Goodguys Des Moines show

jaybee · July 04, 2010, 03:39:00 PM

Had a nice day at the Des Moines Goodguys show. Fortunately it was only 88,000 degrees instead of 95,000 degrees as it commonly is on July 4 weekend here. The lunch group was small this year, Rummrumm (Lynn), UglyOlds (Bob and his wife) and Bob (sorry, can't remember the nickname). Bob 2 just stayed for a brief meeting, the rest of us went to eat at a place where we could get a little shade while watching the autocross.

Fun stuff that, and a great addition to the show. Some of the drivers were just sort of out for a drive, some of them really got after it, a couple of them harmlessly looped it in big, smokey spins that greatly amused the crowd. Lest you think the later, muscle cars have it all over the street rods in that environment there were a couple of early cars that performed very respectably, and a 47 pickup that was running fenderless, chopped, channeled, and shortened in about every dimension was one of the fastest cars on the course.

After that a quick tour of UglyOlds, thanks Bob. Nice car that's proven itself through the test of time. I enjoyed that part of the day very much, thanks Bob.

A frequent topic of discussion over the past few years has been "where will the next generation come from." One of the trends I noticed this year is the increasing number of participants who have yet to earn their gray hair. I don't wish to start a 49th St argument, but this is Goodguys, not the Street Rod Nats, and I think that the later cars help car guys cross over from Street Machines to Street Rods. If you see that it's all cool, it naturally increases your taste to try something a bit different.

Another trend I noticed is a blooming of for sale signs. I'm not sure if that's good, bad, or indifferent. It seemed as if half the cars were for sale. People in need of cash, cars that people have wished to sell for a while but the economy hasn't been conducive, a lot of people trying to become car builders for money? I have no idea.

As always I saw a lot of other cool things as well. Posey's little #7 pickup was there, what an incredible piece of work. Amazing detail everyplace you look. Variety continues to expand in the car hobby, just about anything that fits the '72 cutoff is there to be found. No way did I see everything, but I saw plenty.

UGLY OLDS · July 05, 2010, 10:48:36 AM

It was neat meeting Lynn, John & Bob...
Now we can put faces with names ..
As John said , it was hot but not unbearable .. Iowa has one of the best fairgrounds I've been to..Plenty of walking....( OUCH)... Lots of A/C in the vendors building ..Lots of decent food.....VERY clean...Those people work hard to keep it a nice place...

This year we even got to "Power Park" ...Only 2 spaces away from the Lincoln Welding Display Generator :!: PLENTY of POWER...

I also snapped some photos I have to download later ...Hey Frank ..Remember our 703 GMC & 2-Stroke Detroit posts?? I found them IN THE FLESH :!: I just gotta get them out of the camera ...

As far as the AutoCross.....I still believe the guy with the '63 Galaxie would have been a hands down winner if he only added 5 passengers MY size for "Sway Control"

Thanks for the neat words on the Olds ....We think of it a just a neat old car thats get's us there & brings us home..

Gotta Scoot ..Chores to do .......

Bob .....

jaybee · July 05, 2010, 02:05:45 PM

The 63 Galaxie gets my vote for the courage trophy. Good thing they have those massive front bumpers to keep the car from tipping completely over on a hard corner

. Plenty of pogo action from those back tires, too. The Pro Street Cuda gets 2nd place in that category, or maybe 1st place in the foolhardy category. The physics of skinny tires on the heavy end and giant ones on the light asserted dominance early and often.

Oh, another trend and a good one as far as I'm concerned is an increase in cars that look like they could be drivers. No judgment call on how many of them may actually be driven vs trailered, but there seems to be fewer cars that you know darn well were hauled in because you'd be insane to drive them any distance. Speaking of which I did see one Pro Street Mustang with a blower scoop almost as high as the roof that died near the Pros Picks lot. It popped back repeatedly before finally firing. Then the driver took out his frustration on his tires. Fun to watch though I'm sure the Goodguys staff wouldn't have seen the humor with so many people in close quarters.

We had a little conversation about my desire to put a 5.3L GM in my car. Not gonna happen at the price that one vendor was selling pull outs. $6600 for a used LS2, $5500 for a 6.0 with automatic? Really? For an engine that may or may not need work when you get it home? Most of the vendors were far more reasonable though, and the Hoffman Group guy took plenty of time to speak with me about my desire to put vertical tail/stop/running lamps in the end of my tail fins.

34ford · July 05, 2010, 06:52:01 PM

Had a great time in DM. The coupe made it's maiden voyage. Had great weather for the 1st day and hot and humid the 2nd day and rain on Sunday. There were 3600+ cars registered.

I talked to the Tim Davies of the Goodguys and he said this is their fastest growing show they do. They had to cut the cars off from going down the main street looking for parking and up the hill the other way to areas where no one has parked in the past. I think they might have to get rid of the swap meet and the car corral. It seemed to be a lot of junk in both of them, but that's only my 2 cents worth.

Anyway for the BIG news my car was picked for an award. Dale Daly of the Christian Rodders and Racers Assoc. picked it for the Preachers Award. I was quite amazed by that. Had a nice chat with him about his ministry and how much we appreciate it. So after the awards which were cut short due to the rain we headed out and drove home in the rain for 3+ hours.

Quite and exciting weekend after working on the car for the last 2 months every evening and weekends trying to get as much of the upholstery done so we could drive it to the show. Been 11 years in the making.

bob

enjenjo · July 05, 2010, 10:52:47 PM

Congratulations Bob. Looks like it deserved it.

Carnut · July 06, 2010, 12:24:29 AM

I've just posted a few pics from the GoodGuys Des Moines show, taken by Larry Rufener.

http://carnut.com/show/10/ggdes/ggdep1.html

UGLY OLDS · July 06, 2010, 10:29:59 AM

Good Job Bob :!: :!: Congrats ......The car is looking GREAT

Who's that old guy shakin' hands with Dale... :?:

Bob......

jaybee · July 06, 2010, 12:02:36 PM

Congrats Bob, that's pretty cool!

34ford · July 06, 2010, 06:13:27 PM

That's not Dale, That's the Goodguys rep that was handing out the plaques. Will have a pic of Dale soon, mine somehow didn't make it to the computer from the flash card. The other old guy I don't know about.

rumrumm · July 07, 2010, 08:32:20 AM

I enjoyed the weekend as well. I have friends in Des Moines, so the GoodGuys show gives me a chance to visit with them as well. I thought the level of nicely crafted cars was up this year. I snapped a lot more photos than I had in the past. Copper seems to be the newest color of choice this year. As always, it was good to meet friends on Saturday and to make some new ones, too.

34ford · July 10, 2010, 01:35:55 PM

Here's the pic with Dale Daly in it.

40 · July 14, 2010, 12:25:11 AM

Glad everyone had a good time in Des Moines......It's the first one I've missed since they began that event.....Really wanted to go but had a LOOOONG punch list to complete on a project we were finishing up.

Bob......The Coupe looks AWESOME.......Was going to give you a call in April,I was down to Lincoln for the Spring Game but got busy with a Niece who is going to UNL and time got away....Any chance you're going to Kansas City in September? Hope to see the rest of you guys somewhere down the road yet this year!

rumrumm · July 14, 2010, 04:43:07 PM

Good to hear from you. Since you are such a regular at GG in Des Moines, I was beginning to think you were a victim of alien abduction or something.

40 · July 14, 2010, 11:54:45 PM

Quote from: "rumrumm"Good to hear from you. Since you are such a regular at GG in Des Moines, I was beginning to think you were a victim of alien abduction or something.

Lynn....I haven't had a car at Des Moines for the last two years I've attended.....Just drove down for the day.Really wish I would have driven down on Saturday.....even if it was just for the afternoon.There are several friends such as yourself that I may only see that weekend....I just promised myself not to miss that show ever again !!The post concerning the shutdown of the RRT made me realise how many friends I've made over the years thru this site.....I'm certainly glad the site will remain up for at least the near future! I guess I need to work a little less and make a little more time for car stuff!