GOODGUYS LONESTAR NATIONALS
October 2, 3 and 4, 2009

IT'S THE BIG ONE ELIZABETH
By
Deats H. Beaird

Two Galleries of Photos: Gallery 1 and Gallery 2 !

COOL:  To be different, unique, one of a kind, to stand out, to stand above, to go beyond, to be looked at,
up to, admired, respected, duplicated, recognized, and humble.

If you will remember in my last article entitled Denton Dejure I provided the following titillating comment about an up coming event:

 “Anyway, for those who watch for the annual arrival of one of the “big boy” shows that comes to the DFW area every year you know that the Good Guys Lone Star Nationals (Oct 2-4) is just around the corner.  Now I am going to be straight up with you and tell you that I am not a particular fan of Good Guys promoted events.  Consequently, while I do not have any particular passion for attending the upcoming GG’s rod and ride fest an opportunity associated with the GG’s event has prompted me to have a special interest in the 2009 version of the GGLSN gathering. At this point in time, however, I feel it inappropriate that I share more about my special interest in the 2009 GGLSN but will do so in my article I will be submitting to HRH post 2009 GGLSN.   And yes, unlike my brother, I will provide the article for posting in a timely manner”.

Okay, so the afore written comments were not that titillating. Anyway, for the calendar aficionados in the reading audience clearly it is now post GGLSN 2009, and I can now not only share with you what the “big secret” was all about earlier this month, but in this particular case am most happy to be able to do so.  I say this because in this particular instance the 2009 GGLSN event turned out to be what will go into my memory as one of the best car show experiences of my life.  But perhaps a bit of history that facilitated GGLSN 2009 being “The Big One”, as least for me anyway, is in order at this time.  

For those of you who follow my written rod show ramblings, and occasional slightly opinionated articles, you know that one of the “Best”of my show car experiences to date was the Dallas Autorama show back in February of this year.  Well, interestingly enough it was occurrences during the Dallas Autorama that actually functioned as the “spring board” if you will to causing the GGLSN 2009 to also end up making my list of “Best” show experiences of my life time.  I offer the following, therefore, in order to provide insight as to what led up to and occurred during GGLSN 2009 for it to make my list of  “Best” show car experiences. 

Thanks to wisdom and the impeccable judgment of Jimmy Austin, guru and head potentate of the Dallas Autorama event, it was my good fortune to be assigned Dallas Autorama Space #103.  Now, to the casual observer space #103 in and of itself was nothing special.  However, I, being one who is bent toward observing the details of the environment I show my ’32 in, as well as being an aspiring Pulitzer Prize winning photographer (a bit of levity in the second half of that last statement) upon arriving at Space #103 with my ’32 I immediately noticed two huge benefits to Space #103.  The first, and what turned out to be the most short term benefit, was that Space #103 was two car locations from the North Main Entrance to Market Hall.  And let’s face it, given that the goal of all who show their rods and rides is maximum exposure to whoever or whatever the viewing audience is, the second spot from a main entrance to an indoor event, I think you will agree ain’t too shabby, especially for a rookie indoor car show guy like me. 

The second, and what has resulted in being the most long term benefit for my ’32, was that Space #103 was directly across a red carpeted aisle from, and ran parallel to a spotless and shiny Meguiar’s products trailer. Talk bout dying and going to photographer’s heaven.  Just imagine what kind of photos that can be taken of your rod utilizing the immenseness of a solid black back ground accentuated with giant yellow and orange lettering that spells out Meguiar’s. As I stood there taking in the totality of the opportunity that had been laid before me I almost muttered to myself, “I think it’s the big one Elizabeth”.

Over the three days of the Autorama show event, and thanks to Space #103, I was able to not only meet and talk to what seemed like 50% of the population of Dallas, but at the same time was afforded the opportunity to meet, get to know, and make friends with, and I will quote myself, “…the most professional, warm, friendly, courteous, and just great folks that were representing Meguiar’s.”  By name these great Meguiars folks were Danielle, Tony and Mark.  And even though the Meguiar’s gang were all from California, we were still able to overcome the language barrier that existed because of their talking Californianeez and me talking Texaneeze, with the result being we all became good acquaintances.  

 Okay, what I did not share with you in my Dallas Autorama article back in February of this year is that from getting to know the Meguiar’s gang, them getting to know me and my ‘32, and then in follow up conversations with them after the Dallas Autorama my ’32 was given the opportunity by Meguiar’s to be the street rod that would park with the Meguiar’s transporter display at the Good Guys Lone Star Nationals October 2-3-4, 2009.  Folks I can tell you right now such opportunities have not and just do not happen to this ole boy.  Oh stuff happens to this ole boy, just not this kind of stuff.  And yep, when this offer was made to me by Meguiar’s I was pretty sure that I might really have “the big one” as well as to get to see Elizabeth again face to face. What did I do between late February and October of this year in anticipation of actually being able to capitalize on the Meguiar’s opportunity?  Nothing much.  Just held my breath and prayed that, and has been the case in so many other instances in my life,  that the phone did not ring and turn the voice on the other end turn something to good to be true into something that ended up not being true.

Well, I am very happy to report that October 2-3-4, 2009 has now come and gone; and I am also happy to confirm that a dream in my life can  did come true thanks to the kindness of what I like to now refer to as my Meguiar’s gang: Danielle, Tony, Mark, Tim and James aka Spike. That’s right ladies and gentlemen, boy and girls, and gear heads of all ages, my ’32 got to be, “the tall hog at the trough” as they say by being allowed the privilege of parking with that big shiny black Meguiar’s transporter during the 2009 Good Guys Lone Star Nationals. One more time I have been humbled by the kindness and consideration that others have shown to my ’32 and myself.

So, as Mr. Kronkite used to say , “now you know the rest of the story” Now, let’s talk a bit about the Lone Star Good Guys 2009 event shall we. 

Several weeks prior my going to LSGG 2009 a couple of us were sitting around talking hot rods, the hot rod industry, etc. (Surprise!)   And it was during this conversation the thought came to me.  How many rods and rides would show up at the LSGG 2009 event, or for that matter any hot rod event, if you did nothing more than remove the component resources that are made available by the hot rod piece parts vendors that rodders have access to over the internet, as well as through the various parts warehouse distributors? Our concluding estimate, 200 to 250 tops.  Why so few? Would be tough to rationalize more. Why such a low number?  Thought you would never ask. After a lengthy conversation, which actually ended up being a series of conversations, my esteemed colleague (brother) and I based our  200-250 car prognostication on two very basic but absolutely essential elements; lack of skill sets and lack of parts.

There are too few of “today’s” hot rodders that possess the skill sets necessary to construct a rod of days gone by, much less a rod of today’s quality in mechanical parts and appearance.  Yes, there are some guys out there that possess the mechanical and fabrication skills necessary in order to create and build a rod. But such skill and talent is very much in the minority.  Fact is, I am not sure that the few that do possess such skills are of a sufficient enough number to statistically make up a minority classification.

Your not buying?  (Remember, we are talking skill sets right now) Tell you what.  Play like you just had delivered to your house, free of charge, an original 1932 barn find, along with every other piece part that you would need in order to “assemble” a classic but modern ’32 Ford High Boy. Let’s even make this easier. Let’s say that the body is supplied by Brookville or Dearborn, and the chasiss by Morrison or TCI.  All of the pieces to go on the frame and body were selected by a professional rod builder and he has validated that all of the pieces will go together, and when assembled properly will make a complete, functional and street legal hot rod. Finally, for this exercise we are going to let you slide on the paint as it is unreasonable to think that the average rodder has an environmentally friendly paint booth tucked away in the corner of his garage. But for everything else you must do the job, and do it all by yourself. You can call all the people you want and ask all the questions you want.  But you must build the ’32 High Boy on your own.  How would you do?  Do you have a space to lay out and build a complete rod? Do you have the tools necessary to do the job?  How are your welding skills? Happen to have a drill press, band saw, buffer, hand drills, grinders, and metal working tools laying about? How is your knowledge on fasteners and the bolts that will be required in order for you to hold all of the parts together. What do you mean you have never installed a Hemi into anything before? Nope, Painless products are not available.  You are going to also need to be a DC electrician and wire your ’32 from scratch, old school style. Now, look at all of your hot rod buddies and ask yourself the same questions of them.  See what I mean?  And if you are still not convinced call someone like Factory Five Racing (the Cobra and 34 Ford kit car guys) and ask them what percentage of “kit cars” that are purchased from them that they know and estimate never were or never will be completed by the purchaser.  
 

The second parameter that drives the 200-250 show up number is the parts.  When is the last time you went to a wrecking yard looking for a part of any kind?  Better yet, have you ever even been to a wrecking yard?  And no you can not claim Jegs, Summit, Fat Man’s, TCI, and Edelbrock as, “your wrecking yard”.  When I have rodders standing in the check in line with me at car shows that are talking about how “their detailer” barely finished getting their rod done in time for them to make the show’s early check in time do you think I am standing anywhere near someone who prowls wrecking yards for parts, ideas, or both?  From my point of view when I heard the “detailer” comment I was not standing in line with a rodder at all, but rather someone who is following and acting involved in what they consider an “automotive fashion trend.”  But you get my drift.  We all know that all we have to do is walk around a show like LSGG, start visually taking off all the parts that did not come from wrecking yard and swap meet sources, and before long we would have, maybe 200 to 250 real live bonifide hot rods on the entire TMS infield.

So what is my point? My point is, out of all the 1,500 plus hot rodders that were on the infield at TMS for the LSGG gathering I wonder how many did not visit the vendor’s area and at least acknowledge the vendor’s presence and support of the industry that we all love? How many of the participants know that the Meguiar’s team came from Oklahoma to support the show.  How many participants know that Gateway Classic Mustang came all the way from Bourbon, Illinois, PRC Radiators from Booneville, Indiana or Justin with  Scott’s Rods & Customs from Oxnard, California?

How many rodders took the time to stop and talk with Danny J at the Kwik-Lift booth and learn that he and his product came down from Cherokee, Oklahoma to support the show; and also found out in the same conversation that as a result of a car falling off jack stands on Danny a design was given birth to in Danny’s head, (after the headache and body aches passed of course) then from his head to the back of a napkin, and  from the back of a napkin to a patented car lift design sold under the name Kwik-Lift?

How many rodders took the time to learn that “their” show was supported by local area vendors such as Phoenix Transmissions of Weatherford, Painless Wiring and Custom Interiors and Audio from Ft Worth, Top Koat Powder Coaters from Kennedale, and ATK High Performance from Grand Prairie? 

And when I say “supported” I mean every vendor reached into their hip pocket, pulled out significant long green to rent a spot at the show, paid their own expenses to travel, set up, tear down, and travel home, all in hopes that someone would come by their stand and buy something that day, or think about buying something in the future.  And all of this was done while at the same time betting that the weather (which killed Sunday entirely) would not fall apart and keep the masses from showing up so that there would at least be an opportunity to present products, if to nobody else, just a curious passer by.

And then there were the guys with Roadster Shop from Mundelein, Illinois, Bowler Performance Transmission from Lawrenceville, Illinois, Jim Glo Trailers from Phoenix, Arizona, J.R. and his company Snug Harbor Hot Rods from Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, Vintage Air from San Antonio, and least we forget the sales lady who was having a really bad day on Saturday but still in her place with Classic Instruments from Boyne City, Michigan.

 Finally, how many rodders took the time to meet Don with AM Radiators out of Phoenix, Arizona?  And after preliminary discussions about aluminum radiators in general have Don volunteer to make a personal visit to the rodder’s ride for additional cooling system conversation? (By the way, I just happened to be in the area when Don made his personal visit to the rodder’s ride. The downside to the continuation of Don’s cooling system conversation was that the rodder learned that the radiator in his ’32 was originally birthed for occupying space under the hood of a Ford Bronco.  The upside of the conversation was that Don let the rodder know that not only could Don create an aluminum radiator to fit in the rodder’s 6 inch shortened ’32 radiator shell, but that in changing to an all aluminum radiator the rodder would actually increase his 32’s cooling system liquid capacity 2/3 again above the his current system’s capacity.)

And last but not least, how many rodders took the time to walk past Speedy Bill’s Speedway Speed Shop booth, and in doing so get to see the reincarnation of the Ed Burns 77 Sunset Strip “Kookie” street rod.  ( If you were at the show and did not take the opportunity to see this rod you definitely missed the boat.  The Kookie rod was so cool I found myself going for my pocket to whip out my comb as a sign of respect and remembrance of Kookie)

My point is that without the vendors listed above, as well as those that I did not have the time to meet and get to know that also supported the LSGG 2009 show, and including the many other vendors that are available to all of us by the click of a mouse or the dialing of a telephone number, the vast majority of us would be “wishing” that we had a rod like the one they featured in the “biannual copy” of Rod & Custom magazine that just came in the mail.  That without all of the vendors that make it so easy for us to assemble, upgrade, and keep our rods looking “brand new” at all times (even if there are those of us that use a detailing company in order to accomplish our rod’s appearance standard) the vast majority of “today’s rodders” would be “today dreamers” when it comes to owning, building, and maintaining a rod or custom.  

So, if I may recommend, the next time you go to a show, any size show, and the show has a vendor of any type that is there in support of our sport/hobby/habit/addiction, please consider taking the time to go by and meet them and thank them for being there.  Who knows, somewhere in such conversations you may learn why your rod always over heats  (Don told me a great story on this subject) why your lights do not work right, why your front end does not seem just right, or how you can drag that ’66 Mustang Fastback project out of the garage and with a few correct parts from someone like Gateway you can actually start doing, and stop talking about bringing your ‘Stang back to life.

Finally, how was the LSGG’s show in general?  Big show. So big that for me anyway it could end up being a very cold event for most, if you get my drift.  But if you get out and meet folks from one end of the Texas Motorplex infield to the next, you can certainly hedge your bet and have a chance to warm things up a bit.  

Example:  All you had to do was to meet  Sgt J.T. Novak Sr, Charlie Co. 1st Plt. , 1st BN, 1st Marines, 1st Recon Master Demo, Operation Dewy Canyon 69-70, recipient of a Purple Heart & Cross of Gallentry to make the show more interesting. JT was a Vietnam Vet who, by the looks of his Vette, and the conversation that I had with him, has dedicated at least a portion of his life to aggravating the devil out of the “numbers matching” Corvette crowd.  JT had come down with his wife and Vette from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. And, according to JT, he was one of the original Good Guys supporters. JT was not only one cool dude, but I believe actually understood what I was talking about when we conversed on various subjects.  And JT’s Vette; wicked too say the least. (See photos, Erratic Consistency) 

Example:  There was a gentleman in his mid to late 20’s that had a stand in the Swap Meet corner of the event. In talking with him I learned that he had recently lost pretty much everything that he held near and dear, but clearly had a plan on how to climb out of the economic hole he found himself in, and guaranteed me that he would be back next year at the LSGG with a rod.  I told him that I would hold him too his guarantee.  And his booth?  A photographer’s paradise.  He had an old unfinished rod on a trailer (28 I think) and tables full of all types of fuel feed systems, ie 2 fours, 6 twos, induction systems, etc. With all of the “products” he had for sale it was easy to put together one or two above average photos.  (I posted in the attached gallery I think one of the better photos that I was able to take of his display.)

And the list can go on and on.  The man with the killer yellow 55 Ford truck that said he had never shown his truck or been to an event like LSGG’s before. The dude with the knock dead 55 metallic green Ford pickup. The rodder with a ’66 yellow over silver Mustang Fastback who definitely demonstrated that you can paint a ‘Stang two tone with a color other than black or red and have it come out looking boss.  Or the young man who had modified a 68-69 Ford pickup to the point that it will look like, when finished, a George Barris style/version of a wickedly retro cool custom mouse rod.  Nope, can not call it a “rat” as there was nothing ratty about what he had done and is going to do with his ride.

LSGG 2009? Cool rides, cool people, cool vendors, cool parking place, cool weather.  In a word, COOL. Do not guess there is much more a body could ask for.  Thanks again Meguiar’s gang.

Post Script:  This author will be once again “stepping out on his wild side” so to speak Saturday, October 10th with another one of his personal Bucket List adventures.  I checked with “the boss” (she hates it when I call her boss) and she said if I photo it and write about it she will post it.  So stay tuned and I will attempt to share with you (weather permitting), and at least thru this rodder’s eyes,  what it is like to, “pull them belts down tight and go racing boys”.

Keep Driving Them Safely
Deats

Once again, Deats has sent us a great story and great photos. Thanks, Deats! HRH