brian kept pushing his car to the edge and took home the fastest time for the weekend, with a 38.65 in the Street Machine class.

The Autocross Champs

• Goodguys AutoCross 1st Place Pro Class: Mike “Hollywood” Maier in his ’66 Mustang – 39.649
• Goodguys AutoCross Street Machine Winner: Brian Hobagh in his ’65 Corvette – 38.650
• Goodguys AutoCross Street Rod Winner: Tom Colby in his 1950 Jaguar – 47.684
• Goodguys AutoCross Truck Winner: Dan Ault in his 1968 Chevy – 44.379
• Goodguys AutoCross All American Sunday Winner: Marshall Machado in his 2002 Corvette – 40.637

The Results Are In

Walking the winner circle on Sunday is always an honor – seeing how everyone stacked up against the toughest competition. These cars and trucks have so much detail in there design that it almost felt unreal to me. The Good Guys Special awards went the following.

Goodguys Builder’s Choice Top 10

• Tom Berry – 1954 Corvette
• Joe Ditta – 1937 Ford
• Bobby Ream – 1964 Falcon
• Jack Hodson – 1967 Camaro
• Jack and Sue White – 1936 Ford
• Greg and Sherry – 1950 Ford Woody
• Earl Bumpass – 1949 Cadillac
• Ken Sutton – 1956 Chevy
• James Curren – 1957 Chevy
• Mike May – 1934 Ford

Overall Award Winners

• Bruce Maples: 1970 Plymouth Cuda – 2013 Hemming’s Musclecar of the Year Finalist
• Brian Hobaugh: 1965 Chevy Corvette – Grundy Muscle Machine of the Year Finalist
• Mitch Kelly: 1957 Chevy Bel Air – Vintage Air Custom Rod of the Year Finalist
• Scott & Esther Dungan: 1953 Chevy 5 window – LMC Truck of the Year Late Finalist
• Val Muyres: 1940 Ford coupe – Coker Tire Best Wide Whites
• Ron & Judy Dean: 1957 Chevy Truck -Goodguys Pick

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