For the past two years, country music has taken second stage for the weekend while an endless caravan of hot rods, customs, and classics invade Music City, Nashville, Tennessee, for the Goodguys Nashville Nationals. Across the Cumberland River, in the shadow of downtown Nashville, lies LP Field, home to the Tennessee Titans and ground zero for the biggest car show in Nashville. This year's event grew tremendously from the year prior, and it's only a matter of time until the LP Field reaches capacity with such a picturesque setting on the river.
In addition to the usual show 'n' shine and cruise-in, the event kicked off Friday with an autocross course sponsored by Air Ride Technologies where participants could test their machines against the clock in a combination of acceleration, slalom, and braking maneuvers. By the end of the weekend, best time in the autocross was presented to one of own Top 100 winners, Mark Coleman and his silver '53 F-100. Needless to say, we were at the Nashville Nats for the fourth installment of our STREET RODDER Top 100 program presented by Turtle Wax.
Friday morning saw the Goodguys Street Challenge Autocross course sponsored by Air Ride Technologies in full swing with participants testing their machines against the clock in a combination of acceleration, slalom, and braking maneuvers.
While we were out scouting the 10 best cars at the event, the Goodguys staff was also on the prowl, giving out more than 80 special awards throughout the weekend ranging from Best Ford in a Ford to Timberland PRO's Homebuilt Pick. With some of the finest cars in the Midwest represented, it wasn't easy for either party to fulfill its award requirements, but by the end of the weekend, the winner's circle featured a great collection of vintage tin.
A special addition to this year's festivities was an area set aside for award-winning automotive designer and builder Bobby Alloway of Louisville, Tennessee. Every significant hot rod, musclecar, and street machine he's ever built was displayed among the trees and shade, including longtime customer George Lange's 2004 Street Machine of the Year '57 T-bird, '56 Crown Vic, and the radical twin-turbo '67 Mustang that was profiled in Hot Rod magazine. A row of flamed cars greeted showgoers at the reunion area, including Gai Wilson's purple and flamed trio. Eclipsing almost 2,000 cars in only its second year, the Nashville Nats is growing at an exponential rate, and next year's show promises to be even bigger.
Bill Roark roared in from Lebanon, TN, in his 289ci Studebaker-powered '27 Ford track roadster. | 
A number of early Ford bodies were for sale in the swap meet area, all in need of a bit of a cosmetic overhaul. | 
Dilapidated tracks revealing Nashville's past as a major railroad transportation hub provided a scenic border to Jim Harrison's '38 Ford coupe and Roger Adkins' '39 Ford coupe. |
One low, chopped, and channeled Model A coupe barely cleared the asphalt as he cruised the LP Field grounds. | 
Goodguys put on an Alloway Reunion that featured every significant car Builder of the Year Bobby Alloway ever built. | 
George Lange's '56 Crown Vicky, Ken Nester's '55 Chevy Nomad, and Bobby's own '49 Ford drop-top round out this all-black row of Alloway creations. |
Chuck Rowe's '59 Impala is a trademark Alloway build with its big wheels, wicked stance, and big-inch motor. |  | 
One of the newest cars to come out of the Alloway stables is Van Tyler's faux-steel '33 Ford coupe. |
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Dale and Sharon Surber's metallic blue Westergard-style '39 Ford convertible was firing on all cylinders when they cruised in from Marion, OH. | 
Eighteen-year-old Kirby Kennedy built this clean Model A coupe for his high school senior project. |
Jason Graham was on hand with his latest hot rod, this time a seriously chopped and channeled Model A coupe. |  | 
Bob Benn's tail-dragging '36 Ford coupe harkens back to the customs of the late '40s and early '50s and retains that nostalgia down to the '50 Merc Flathead under its hood. |