The outdoor car show season starts winding down in October in most parts of the country. In Arizona, however, the best is yet to come, as the Goodguys annual Southwest Nationals typically comes rolling into town in mid-November.
Held the weekend of November 15-16 this year, the sixth annual event played host to thousands of hot rods, customs, trucks, and pre-'73 muscle cars. Southwest cars naturally made up most of the mix, but this year we saw license plates from such far-flung locales as Alabama, Kansas, and Minnesota. Seems that a lot of folks felt that one last weekend of fun in the sun might help them get through the winter. Here's a small sample of the machinery that filled the Westworld field this year. Maybe they'll inspire you to make your own pilgrimage to the desert next year.
Frank Armendariz from El Paso,...
Frank Armendariz from El Paso, Texas did a great job on his smoothie '48 Chevy. The top was chopped 3 1/2 inches during its transformation into a hardtop. Frank super-sized the Chevy by pie-cutting the hood and widening the fenders, and supercharged the 454 with a mini-blower.
Richard Sherman's Model A...
Richard Sherman's Model A roadster is about as right-on as you can get. And we're not just talking about the arrow-straight body, the deuce rails, and the Halibrands. The 302 Gurney/Eagle V8 under the hood will totally knock yer socks off.
Christy Allen drives her '48...
Christy Allen drives her '48 Buick Roadmaster every day, to Bingo once a week, and all over the West throughout the year. There's a Chevy 350 under the hood, Buick wire rims inside the fenders, and black and red tuck 'n' roll in the cockpit.
Ray Carr and his '40 Studebaker...
Ray Carr and his '40 Studebaker sure cover a lot of ground. We saw them both on Americruise East last summer, and ran into them again in Scottsdale. The coupe relies on a basic Mustang II IFS and 350/700-R4 drivetrain to provide miles of service and smiles.
This '27 T touring, owned...
This '27 T touring, owned by Ron Olmstead of Phoenix, is long on style, featuring Tommy the Greek-style pinstripes on the louvers, a 322 Nailhead backed by a 5-speed, plus a quickchange rearend.
Larry Frazier's electric blue...
Larry Frazier's electric blue Deuce just looks plain tough, don't you think? And with 502 inches worth of big block Chevy under the hood, you can bet it has the muscle to back up that image.
Originally built in '52, Gary...
Originally built in '52, Gary & Linda Scheibal's '32 roadster is well known up in Puyallup, Washington. The Ardun engine with triple carbs was refurbished just two years ago. The wheel covers are an old accessory item covering '35 Ford wire rims.