Cars On Line

NSRA 2017 Street Rod Nationals

Final Day at NSRA 2017 Street Rod Nationals …

At the NSRA 2017 Street Rod Nationals on Saturday, Rick Abbott of Shepardsville, Kentucky became the luckiest Car Guy in the world when he won the 1933 Ford Coupe Giveaway Car in front of thousands of fans in Freedom Hall. It all happened in Louisville, Kentucky where the National Street Rod Association is holding its 48th Annual Nationals, August 3-6, 2017 at the Kentucky Expo Center.

Here is the 1933 Ford 3-Window Coupe built by Reisinger Customs out of Evansville, Indiana.

Today Rick Abbott (right) is the luckiest Car Guy in the world.
Rick wins the NSRA 2017 GiveAway Car
Riesinger Customs crew that worked on the '33 Ford Coupe
1933 Ford 3-Window Coupe
NSRA 2017 Street Rod Nationals GiveAway Car
built by Reisinger Custom in Evansville, IN

This is the hot car show to attend this weekend. Already on Friday morning there were almost 10,000 street rods registered here. This could be the biggest Nationals ever for NSRA. Some people are estimating 12,000 to 15,000 cars and trucks are on the grounds. Click through the slideshow below to get a taste of the kind of action we’re seeing here at the NSRA 2017 Street Rod Nationals:

Five of the Great 8 Award winners from the Detroit Autorama (Ridler Award competition) are here at the NSRA 2017 Street Rod Nationals this weekend. We came across the 1941 Ford Pickup owned by Ed Sears in the Builders’ Showcase. The Builder’s Showcase here at the Nationals has some of the finest custom work in the country on display. Ed described how this incredible build came about, and how One Off Rod & Custom did the restoration. Click the video window below to hear the interview:

We found the 1930 Ford Model A Coupe (Great 8 winner) built by Cal Automotive Creations out of Bennington, Nebraska in this display. Andy Leach of Cal Automotive Creations and a former Ridler Award winner, was on hand to tell us about this one-off build. Click the video window to hear the interview and see how Andy designed this old school looking hot rod:

Remember the 1949 Chevy Custom C10 Pickup from the Ridler Award competition at Detroit Autorama this year? It was built by Collvins Customs in Mt Vernon, Texas. It is one of the top cars in the Builder’s Showcase here in Louisville this weekend. You’ve gotta’ see the trick mods on this one. Here is Bobby Collvins to explain the build. (Click video window below.)

You’ve gotta’ see this interview. It’s one of the wildest rides here in Louisville this weekend. We interviewed Anton Lanesky of Anton’s Hot Rod Shop in Hiram, Ohio about his 1950 Studebaker Starlite Coupe with the Patriotic Theme. This is one of the top builds here at the NSRA 2017 Street Rod Nationals and it is a one-off for sure. Click the video window below to watch the interview:

Larry Griffey of Larry Griffey’s Hot Rods & Restorations in Knoxville, Tennessee was on hand here with his Great 8 Award winning 1954 Corvette Custom. He told us a little about the build. (Click the video window here to catch the interview.)

We discovered this 1935 Auburn Boattail Speedster Resto Mod here at the Builder’s Display in Freedom Hall. David Joyce, of Joyce Custom Cars, Inc, was available to talk to us about this spectacular build. They built the car for Phyllis Lambert of West Virginia. Here is the background on the build:

Cars On Line will be here all weekend reporting on the NSRA 2017 Street Rod Nationals for our readers. The NSRA is one of the oldest and largest street rod clubs in the U.S. They really know how to put on a car show. So our photo journalists, Bob and Donna Boberg of eClassicAuto.com, are on hand to take photos and video of the event. Watch for their posts on Facebook and Twitter. If you love the American hot rod, you’ll want to see the NSRA 2017 Street Rod Nationals through our camera lens.

You can imagine our excitement here in Louisville, Kentucky anticipating one of the biggest street rod shows in the country. This is a big show. It is the signature event of the year for the National Street Rod Association.

In addition to the 10,000+ street rods, customs, classics, muscle cars and resto mods, there will be a giant manufacturers area with all the new innovations and equipment related to custom car building. They say over 300 manufacturers are here to show you their products and innovations during the NSRA 2017 Street Rod Nationals. In addition, we’ll bring you to the giant swap meet, an arts and crafts show, Woman’s World, and NSRA Street Kana Auto Cross races.

Watch for our posts on Facebook so you can participate in selecting our Readers Choice Award for the best street rod or custom at the NSRA 2017 Street Rod Nationals.

Auctions America’s Fall Auburn Auction Continues Tradition

Auctions America’s Fall Auburn Auction

Auctions America’s Fall Auburn Auction continues a tradition in Auburn, Indiana. Every Labor Day Weekend they hold a huge classic car auction during the Auburn-Cord-Duesnberg Festival.

Cars On Line is in Auburn to provide live on-the-spot coverage exclusively for our readers. So sit back and enjoy the show. Saturday’s sale was the “prime time” event here in Auburn as some of the finest vintage classics and exotic cars in the country were sold here yesterday. Here are some of the top cars sold at the Auburn Auction Park:

1933 Duesenberg Berline by Franay at Auctions America's Fall Auburn Auction
Sold on Saturday for $675,000 (or $715,000 including sales commission)
One of the featured cars at Auctions America's Fall Auburn Auction
Top Sale of the Auction, 1931 Duesenberg J Murphy Convertible Sedan sold for $880,000 (including sales commission)
1965 Shelby 289 Cobra CSX2442 was bid up to $800,000
1931 Cadillac Roadster by Fleetwood sold for $335,000
1937 Cord 812 Supercharged Phaeton sold for $236,500 (including sales commission)
1953 Corvette sold for $181,500 (including sales commission)
1929 Auburn 8-90 Speedster sold for $170,000
1957 Ford Thunderbird F Code Supercharged edition sold for $176,000 (including sales commission.)
1957 Ford Fairlane Skyliner Retractable with rare F Code Supercharged motor sold sold for $170,500 (with sales commission)
1967 Corvette 427/435 Convertible
A 1930 Packard Deluxe Eight Sport Phaeton was bid up to $175,000 at Auction America's Fall Auburn Auction
1970 Plymouth Superbird sold on Saturday for $137,500
1957 Chevrolet Bel Air Convertible sold at Auctions America's Fall Auburn Auction for $102,000
1963 Corvette Resto Mod custom sold
1928 Packard Eight sells for $83,000 on Sunday.

Cars On Line newsletter readers have been getting previews of some of Auctions America’s Fall Auburn Auction cars in the COL newsletter. Our Cars On Line.com team were looking at those prime time cars on Saturday. Click through to our Facebook page for commentary. Our Facebook followers were active in the discussion. Final sales prices have just been listed on the Auctions America website, click this link to research sales prices. Auctions America provided a live stream during the auction so that you could view and hear the auction. Our readers were watching the live stream on their tablets or computers as they discussed the sale on our Facebook page.

Auctions America’s Fall Auburn Auction happens every year on Labor Day Weekend. It is a tradition to have the big auction sale on the same weekend as the Auburn-Cord-Duesenberg Festival. This was the 60th year that this Festival in Auburn, Indiana has been held. It’s purpose was to honor the three big motorcar companies which were headquartered here under the guidance of E.L. Cord, the owner and founder of Cord, also owned Auburn Motor Company and the Duesenberg brand. There is so much history here that it is almost like you’ve stepped back in time to experience this festive weekend. Click here to read the story our Cars On Line team wrote about the Auburn-Cord-Duesenberg Festival.

The next Auctions America sale will be at Hilton Head Island, South Carolina, November 5, 2016, during the Hilton Head Motoring Festival and Concours D’Elegance. Click here for details.

Goodguys 25th Heartland Nationals

Sunday at Goodguys 25th Heartland Nationals …

The weather held out to make it a great show as the Goodguys 25th Heartland Nationals closed out their final day at the Iowa State Fairgrounds on Sunday. It was great cruisin’ weather as everyone got in line to parade throughout the fairgrounds.

Cars On Line.com was here in Des Moines this weekend to cover all the action at this giant Goodguys event as they celebrated their “Silver Anniversary” for this show. It was big … with over 4,000 vehicles pre-1972 here on Saturday. The Iowa State Fairgrounds is so big you have to cruise the grounds just to see all the cars. Cars On Line readers were checking in on this page for the last three days to see all the top cars at the show. You can also catch our posts on Facebook and Twitter. We did several Periscope broadcasts on Twitter here at the show. You can replay them by clicking on the video window on our Twitter page.

On Sunday they awarded the:
Meguiars Magnificent Masterpiece Award
Goodguys 2016 Vintage Air CUSTOM ROD OF THE YEAR
Goodguys 2016 MSD MUSCLE CAR OF THE YEAR
Goodguys 2016 Griots Garage MUSCLE MACHINE OF THE YEAR
Goodguys 2016 Scotts Hot Rods TRUCK OF THE YEAR – EARLY (through ‘52)
Goodguys 2016 LMC Truck Parts TRUCK OF THE YEAR – LATE (’53 through ‘72)
Here are the winners:

MSD's Muscle Car of the Year Award, 1969 Yenko Camaro
Real Deal Yenko 427 owned by Dennis Albaugh, Ankeny, IA
COPO 427/425 hp original
Rallye Green, all stock original Yenko
Meguiar's Magnificent Masterpiece Award winner
1951 Pontiac Woody Wagon Custom
Owned by Larry & Randi Powell, Indianola, IN
Gorgeous custom interior
1941 Willys, Truck of the Year, 1952 Or Older
Owned by Laura Dunat, Ripley, MN
Award presented by Scotts Hot Rods
Griots Muscle Machine of the Year Award winner
1969 Camaro owned by Rich Gregory, Illinois
1966 Ford Bronco Half Cab
Truck of the Year, 1953-72
Built by Rick & Cindy Gochanour, Ft Calhoun, NE
Award sponsored by LMC Truck Parts

The winners of the Builders Choice Awards were in a special display on Saturday and Sunday north of the VI building. See the winners here in a slide show:

1956 Chevy Custom Convertible
Built by John Provenzano, Wichita, KS
LS3 engine
Gorgeous custom interior
Reveal in the trunk to show chromed rear end
1951 Chevy Convertible owned by Greg Heinrich, Henderson, NV
Built by Rods & Restos in Center, Al
Incredible interior by Paul Atkins
Built LS3 with old school look
See video interview with builder, on Twitter
1954 Mercury Custom, Hollis Booker, Memphis, IN
350 with Tunded Port Injection
Spectacular custom interior
Builders Choice, 1962 Chevy Impala Custom
Owned by Todd Widhalm, Sioux City, IA
Custom LS engine
1969 Camaro Custom for Builders Choice Award
LS9 Chevrolet motor
Built by Bobby Schumacher, Independence, MO
1951 Chevy Pro Street Pickup
Big block 468
Owned by Bob Provin from Newton, IA
1949 Cadillac Convertible Custom from Texas
Built by Hot Rods & Customs of Andice who also built the Ridler Award winner
454 LSX modern big block
1956 Ford owned by Bruce Ricks of Sapulpa, OK
Has a 429/535 hp with stack injection
beautiful custom interior

Five regional winners will be picked at the Goodguys 25th Heartland Nationals to compete in the Goodguys Top 12 competitions at the end of the year. Regional winners here at Des Moines will have a chance to compete for the Top 12 in Scottsdale, Arizona during the 19th Annual Southwest Nationals, Nov 18-20, 2016. However the winners will not be announced until October, 2016. Cars On Line.com will show you all of the top cars in the running from Des Moines this weekend.

Here is a slider to show you some of the show quality cars and trucks we’ve seen so far:

1969 Camaro Pro Street, owned by Travis Uglund, Souix Falls, SD
Blown 540
Cars On Line's Pick for a Top 12 award
1937 Ford Woodie Wagon built by Mike Lynch of Ft Dodge, IA
1953 Ford F100 Custom owned by Adam Cox of Cedar, IA
1968 Mercury Cougar owned by Craig Bresch from Lincoln, NE

Of course, there are always some great cars that just show up in Des Moines. Just for “braggin’ rights” here are some of the cars we spotted in Des Moines that deserve mention:

Welcome to the Goodguys 25th Heartland Nationals
1966 Chevy Nova owned by Doug Thomas, Kansas City
Blown and injected 468
1949 Mercury Lead Sled
Radical Custom 1955 Chevy Hardtop
Owned by Merlin Berg, Bellevue, IA
Special PPG Harlequin Collection color
Nice paint
1957 Chevy Nomad Custom
Opening day at Goodguys 25th Heartland Nationals
Cruising at Goodguys 25th Heartland Nationals
1930 Ford owned by Dave Staab, Vinton, IA
Best Flames at the show
1954 Nash Metropolitan,
Michelle & Randy Suter, Willmar, MN

The most popular event at the Goodguys shows this year has been the Goodguys Autocross sponsored by Optima Batteries. It will be called the “Duel in Des Moines” as mid-westerners get a chance to shake out the cob webs and go fast on a fairly difficult autocross course. Celebrity drivers such as Al Unser, Jr and Bobby Unser even took the course laying down some fast times.

Brad Johnson turns a 68.03 at Goodguys Autocross
1972 Corvette from Detroit Speed had the fastest time this morning
Mike Dusold took over first place this afternoon with a 59.08 time
Bobby Unser runs a 62.0 on first try.

The first 5,000 spectators through the turnstiles on Saturday were given American flags to celebrate the 4th of July, and our nation’s independence.

Watch for our broadcasts on Twitter. Here is a live streamed interview with one of the Builders Choice Award winners:

And if you think this was a big show, wait till you see where we’ll be next week when Goodguys holds their biggest show of the year at the Goodguys PPG Nationals in Columbus. Click the link for a preview of the show.

Chicago Auto Show 2015

The Chicago Auto Show is one of the Midwest’s largest automotive affairs. It’s been the place to see some of the industry’s hottest cars, from production vehicles available now to concept cars that are as much art as auto. This year’s show had more than 1,000 vehicles on display and more than 1 million square feet of show floor space. There were three indoor test tracks, outdoor ride and drive experiences, celebrity appearances and more! We’re told this year’s show has a renewed focus on consumer-ready production vehicles, but that’s not saying there weren’t many amazing specialty cars to ogle over. Here’s some of the photographs Cars On Line friend Doug Bennett took while he attended the show last Saturday. Click the photographs to see them larger.