8th PPG Goodguys Nationals Columbus -- Saturday

Goodguys Nationals
By Brian Brennan

It's the 8th Annual PPG Goodguys Nationals in Columbus, Ohio and it couldn't be better. After an unexpected thunderstorm on Friday night, today the weather is beautiful. (Of course this is Columbus so thunderstorms shouldn't be a surprise to anyone.)

Every year we have come to expect Columbus to be an outstanding event, and this year is no different. This year a noticeable jump in car numbers and quality was evident. In the competitive arena a limit was placed at 200 hundred cars that could compete for Street Rod and Street Machine of the Year. The Street Rod of the Year is sponsored by Street Rodder while Street Machine of the Year is sponsored by SRM's sister publication Popular Hot Rodding.

In the Street Rod of the Year competition it is going to be tough with the likes of the Steve Moal built Deuce highboy roadster owned by the Hansen's. This car captured the America's Most Beautiful Roadster award earlier in the year. Other notables are the roadsters of Pinkees Rod Shop and its '29 roadster pickup owned by Royce Glader that won the $20,000 first prize offered at Darrell Stairbird's Tulsa Show; also is the Alloway built '32 Ford roadster of Gai Wilson that was a Great 8 finalist in the Ridler competition at this years Detroit Autorama; and the list goes on. Stay tuned as we bring you who wins what and other haps from the Fairgrounds in Columbus.

Afternoon Update

By Nick Licata
Photos by Ron Ceridono, Ryan Manson

Well, it's about 4:30 pm and the weather is not too bad for this time of year. The heat hasn't been too much of a bother and the humidity is rather tame. After last night's little rain storm, things are looking just fine.

One of the most popular sections of the show today is the Pros Pick area. This is an excellent opportunity to get a close up look at some of the most amazing cars in the world. The artistic ability of these fabricators, painters and engineers is something not to be missed. With the car builders and owners not far from their vintage works of art, the fans are able to chat it up with a number of these new television icons.

There are tons of auto-related items up for sale, old and new. With acres of area to peruse, it's possible to find that special car or swap meet gem. Not everything here is among the upper financial stratosphere, so there are plenty of bargains to be had throughout the fairgrounds.

We took some time to try and show some of the many automotive flavors here at Googuys Columbus.

Street Rod of the Year

By Brian Brennan
Photos by Brian Brennan

The fingernails were getting pretty short at the awards ceremonies as each ofthe Street Rod of the Year finalists took a deep breath and waited to hear if their car would take home the top honors. The finalists were Gai Wilson's 1932 Ford roadster; Royce Glader's '29 roadster pickup; Eric Hansen's '32 Ford highboy roadster; Jon Hall's '32 highboy sedan; Steve Legen's '33 Speedstar coupe.

And the winner is: Royce Glader's (Loveland, Colorado) '29 roadster pickup builtby Eric Peratt of Pinkees Rod Shop in Colroado. Wow, Glader's roadster pickup takes homethe coveted Street Rod of the Year award. The roadster was also a runner-up at thisyear's Grand National Roadster Show and took top the top award (all $20,000) at this year's Starbird's Tulsa event.

Take at look at these five cars and there can be no denying the standard is pretty high. Of the five cars there wasn't a "weak sister" in the group. The competition for this year's event in all catagories was clearly up and proving once again there aremore and more rodders out there building better and better cars.

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