CRUISING TO A DIFFERENT DRUMMER
One of our favorite facets of the NSRA Street Rod Nationals is the variety of cars in attendance. While it sometimes seems that our hobby is floating in a sea of red '32 Fords, even those of us who had, or still have, a Deuce of some sort parked in the garage really do want something different to look at. In that regard, the 2006 Nats in Louisville was a target-rich environment.
Although Fords are, and will likely remain, the dominant make in street rodding, Chevrolets are becoming more popular all the time and the Mopars are coming on strong, too. But if you want to see what can be done to a Nash, Oldsmobile, or another badge you never considered to be street rod material, the Nats is the place to go.
While the variety of cars at this event arguably exceeds all others, another factor in the mix is its location. Participants come from all over the country and it seems like all street rod roads lead to Louisville. That means not only do you see a variety of makes and models at the Nats, you also see a variety of build styles. Take a look at the following photos and see if you agree.
Gary and Paula Ruby of Manchester, Maryland, own this 1930 Plymouth roadster. Less than 3,000 were built, and who knows how many survive? Note the coilover-equipped IFS peeking out from under the front fender. | 
This tastefully done '34 Chevy coupe belongs to Chip Gerber from Springfield, Ohio. From an appearance standpoint, what do you need to add other than the five-spokes? Interestingly, Chevy outsold Ford in 1934. | 
There were more Chevys at this event than we could count. The red '37 on the right belongs to Ed Young, the '38 parked behind it is Wes and Shirley Cassel's. Unlike the earlier Stovebolts the bodies on these aren't full of wood. That, along with all the aftermarket parts available, makes these cars easy to build. |
Similar in appearance to Chevrolets of the same year, Oldsmobiles were bigger and had a longer wheelbase. We didn't get a look under the hood of this one, but wouldn't 442 running gear be cool? | 
Now here's something you don't see every day, a 1937 Nash LaFayette cabriolet. Three versions of the Nash were built in this year, the Ambassador Eight, Ambassador Six (reflecting the number of cylinders) and the LaFayette (which was also a six cylinder). The source of a variety of jokes, this was the year that Nash merged with Kelvinator, who among other things, made refrigerators. | 
There may have been more Mopars at this year's Nats than have ever gathered in one place at one time. Apparently, the '46-48 coupes have become popular because there were a number of them. And why not? They're cute, in a pudgy kid of way, they're affordable, and they were built like a tank so they lasted. This one has a flathead six-cylinder with twin carbs (and they sound great with a split exhaust manifold). |
There aren't many '36 Dodge sedan deliveries around and of those you do see, not many are packing a late Hemi like this Keith Armour's. You've got to have lots of confidence in the bodywork to paint something with big, flat panels black. In this case, it worked great. | 
Some cars were just made for street rodding. Bobby Milligan relaxes in the shade supplied by the ample trunk lid on his '37 Plymouth coupe. | 
In some cases, a little imagination will make a big difference when building a street rod. We caught Eric and Linda Hummel cruising around in their unique Mopar slant-six powered bucket. A Dodge grille shell and a body that looks suspiciously like a T-bucket are also part of the package. |
When's a Dodge not a Dodge? When it's a Fargo. Jerry Bach owns this original looking pickup of Canadian origin. Other than the wheels, it appears to be a well-preserved stocker, but under the hood is a late small-block Mopar. | 
Here's a unique combination. Loveland, Colorado's Jerry Marker combined a '32 Plymouth coupe body and a '32 Ford frame and came up with this dynamite highboy coupe. Jerry says the two went together like it was planned to happen. It just goes to show what can result from ingenuity. | 
Here's another case of thinking outside the box, or should we say, engine crate. Greg and Phil Brown chose a Mopar Polysphere engine with dual quads to power their T-bucket. The heads on these engines are similar to Hemis but they use a single rocker shaft (the intake rockers point up, the exhaust rockers point down) and the spark plugs have been relocated. Great as far as vintage engines go, Polyspheres are readily available, reliable as an anvil and best of all, they're different. |