The Goodguys PPG Nationals in Columbus, Ohio, is the type of event that should be on every gearhead’s bucket list to attend. Over the three days you’ll be dipped into an ocean of American musclecars and hot rods so deep the bottom is impossible to find. The variety is endless and the quality is off the charts across the board for the cars and trucks at this event.

At the PPG Nationals you see everything from the biggest of budget builds down to a build in progress by a guy working in his one-car garage. Walking around for the three days we were able to compile a small list of our favorite home-built rides. These cars had truckloads of time and effort put in by the owners and it shows.

Ed Bessinger’s 1965 Dodge Coronet

Anybody who says Pro Street is dead or outdated needs to take a look at Ed Bessinger’s killer Mopar, because it’s 100% Pro Street and 100% awesome. The first thing that jumps out is the tri coat orange paint with orange pearl sprayed on the car by Planet Color. The custom Interiors by Thomas implements lightweight insulation, leather seats and door panels, and an interactive media center in the quick remove dash.

Not only does this Coronet look good, it has plenty of power under the hood. The Hemi under the hood puts down a stout 700 hp and 650 lbs/ft of torque through a 727 Torqueflite transmission and Dana 60 rear end. An Art Morrison front clip kit and custom chromoly ladder bar setup make sure the Mopar goes fast and straight.

Tom Darnaby’s 1965 Ford Falcon

Building a car that he could just jump in and “drive anywhere” was the goal Tom Darnaby had in mind when he started his 1965 Ford Falcon project. The car was purchased in 2003 with a 302 that was backed by an automatic transmission. From there, Darnaby started his transformation of this classic Ford into his vision.

Out came the old driveline and shoved in its place is a 1992 short block from a Mustang topped off with a set of Summit Racing aluminum heads and a b303 cam from Ford Motorsports. If that was not enough, Darnaby added a Powerdyne blower feeding boost to a 650 Quick Fuel carb. At just 7 lbs of boost the Falcon put down 402 to the wheels and went a 12.44 in the quarter mile with Darnaby rowing the gears.

Dennis Gaylord’s 1967 Biscayne

The name “Inscayn” is a fitting name for this father/son project built by Dennis and Nick Gaylord. Motivating this beast is a Merlin aluminum block filled with the good stuff including a forged Eagle 4.25 stroke crank, Eagle H beam rods, Diamond pistons, Comp Cams valve train and bump stick. The mill wears a Quick Fuel 850 carb that squirts fuel into a dual plane Weiand intake topping a pair of Merlin 3 rectangle port heads.

Power is put down through a Tremec TKO-600 5 speed and 12 bolt rear end that sports Mark Williams guts. The Biscayne gets the perfect stance from a Ridetech air ride suspension. A unique piece on the car is the hood. Nick Says, “I made out of steel a hood that is styled after an SS427, but has a more aggressive look to match what is under it.”

Shawn Brereton’s 1955 Chevy

There are cars that check every box when it comes to a custom build, and Shawn Brereton’s shoebox fits that bill and more. The first thing that jumps out at you is the 355 ci engine wearing a polished BDS 6-71 sticking out of the hood. Backing the boosted engine is an American Powertrain Tremec T-56 6 speed.

Brereton’s Chevy rides on a set of 17×7 American Racing Hopsters that really set the car off. The custom suspension consists of a Fatman Fabrications GTECH Mustang II front stub with tubular a-arms up front and a Fatman parallel 4-link out back with QA1 Adjustable coil overs at all four corners. All of this with the totally shaved body look and custom mix PPG black with blue pearl and six coats of clear makes for a clean looking car.

Doug Porter’s 1966 Chevy Nova.

At the age of 16 Doug Porter purchased this Nova when it was green and had a 283; it has been through a whole bunch of combos and now is the picture of how a Nova should look. Pat & Andy Kronenbitter of PK Race Cars built the current chassis back in 1995 and then did a big update in 2005 to make the car 9-second legal. Pete Cooper laid down the deep Marina Blue paint and made the body clean and straight.

Porter assembled the 406 SBC with a Dart block, Lunati rotating assembly, Taylor pistons and topped it with AFR 227 heads, a Bowtie intake and Holley carb. Sucking the power is a Coan powerglide and converter put to good use during Porter’s 9-second 142 mph quarter mile blasts. The car is street legal, has a title and insurance, and sees plenty of road miles each year.

Dave Wendell’s 1966 GTO

Dave and Trent Wendell restored this 1966 GTO with a ton of custom touches to make the car truly unique. The custom gold tone paint was sprayed by the Wendell’s using PPG and 3M products in their own shop at home. Getting the perfect stance is achieved though Detroit Speed and Engineering suspension parts, a narrowed ford rear end, and frame that was narrowed 3 inches on each side. Wilwood brakes help stop the sexy Schott wheels at all four corners when Trent is done winding out the 400 ci motor backed by the Borg Warner 6-speed.

The interior makes home for 1996 Cadillac seats, with the rear being narrowed and chopped over 9 inches. The center console, dash, and other aluminum panels are all hand made by Dave and Trent. A custom wiring harness helps control all the lighting, A/C and even the rear view mirror with time and temperature on it.

Jeris Getter’s 1969 Dodge Charger

Some things in life are best left exactly how they are, and that’s exactly what Jeris Getter has done with his 1969 Charger. The Arizona car was purchased back in 1993 and brought to the Midwest where it was restored in 2000. The car is a numbers matching heads, block, transmission and rear end machine that looks perfect from all angles that puts down over 450hp out of the 440 Mopar engine.

Mike Landis helped with the build and Robert Artz painted the Charger, their work has yielded a car that won Goodguys’ Mighty Mopar/Mighty Muscle award twice.

Dale Dutton’s 1968 Chevelle

Sometimes you happen to stumble across a car that is just way to cherry to pass up, and Dale Dutton found himself in that situation with his 1968 Chevelle. Dutton purchased the car from a young man in in Stow, Ohio, after the car was passed down to him. From there Dutton took the California car and started to make it his own with a few small changes.

The 350 SBC and 2-speed power glide transmission were removed in favor of a 454 ci big block and 700R4 with overdrive to give the Chevelle more grunt and make it a better cruiser on the freeway. Next, Dutton added a floor shift console from a Pontiac Grand Prix to give the car a modern feel, and Ford Focus seats for added comfort when headed to local cruise-ins.

Paul and Darcy Terlosky’s 1969 Camaro

Building or restoring a custom car from the ground up is no easy feat, but doing it yourself – and at a high level – makes it that much bigger. Paul Terlosky took a retired 1969 Camaro race car and turned it into an over the top street cruiser with a ton of punch.

The Camaro is powered by a 6.2L supercharged LSA engine from a CTS-V that cranks out 720 HP to the wheels. Terlosky chose to mate the LSA engine with a Tremec TR-6060 6-speed and a twin disk clutch to handle all that boosted goodness that the LSA engine puts down. Out back a Moser Engineering 12 bolt filled with a Waveloc Posi unit and 3:55 gears get the Camaro down the road. The suspension also got worked over with a Ridetech Pro Touring package that includes an adjustable 4-link.

These were some of the best home-built musclecars that we found in the massive collection known as the PPG Nats, and barely scratches the surface. Every project has a story and history, what story does your build tell?