2015 Goodguys Rod & Custom, Colorado Nationals
Goodguys is a touring car show that makes stops all over the US, giving locals everywhere a chance to show off their best. You won't see anything newer than about 1972 at Goodguys. And when talking build quality, these cars really are the best of the best in the classic American car scene. To give you a bit of an idea, if you've ever seen the TV show, Bitchin' Rides, Dave Kindig and his shop Kindigit Design make an appearance at this Loveland, Colorado stop of the tour every year. You'll see a couple of their cars in here, but don't think they're the only people building cars to such a meticulous level. My photos even turned out really well for this show, so I hope you enjoy browsing through.
Before even walking through the entrance, this gorgeous Chevy Bel Air post was hanging out in the parking lot. Looking at how big this thing is next to the modern Nissan next to it reminds me of my annoyance of how big modern cars have gotten because of safety standards. Well, if we're going big again anyway, why not return to the beautiful styling of the old days? Am I alone in thinking that Chevrolet could easily bring out a brand new, very similar-looking Bel Air simply enhanced with modern safety, electrical, and performance components? These old cars have a lot of dead space behind those panels to work with, so why not? Lighten it up with an all-aluminum body, integrate something like a Camaro's suspension and brakes, and option it out with a similar range of engines from turbo-4 to a small-block V8. Ditch the modern styling trend of creases for those old school, voluptuous curves. I'll keep dreaming...
Absolutely nothing was left untouched on this 1933 Ford Victoria. Nothing inside, and certainly no exterior dimension of the body.
1970 Dodge Challenger with 340 Six Pack.
1970 Pontiac Formula 400 Ram Air Firebird. A very original car with less than 100,000 miles. Of the 189 made, the poster leaning against the car claims this is one of four registered in the US.
1940 Chevy Business Coupe powered by a Chevy ZZ1 350. Lots of subtle body mods, the most noticeable being recessed '90s Cadillac taillights.
In a show full of the same cars, I love finding the more obscure models that you don't see people modify or even restore very often, and this one drew me in from a distance. The owner of this 350-powered '51 Henry J was super nice and gave me the tour. Very cool little car I hadn't heard of before.
'65 Ford F100 "Black Widow", 302 c.i.
1940 Ford, 350 c.i.
'71 Chevelle SS, blown LS6 454.
1963 Plymouth Sport Fury, 440 c.i.
1937 Ford tudor.
'33 Ford with a 392 & Tremec 5-speed.
1947 Buick convertible. Chevy 502 c.i., Heidts front end, Ford 9" rear, lots of subtle hand-tooled bodywork, and 20" Foose wheels.
'61 Ford Galaxie, 292 c.i. with 3-speed overdrive.
1955 Ford Sunliner. 5.4L Shelby motor with 6-speed transmission.
1950 Mercury with a 350 c.i. and Ride Tech air.
1931 Ford truck, 244 c.i. flathead.
1946 Ford woody wagon with 4.6L Cobra motor.
1972 Ford Maverick with 4-valve 302. If I were to take on a classic for a project, one of these would be a strong contender. They seem to be a bit of a black sheep in the muscle/pony car world, but I really like their styling and small size.
1962 Ford unibody pickup with a twin-turbo diesel mill pushing 1000hp.
1971 AMG Javelin AMX, 305 c.i. My favorite part of the history of American cars is the old Trans Am racers. Hmmm... maybe I could use that Maverick idea to create my own T/A nostalgic car.
'69 Mustang coupe with 351 Windsor.
1964 Jeep FJ6 "Wiener Wagon" with 350 c.i.
1945 Chevy pickup with LT1 power.
'41 Lincoln Continental with 351 Windsor.
'63 Dodge Dart wearing the currently popular Pro Touring style.
'29 Ford Model A on a '32 frame, powered by a 270 Hemi.
1927 Ford Model T Coupe, 289 c.i.
1918 Oakland, 350 c.i.
This '79 Triumph Spitfire, with a 2.3L Turbo Ford engine, was parked up outside the autocross area.
'71 Ford Torino, with factory 429 4-valve Cobra Jet Ram Air
A Kindigit Design car you might know as "Blue Suede Shoes," this is a 1959 Buick Invicta. It's got a supercharged LSA with 635hp, riding on an Art Morrison frame and 20" white-wall wheels.
1931 Ford Roadster Pickup.
1971 Plymouth GTX 440, complete with Air Grabber hood.
1928 Ford Model A pickup, 350 c.i.
1932 Ford 3-window coupe with Chevy 350 power.
1950 Ford Woody, 350 Ram Jet.
'69 Camaro with a Jenkins Competition 572.
Closing it out with another Kindig design, the "Phantom Fleetside." It's a 1950 Chevy Suburban that was chopped down to make a unibody pickup. It's got a Magnuson supercharged LS3 (6.2L).