Europe Cars & Trucks News

The Wally Parks/NHRA Motor-sports Museum’s most prestigious event is the California Hot Rod Reunion, sponsored by the Automobile Club of Southern California. Held in October at Kern County’s historic Old Famoso/Bakersfield Raceway, the event annually draws the finest vintage drag race machines and vintage racing talent from all across the nation.

Recently referred to by the media as a “one-of-a-kind American car lover’s dream,” seasoned CHRR insiders irreverently refer to the California Hot Rod Reunion as the annual Gathering of the Geezers!

Regardless of what this annual tribute to drag racing’s glorious bygone days is called, the California Hot Rod Reunion is drag racing history in motion, with nostalgic drag racing action trackside and famous racecars and drag racing personalities pitside!

This year saw the 14th edition of the event. It began the morning of September 30, 2005, when CHRR-XIV quietly rolled into the sleepy truck-stop town of Bakersfield. However, as the pits began to fill early Friday morning, the event generated momentum. By Saturday, the sleepy attitude that usually typifies Old Famoso in October quickly evolved into a full-blown and frenzied hot rod happening!

Highlights from the Hot Rod Reunion included three days of the best in NHRA-sanctioned nostalgia drag racing, including Nostalgia Top Fuel, Nostalgia Junior Fuel, and Blown Nostalgia Gassers, with the finals culminating Sunday afternoon, October 2. Also, Famed drag racer/tuner/innovator “AA” Dale Armstrong was selected as CHRR XIV’s Grand Marshall, along with honorees Leon “Pure Heaven” Fitzgerald, Chrysler star “Dandy Dick” Landy, NHRA’s first female national event winner Shirley “Dragon Lady” Shahan, Safety Equipment pioneer Bill Simpson, chassis-builder Dave Uyehara, and former San Fernando Drag Strip publicist Dave Wallace Sr.

A racer’s night held Friday, September 30, at Bakersfield’s nearby Doubletree was the place where CHRR’s honorees were officially introduced. The social bench racing, which usually includes igniting two Top Fuelers under the hotel’s front foyer, lasted into the wee a.m. hours.

Saturday evening’s highly touted Cacklefest had a total of 46 nitro burners lighting ‘em up in front of a full-capacity crowd.

CHRR IV was also the site of the Leslie Lovett Memorial Photo Contest, where veteran drag racing photographers exhibit their photographic masterpieces from drag racing’s illustrious bygone era. And, of course, there was plenty of drag racing throughout the entire weekend.

But you can’t race if you can’t get to the track, and no CHRR event would be complete without a huge sampling of vintage race-car haulers and street rod trucks. Here’s a sample of the vintage trucks that worked and played during the weekend that saw hot rod history return to Old Famoso.

Photo Gallery: California Hot Rod Reunion Trucks - Hot Rod History - Custom Classic Trucks

The final Twilight Cruise Night of 2006 — Wed., Dec. 6 — is shaping up to be the premier event of the season at theWally Parks NHRA Motorsports Museum, presented by the Automobile Club of Southern California. Auto lovers will unite to view a special car unveiling, see hundreds of classic hot rods, mingle with friends and share some holiday spirit by donating toys to a worthy cause. The event is free and runs from 4 - 8 p.m. at the Fairplex in Pomona.

“The December cruise night is a personal favorite because we are able togather truckloads of toys to give to children and help make their holidays alittle brighter,” said Tony Thacker, executive director of the Museum. “All ofthe toys will be donated to the Inter-City Volunteers, a non-profit charitygroup that will disperse the gifts to hundreds of needy families in the InlandValley.”

Along with the toy drive this year, guests are in for a thrill when thelatest ‘Wrecks to Riches’ project car by TV star Barry White, a 1957 ChevyGasser nicknamed “The Exterminator,” will be unveiled and sold. A silentauction will be held from 7-9 p.m. for invited guests. Twilight Cruise Nightattendees are invited to watch.

As always, the Museum’s front and back parking lots will fill withhundreds of 1970 and earlier classic cars. Celebrity judges will scour theranks to find five of the best vintage vehicles worthy of a special prize avictory lap at Pomona Raceway during the CarQuest Auto Parts NHRAWinternationals, Feb. 8-11, 2007.

Two current exhibits are on display at the museum as well: “Faster:1960s Photographs of Pomona Drag Racing,” presented by the Auto Club;and “50 Years of American Racing Wheels.”

December 6th will conclude the seventh year of the museum’s TwilightCruise Night program. Each month, from April through December, the event ishosted by the Cal Rods car club and attracts nearly 2,000 people toparticipate in raffles, prizes giveaways and a huge 50/50 drawing.

Photo Gallery: Annual Toy Drive and Unveiling of the Wrecks to Riches TV Show Project Car - Custom Classic Trucks

As the name implies, all trucks were welcome at the Carlisle All Truck Nationals. We found everything from kids dragging bagged mini-trucks through the fairgrounds to slammed Peterbuilts sporting a ton of polished stainless steel, aluminum, and chrome-plated parts. Of course, we were there to check out the custom classic truck scene.

We’re glad to say customized old trucks are alive and well in Pennsylvania. If one had to select a region of the United States as number one on a list of who appreciates old trucks the most, the Eastern states would have to be right at the top. The hostile environment of the East Coast’s winters coupled with year after year of tons of salt poured on the roads to control the freezing cold stuff’s slippery effect on things took its toll on the region’s trucks long before the West Coast thinned out. We have a theory that because trucks had to make a living all year long, most of them couldn’t be tucked away for the winter like a lot of desirable automobiles. But nevertheless, we did discover some old trucks lucky enough to be owned by someone who cared.

The truck that sticks out the most in our memory is a ‘55 Chevy 3600 with a utility bed and 41,000 original miles. It was apparent the ‘55 saw some service early in its life, but even then its owner was concerned with maintaining it in good condition. One of the first areas to go (rust) on ’50s-era vehicles are the eyebrows above the headlights. The ‘55 was no exception, but someone had seen to it the rusted areas were repaired and primered. Everything else on the truck, from its original blue and white paint to the stainless steel and chrome parts, was in mint shape. Whoever ordered the ‘55 brand new liked their trucks loaded down. The 3600 was fully equipped with a big-window custom cab, chrome grille, front bumper with bumper guards, a radio, and a heater, and best of all, it had a V-8 engine with an automatic transmission. The guy fired it up for us, and the 265-inch small-block Chevrolet engine purred like a kitten without emitting one little lifter tick.

One of the main attractions at the show was Stacey David, former host of the TV show Trucks. The line to meet Stacey went clear outside the building, but it was well worth the wait. Stacey is the real deal. It seemed like everyone who talked with Stacey had a tech question for him. Without skipping a beat Stacey would fire back a detailed answer. It was really amazing. We heard Stacey buzzed over to the rock crawl area on his break and made a quick blast over the rocks with an exhibitor’s rock crawler–the guy is definitely into trucks.

Another cool guy we met was Carlisle Events’ senior automotive journalist, Mike Blake. Thanks to Mike and the crew at Carlisle Events, we thought we were receiving the VIP treatment, but as it turns out that’s the way they treat everybody who attends their shows. Needless to say, the Carlisle All Truck Nats are the place to go for anyone in search of a great show complete with a large swap meet and vendor’s row. For more information regarding next year’s 17th Annual Carlisle All Truck Nationals, log onto www.carlisleevents.com.

Photo Gallery: The 2006 Carlisle All Truck Nationals Custom Show - Custom Classic Trucks Magazine

Rated at 100 percent duty cycle up to 125 amps, the MT-125 gives operators the ability to weld on virtually any TIG application, especially those with limited access joints. iThe MT-125 offers tremendous welding capacity for a multitude of applications,i says Mike Sammons, sales and marketing manager, Weldcraft. A lot of TIG weldersohobbyists and professionalsohave longed for a truly compact, high amperage TIG torch. The MT-125 is low profile head design allows welders to work in tight spaces that were previously difficult to reach.

To boost welding capacity to 160 amps, Weldcraft offers optional high amperage quartz nozzles and 3/32-inch chucks to accommodate larger diameter tungsten. Compatible tungsten sizes include .040-, 1/16- and 3/32-inch diameters, and depending on the model, include either 12.5- or 25-foot cable lengths.

To lower maintenance and operational costs, the MT-125 uses a replaceable silicone rubber insulating sleeve and head components. The MT-125 requires only 1 liter of water per minute (.95 quarts per minute) at a minimum pressure of 40 PSI or 1.2 liters of water per minute (1.14 quarts per minute) at a maximum pressure of 50 PSI.

For more information, contact Weldcraft at 800-752-7620 or 920-882-6800; fax: 920-882-6840; visit www.weldcraft.com; e-mail customerservice@weldcraft.com or write to Weldcraft Customer Service, 2741 N. Roemer Road, Appleton, WI 54911.

Weldcraft is the worldis leading manufacturer of GTAW (TIG) welding torches and accessories. A broad line of premium products includes the unique Crafter Series, Legacyo Series, MicroTig,o Quick Connect System,o WP Series, and Single Piece Collet/Collet Body. Weldcraft is a wholly owned subsidiary of Illinois Tool Works Inc. (ITW), Glenview, Ill. ITW is a diversified multinational manufacturer of highly engineered components, assemblies and systems.

Photo Gallery: MT-25 Tig Welder

Just like the old expression “you can’t judge a book by looking at the cover,” you can’t always judge a show by reading into its name. An excellent example to illustrate our point is the L.A. Roadster Show held each year in Southern California’s San Gabriel Valley on Father’s Day weekend. As evidenced by our pictorial coverage of the show, one can see there were almost 1,000 customized classic trucks in the show’s specialty parking lot.

The L.A. Roadster Show’s origin traces back to 1960, when the club (founded in ‘57) held their first show with about 50 vehicles in attendance. For the first two years the show’s venue was the Hollywood Bowl. These first two years were a great success acceptance-wise, but proved to be an excellent opportunity for the club to lose money.

The L.A. guys regrouped and decided if they were going to put on a show it would have to be run like a business. Next stop, the Great Western Exhibition Hall in Los Angeles. For approximately 10 years the Great Western served as the Roadster Show’s indoor home until L.A.’s city fathers decided to level the place and put up a bigger parking lot.

As often happens, what appears to be a bad thing can actually turn into the best thing. The third and hopefully final destination for the L.A. Roadster Show is the Los Angeles County Fairplex in Pomona, California.

For Southern California gearheads, the Fairplex represents the custom cultural epicenter of the civilized world. Its northwest corner houses the historic site of the Pomona dragstrip, and toward the southwest corner at gate 1 you will find the NHRA Museum. Inside the fairgrounds not far from the giant train set is where Southern Californians have been getting their first look at new model cars and trucks for well over the last five decades.

In recent years So-Cal Speed Shop in Pomona has hosted an open house in conjunction with the Roadster Show that started out in its early stages of development with about 50 vehicles in attendance. For the 42nd anniversary of the L.A. Roadster Show, the entire blocklong street in front of So-Cal was crawling with cool cars and trucks. Even after arriving right on time at 3 p.m. we had to park our black GMC several blocks away. Fortunately, Super Chevy’s associate editor Mike Harrington forgot how to read a map and accidentally cruised right past where we had to park. Mike had some kind of big-shot VIP parking pass for So-Cal’s lot, so we jumped in his Chevy and tagged along. The thought of almost having to walk two blocks made us pretty hungry, so the sight of free In-N-Out burgers was a welcome sight. After we choked down two double-doubles we wandered around and took in the sights.

On Saturday morning we jumped in our trusty black Jimmy and headed out to Pomona. At 10 o’clock in the morning the specialty lot was already packed with over 1,000 nice old trucks. We were told the lot is capable of holding up to 2,000 vehicles, and this year’s show saw around 1,800. Inside the show grounds there were 800-plus choice examples of every kind of early body style Henry Ford ever produced (and, of course, some he never made). While we were walking around shooting the show we got a call from our friend “Clean” Dean, editor of Biker magazine. He was at the show with his slumlord Allen Erickson. Earlier that morning Allen and Dean piled into Allen’s ‘28 Model A roadster pickup and hauled butt out to the show. Allen bought his roadster pickup in ‘58. The first time he showed it at the L.A. Roadster Show was in ‘61, and he continued to do so until ‘95. Since showing his ‘28 A in the ‘06 show Allen said they had such a good time this year he’ll bring it out again for next year’s show.

For any of you reading this with a love of all things custom and cool (especially old trucks), we highly recommend you find yourself in Pomona, California, next Father’s Day weekend enjoying So-Cal’s open house, followed with the L.A. Roadster Show. CCT

Photo Gallery: The 2006 L.A Roadster Show - Custom CLassic Trucks Magazine

We like going to car shows as much as the other guy, but looking at a bunch of cars parked around a fairground, no matter how nice they are, gets pretty old. So when we were informed that Rod & Custom was once again hosting the Americruise (July 28-30) at the State Fair Park in Lincoln, Nebraska, we got together and argued the case that we needed to do something a little more exciting. To our amazement, the suits listened. So, we’ll be having a few driving events within the event that’ll not only test the driver, but will also challenge his or her ride as well.

The first driving event will be an autocross course set up with cones in a parking lot. Each driver will be timed on each lap through the course and, not surprisingly, the fastest time wins. We’re still not sure what you may win besides a trophy, but bragging rights come with it. This promises to be almost as much fun for the spectators as the drivers, as we’re sure there will be plenty of tire smoke and wild action as the rods and customs are pushed to limits not normally encountered on a regular cruise night.

The opportunity to test your car’s acceleration and braking will be available during the Go & Whoa contest. Your car’s reaction time will also be important as you accelerate in a straight line (we hope) and brake just in time to stop your car within a preset area marked with two lines. The car and driver who can do this in the quickest time wins. We have a feeling this will turn into a contest to see who can smoke the tires right up until the time they have to slam on the brakes to bring it to a halt–sounds like fun! Your car must have seatbelts, and if you have a roadster or convertible and want to participate in these two driving events, you will need to bring a helmet (you know how insurance companies get). Each car will go through a quick inspection to make sure it has stuff like working brakes and throttle-return springs.

In the coming years we’re hoping to add some more participant activities to the Americruise and would like to hear your suggestions. Please send them to Kevin (kevin.lee@primedia.com).

Rod and Custom of the Year Awards
As with any car show or event, handing out awards is expected. As part of our planning for the Americruise, we knew awards were going to have to be part of the deal, but we wanted to make sure they were going to be earned. We sat down and developed a plan to award two top honors at the event. R&C will be selecting a Rod of the Year (pre-1949) and a Custom of the Year (1949-1964). For the Custom class, it doesn’t have to be a chopped Merc; we’re looking for anything built to perform–doesn’t matter if it’s a ‘62 Impala with big brakes and 18- and 20-inch wheels or a ‘57 Buick with whitewalls.

Now before you start lamenting that these will just be awarded to another set of trailer queens, we took that into account and decided to put the contenders to the test.

Cars that want to participate will need to be at the Americruise on Friday by noon and will be parked in a specified area. The R&C staff will go around and select the Top Five in each class based on the following judged categories:

Exterior Design — 100 points
Fit and Finish — 100 points
Interior — 100 points
Engine Compartment — 100 points
Undercarriage — 100 points

Once the Top Fives have been selected, this is where it’ll start getting interesting. They will each be ran through a safety inspection and then on either Friday night or Saturday night these 10 cars will be required to participate in a cruise to somewhere in Lincoln. On Saturday they will make some timed runs through the road course, do a 0-40-mph acceleration test and 40-0-mph brake test. The best car in each event will be awarded 100 points and the rest will be awarded a percentage of points based on how close they were to the best time. The Reliability Test (cruise) will be pass or fail–if you make it, you get 100 points, if not, you get none.

Tour details are still being put together but here’s what we have at the time this goes to print. The West Coast tour, sponsored by TCI Automotive, will be leaving from Westech Performance Group in Mira Loma, California, most likely Saturday, July 22. The East Coast tour, sponsored by Air Ride Technologies, will be leaving from Fatman Fabrications in Charlotte, North Carolina, on Sunday, July 23. Participants on the East Coast tour who want to get the party started a little sooner can show up at Fatman’s on Saturday at 5 p.m. for a kickoff barbecue and shop tour. The routes and details for both tours should be wrapped up by the time this issue hits the newsstands, so check back here often (www.rodandcustommagazine.com) or call (877) 413-6515 for the latest info. Pre-registration is only $20 and includes a vehicle, a driver and co-pilot credentials, a goodie bag, and your chance to pick up great prizes!

If you don’t have a car to cruise in over to Lincoln you might be able to find one to cruise back home in during the International Collector Auction on Saturday. If you can close the deal, you might be able to make the tour of the Smith Collection Museum at Speedway Motors. The museum houses several world-class collections, including the world’s largest collection of antique racing engines, a huge car collection of antique, historic race and one-of-a-kind models, and the finest collection of antique pedal cars in the U.S.

We can’t wait to see what these cars will do when put to the test and encourage anyone with a car they feel is worthy to show up and have some fun. We know we will.

2006 AMERICRUISE ROUTES AND SCHEDULES

Americruise East Tour Sponsored By Air Ride Technologies
Americruise West Tour Sponsored By TCI Automotive

Action & Adventure

The weekend promises to be filled with activities that will keep you entertained as well as test the limits of your hot rod or custom. Best of all, you can get involved for just $20, which gets you, your car, and a passenger through the gate (kids 15 and younger get in free).

Go & Whoa
Autocross Course
Dyno Challenge
Saturday evening at the Smith Collection Museum sponsored by Speedway Motors
Rod & Custom Magazine Rod of the Year Competition
Rod & Custom Magazine Custom of the Year Competition
Manufacturer Row

Register:
You can register your ride a couple of ways, by calling 317-236-6515, or log on at Americruise Registration.

Photo Gallery: Rod and Custom Americruise Information

We like going to car shows as much as the other guy, but looking at a bunch of cars parked around a fairground, no matter how nice they are, gets pretty old. So when we were informed that Rod & Custom was once again hosting the Americruise (July 28-30) at the State Fair Park in Lincoln, Nebraska, we got together and argued the case that we needed to do something a little more exciting. To our amazement, the suits listened. So, we’ll be having a few driving events within the event that’ll not only test the driver, but will also challenge his or her ride as well.

The first driving event will be an autocross course set up with cones in a parking lot. Each driver will be timed on each lap through the course and, not surprisingly, the fastest time wins. We’re still not sure what you may win besides a trophy, but bragging rights come with it. This promises to be almost as much fun for the spectators as the drivers, as we’re sure there will be plenty of tire smoke and wild action as the rods and customs are pushed to limits not normally encountered on a regular cruise night.

The opportunity to test your car’s acceleration and braking will be available during the Go & Whoa contest. Your car’s reaction time will also be important as you accelerate in a straight line (we hope) and brake just in time to stop your car within a preset area marked with two lines. The car and driver who can do this in the quickest time wins. We have a feeling this will turn into a contest to see who can smoke the tires right up until the time they have to slam on the brakes to bring it to a halt–sounds like fun! Your car must have seatbelts, and if you have a roadster or convertible and want to participate in these two driving events, you will need to bring a helmet (you know how insurance companies get). Each car will go through a quick inspection to make sure it has stuff like working brakes and throttle-return springs.

In the coming years we’re hoping to add some more participant activities to the Americruise and would like to hear your suggestions. Please send them to Kevin (kevin.lee@primedia.com).

Rod and Custom of the Year Awards
As with any car show or event, handing out awards is expected. As part of our planning for the Americruise, we knew awards were going to have to be part of the deal, but we wanted to make sure they were going to be earned. We sat down and developed a plan to award two top honors at the event. R&C will be selecting a Rod of the Year (pre-1949) and a Custom of the Year (1949-1964). For the Custom class, it doesn’t have to be a chopped Merc; we’re looking for anything built to perform–doesn’t matter if it’s a ‘62 Impala with big brakes and 18- and 20-inch wheels or a ‘57 Buick with whitewalls.

Now before you start lamenting that these will just be awarded to another set of trailer queens, we took that into account and decided to put the contenders to the test.

Cars that want to participate will need to be at the Americruise on Friday by noon and will be parked in a specified area. The R&C staff will go around and select the Top Five in each class based on the following judged categories:

Exterior Design — 100 points
Fit and Finish — 100 points
Interior — 100 points
Engine Compartment — 100 points
Undercarriage — 100 points

Once the Top Fives have been selected, this is where it’ll start getting interesting. They will each be ran through a safety inspection and then on either Friday night or Saturday night these 10 cars will be required to participate in a cruise to somewhere in Lincoln. On Saturday they will make some timed runs through the road course, do a 0-40-mph acceleration test and 40-0-mph brake test. The best car in each event will be awarded 100 points and the rest will be awarded a percentage of points based on how close they were to the best time. The Reliability Test (cruise) will be pass or fail–if you make it, you get 100 points, if not, you get none.

Tour details are still being put together but here’s what we have at the time this goes to print. The West Coast tour, sponsored by TCI Automotive, will be leaving from Westech Performance Group in Mira Loma, California, most likely Saturday, July 22. The East Coast tour, sponsored by Air Ride Technologies, will be leaving from Fatman Fabrications in Charlotte, North Carolina, on Sunday, July 23. Participants on the East Coast tour who want to get the party started a little sooner can show up at Fatman’s on Saturday at 5 p.m. for a kickoff barbecue and shop tour. The routes and details for both tours should be wrapped up by the time this issue hits the newsstands, so check back here often (www.rodandcustommagazine.com) or call (877) 413-6515 for the latest info. Pre-registration is only $20 and includes a vehicle, a driver and co-pilot credentials, a goodie bag, and your chance to pick up great prizes!

If you don’t have a car to cruise in over to Lincoln you might be able to find one to cruise back home in during the International Collector Auction on Saturday. If you can close the deal, you might be able to make the tour of the Smith Collection Museum at Speedway Motors. The museum houses several world-class collections, including the world’s largest collection of antique racing engines, a huge car collection of antique, historic race and one-of-a-kind models, and the finest collection of antique pedal cars in the U.S.

We can’t wait to see what these cars will do when put to the test and encourage anyone with a car they feel is worthy to show up and have some fun. We know we will.

2006 AMERICRUISE ROUTES AND SCHEDULES

Americruise East Tour Sponsored By Air Ride Technologies
Americruise West Tour Sponsored By TCI Automotive

Action & Adventure

The weekend promises to be filled with activities that will keep you entertained as well as test the limits of your hot rod or custom. Best of all, you can get involved for just $20, which gets you, your car, and a passenger through the gate (kids 15 and younger get in free).

Go & Whoa
Autocross Course
Dyno Challenge
Saturday evening at the Smith Collection Museum sponsored by Speedway Motors
Rod & Custom Magazine Rod of the Year Competition
Rod & Custom Magazine Custom of the Year Competition
Manufacturer Row

Register:
You can register your ride a couple of ways, by calling 317-236-6515, or log on at Americruise Registration.

Photo Gallery: Rod and Custom Americruise Information

Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday dear Effie, happy birthday to you. And many more. In this case, the benefit of the written word over hearing our singing is obvious. The staff of CCT doesn’t consist of American Idol luminaries.

Most vintage custom truck enthusiasts know that mid-May means the largest, most prestigious Ford truck show will take place at Chilhowee Park in Knoxville, Tennessee. Pat Ford Promotions, the husband and wife team of Pat and Jan Ford, produce this blockbuster event each year. The 2006 event meant the celebration of the 50th birthday of the most popular Ford truck ever sold. For Ford truck fans, the magnitude of this anniversary can’t be overstated. F-100s, especially the mighty ‘56, gave gearheads a viable platform to build a project vehicle with a much lower cost of entry than an earlier vintage Ford car or other automobile make. The hobbyists who constructed Ford pickups waged a coolest truck race with Chevy, Dodge, International Harvester, and Studebaker enthusiasts, which helped grow the custom truck arena to what it is today. If you went to the first F-100 Supernationals and the most recent Supernationals, you’d have some perspective for how much the custom classic truck hobby has grown. Too bad we can’t all fire up our time travel machines and visit the pioneer days of constructing custom pickups.

What we can do is provide a snippet of the goings-on in Knoxville this year. Presented by the Pat Ford family, No Limit Engineering’s founder, Rob MacGregor, won the Dan Ford Spirit Award in recognition of his 20-plus-year history of manufacturing hot rod hauler components and building world-class, award-winning vintage custom trucks and cars. The Haessly family won the F-100 Truck of the Year award with their ‘56 F-100. Gary Coe earned the Dennis Carpenter and Pat Ford-presented Put a Ford in Your Ford award with his awesome Ford mod-motor-powered ‘57 Ford shortbed.

Unlike previous years’ coverage of the event, most of the photos will focus on the tasty trucks as opposed to folks hoisting trophies at the awards ceremony. We think you’ll prefer this approach.

Some of Ford’s finest follow in living color. For more information on next year’s 29th Annual F-100 Supernationals at beautiful Chilhowee Park in Knoxville, Tennessee, on May 17-19, 2007, contact Pat Ford Promotions, Dept. CCT, 1920 Council Ave., Statesville, NC 28625, call Pat or Jan Ford at (704) 872-7327, or visit www.f100super-nationals.com. We hope to see you in ‘07!

Photo Gallery: 2006 Ford F-100 Supernationals - Custom Classic Trucks Magazine

When it comes to throwing a great truck show, the three most important things are location, location, and location. Our case in point is the Chevy/GMC Truckin’ Nationals held at the Santa Maria Fairpark in Santa Maria, California. For those of you unfamiliar with the town, it’s nestled right in the heart of California’s incredibly beautiful Central Coast region.

The Chevy/GMC Truckin’ Nationals have been in existence since 1981, hence the 26th Annual designation attached to this issue’s event coverage. Thinking back to the commercial vehicles brand new in the founding year of this event brings one to realize the GMC and Chevy trucks that were new at the 7th annual GMC Truckin’ Nats are now old enough to qualify as features for Custom Classic Trucks.

Unfortunately, in the last few years spectators and participants alike hinkeave had to contend with occasional rainstorms. For 2006, the “weather guesser” predicted rain for the entire weekend. Based on our past really good experiences at the Chevy/GMC Truckin’ Nationals, rain or shine we were going to make the 200-mile trek north to Santa Maria. It was raining cats and dogs when we rolled out of Orange County early Friday morning. The scenic drive north on PCH (Pacific Coast Highway) was just plain fun. It’s real neat to get an old truck out on the open highway and blow past the goons in their trendy imports like they’re stopped. Thanks to a ‘05 325-inch L59 small-block, our pickup averaged as high as 22 mpg on the way up. North of Goleta, California, the temptation to roll 85-95 mph was too much. Even with a dropped stance, we could see over the roofs of cars. Rounding the bend at Gaviota in excess of 90 mph, we spotted a CHP blasting south at well over 100 mph. Our first thoughts were, “He is in a big hurry to whip a U-turn and write us the speeding ticket of the century.” Our paranoid thoughts hadn’t even cleared when a pack of eight more CHPs screamed behind him on the southbound PCH lanes. The chase continued until at least 20 more marked patrol cars passed with an assortment of ghost cars and trucks in the mix. That was a close enough call for us. We stuck the throttle at 70 mph and cruised the rest of the way into Santa Maria, flying under the radar, as they say.

Santa Maria is an interesting mix of 1800s cemeteries surrounded by late 20th-century housing tracts, with a new Home Depot, Wal-Mart and other big chain stores on the outskirts of town. One of the best things about rolling into a town for a truck show is seeing the streets packed with customized old trucks. By Friday afternoon, the sun had burned through the rain clouds and Santa Maria was covered in a beautiful orange glow.

We chowed down on some real tasty Santa Maria-style barbecue and then headed to the Fairpark. The excitement mounted as more and more trucks pulled into the grounds. The pressure really increased when we started running into editors and photographers from other truck magazines trying to line up feature trucks. Our friend Mark Halverson from our sister publication Truckin’ already had the little yellow Advance-Design Chevy with the purple flames on it in the sights of his D-10 Canon. Before the sun had set we’d met up with Horsepower Promotion’s Seth Doulton, who hooked us up with press credentials and event T-shirts.Early Saturday morning, as the sun was rising, we left the host motel, the Best Western Big America, and headed up to the show grounds.

For the folks who gambled the weather guesser was wrong, the payoff was big. Thanks to the rain cleansing the air and everything on the ground along with it, Saturday and Sunday turned into a classic California sunny weekend–oh yeah, and speaking of a California classic, all the California Highway Patrol cars we saw down south? It was a high-speed pursuit that ended with the highway closed for five hours. We just missed it.

Photo Gallery: The 2006 Chevy-GMC Truckin Nationals Truck Show - Custom Classic Trucks Magazine

The Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA) Memorial ScholarshipFund awarded a record $120,000 in scholarship to students workingtowards careers in the automotive industry earlier this year.Seventy-two young adults were awarded scholarships between $1,000 and$3,000.

Click here to download the SEMA Scholarship Application

Click here to download the SEMA Scholarship Guidelines

“SEMA has been fueling the future of the specialty equipment industryfor more than 20 years now and we are very proud of our awards, as wellas these students who have received them,” said Mike Spagnola, SEMAscholarship committee chairman and president of Street Scene Equipment.

Established in 1984, the SEMA Memorial Scholarship Fund has suppliedmore than $500,000 in scholarship awards over the past two decades.Students from 37 states have benefited this year, with academic coursework ranging from international studies and marketing, to auto dieseland high performance technology.

The program rewards only the best and brightest students engaged instudies leading to a career in the automotive specialty equipmentindustry or a related field. Sophomores in 2-year universities orcolleges, and students in vocational or technical schools received$1,000. Graduates and undergraduates with at least a junior standing ata 4-year school received $2,000 to $3,000. All students must have aminimum 2.5 grade-point average and be enrolled in an accrediteduniversity, college or proprietary program.

In addition, fourteen scholarships were awarded to relatives andemployees of SEMA member companies, including: Olea Exhibits & Displays;First Generation Camaros; Grrreat Creations G.C.I. Inc.; SmittybiltAutomotive Group; Felt Automotive; Tial Products; Access RPM YellowPages; Reliable Automotive; Spirit Industries; Marketing Matters;Keystone Automotive; Grant Products; and Considine Sales & Marketing.

For the second year in a row, SEMA awarded the Loan ForgivenessScholarship Award to qualified graduates with outstanding student loanswho have worked at a SEMA member company for at least one year. Thisprogram was developed as further incentive for students to seekemployment in the automotive specialty equipment industry upongraduation. Eight employees of SEMA member companies received $1,000paid directly to their loan company to satisfy outstanding studentloans. Those member companies include: Shur-Co; ANSA Automotive PartsDistributors; Skyjacker Suspensions; Summit Racing Equipment; DirectLine; ProMedia publishing; Competition Cams, Inc.; MB Marketing &Manufacturing; Automotive Manufacturing Group; TransamericanWholesale-Dealer Services; and Sullivana Tire & Auto Service.

For more information on the SEMA Scholarship or to download anapplication visit our website www.sema.org/scholarships or contact SEMA 909-396-0289 ext. 137.

SEMA, the Specialty Equipment Market Association founded in 1963,represents the $31 billion specialty automotive industry of 6,466member-companies. It is the authoritative source for research, data,trends and market growth information for the specialty auto partsindustry. The industry provides appearance, performance, comfort,convenience and technology products for passenger and recreationalvehicles. For more information, contact SEMA at 1575 S. Valley VistaDr., Diamond Bar, CA 91765, tel: 909/396-0289 or visit www.sema.org and www.enjoythedrive.com.

Photo Gallery: 2006 SEMA Scholarship Info