Well, it's been many years now and the Shades of the Past Street Rod Association shows no signs of letting up. Their Hot Rod Roundup has become one of the premiere events to attend on the right side of the country, and the 2,800 pre-'65 cars that showed up stand as proof of this. Set amongst the rolling hills and luscious greenery of the Smoky Mountains, the Smoky River Ranch in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, provides the locale every year in mid-September and showgoers said they couldn't have asked for better weather. Threatened by the tail end of gruesome Hurricane Katrina, the area was spared and the sun shone throughout the two-day festivity.
Friday saw an early turnout for the show, with cars lining up outside the venue before the sun rose high enough into the sky to burn off the morning fog. The agenda for the day consisted of picking the Top 25, as well as the specialty awards, which included a STREET RODDER magazine award, and the Best in Show for the pre-'49 class and post-'48 class. The winners were an-nounced that afternoon so they could be rounded up and photographed. Saturday saw another early morning gathering with row upon row of cars lined up ready to assault the ranch. The Top 25 winners were assembled in the Winner's Circle, as were the specialty awards winners for all to view and admire. Adjacent to the Winner's Circle, the Southeast Deuce Club had a Deuce Gather-ing for vehicles of the '32 Ford persuasion and gave awards out in five categories. Best Open Car went to Jim Talaga's roadster, while the category for Best Closed Car went to Bob Wigington's coupe. Fred Acton's pickup won for Best Commercial; Ladies' Choice went to Stan Springs' coupe; and Clint McVicker, who made the drive all the way from Avon Park, Florida, earned the Long Distance Award. A stone's throw from the Deuce Gathering was a group of Willys congregated at the Wild Willys Roundup. The group was also broken up into five categories. Richard Gregory's and John Rosatti's '41 coupes won Best Bad Willys and Best Pro Street Willys, respectively, while Best Street Rod Willys was awarded to Randy Haney's '41 coupe. Al Jones was one of a few non-coupe Willys in attendance and won the Best Non-Coupe category with his '29 Willys Overland Whippet sedan.
This year also marked the 12th year the Shades of the Past car club gave away two cars to lucky participants. This year, Don Brookshire took home a '33 SpeedStar roadster and Sean Burch was the lucky winner of the '63 Buick Riviera. I'm sure we'll see both those lucky participants here next year!
The Shades of the Past car club works hard to put the roundup together every September, organizing the many commercial and swap meet vendors, as well as setting up the many prizes and awards given out during the weekend's festivities. Mark your calendar for September 8-9 next year and come on out the Hot Rod Roundup for some good times! Who knows, maybe you'll be driving home in a new street rod!