The Goodguys 24^th Autumn Get-Together was presented by Specialty Sales Classics and held in Pleasanton, California. While car events across the country are getting rain and cold weather this late in the season the temperature in Pleasanton was perfect. Starting out a little cool in the morning, temperature climbed to the mid-70s in the afternoon. The event was open to customs, hot rods, classics, muscle cars, and trucks of all years.

Manufacturers and Vendors

This Goodguys event is held the day after SEMA, so the majority of the hot rod parts manufacturers were all still in Las Vegas sleeping off the long days and the eventful Vegas nightlife, but there were still plenty of manufacturers and local shops with display booths to fill up all the exhibit halls.

Swap Meet

The Ahwooga.com sponsored swap meet was jam-packed with new and used hot rod parts for every make and model of American iron. You can never get enough of the vintage pre-1965 wheels, drag parts, sheetmetal, intake manifolds, and more! We always see a lot of parts we need…um…want. Non-car enthusiasts might not understand the obsession.

As usual, there were some great deals on cars and hot rods that ranged from junk to viable project car, as well as complete turn-key/drive away hot rods. A couple of our favorites were the ’64 Chevelle 2-door wagon and the ’56 Ford Anglia.

Fun for All Ages

Goodguys does a great job making this a family-friendly event with happenings throughout the weekend for the whole family. The live music is great for all ages. There are pedal and model car competitions for big and little kids. There’s really cool deals for the kids, which includes a free and entertaining Revell model car “Make n’ Take” for the kids, PPG Kids Coloring Contest, and even clowns. There’s also a Goodgals Arts and Crafts gallery for when the ladies want to get out of the sun for a bit.

Pinstripers Brush Bash

One of the many exhibit halls was full of lowriders and pinstripers showing off the awesome detailed works of art from steady and nimble hands. Pinstripers don’t just lay down stripes on cars, they put their art on anything and everything!

We watched intently while one gentleman striped and outlined a Harley Davidson fuel tank. It turned out great! Next time, we’ll have someone lay some stripes on some camera equipment.

Goodguys AutoCross

The autocross is getting so popular at Pleasanton that it is getting tough to get time in on the course, especially on this particular Saturday. Sunday was busy, but the cars were getting in a lot more runs.

The pits were a great place to catch up with the competitors and check out their cars. Nathan Reid took first place in the Street Machine class in his 2006 GTO with a best time of 37.119. Terry Bland whipped his 1987 ElCamino around the course in 39.660 and won the Truck class. It’s no surprise that Mike Maier of Maier Racing topped the event in the Pro Class in his ’66 Mustang with a blistering 35.170.

Big Rigs

There was a huge truck display inside one of the buildings. When we say huge truck, we mean full-size semi trucks! Every one of these trucks was in great shape and some were even show-quality.

All of them were older trucks you would not normally see on the road today. We were admiring the restored original, vintage Mack truck and Rick McClerkin’s 1947 Peterbilt. There were also a couple of hot rodded old Peterbilts. Truck drivers take pride in their vehicles too.

Veterans Day

This Goodguys event was held on Veterans Day weekend, so there were plenty of celebrations for veterans all weekend long. Some supporters even brought out their military vehicles to show them off to the crowd. There were Jeeps and much larger military vehicles on hand. One vehicle was a 1971 Kaiser/Jeep Deuce and a half transport carrier.

Our favorite military vehicle was the 1941 Chevrolet 1.5 ton G4112 cargo/troop transport owned by CW4 James E. Bundgaard (ret). He really knew a lot of history about these trucks and their service. He showed us all the places on the truck where Chevrolet had to remove their manufacturer markings and all the standard production truck amenities that were not removed or altered (as they should have been for military service) like the gauge cluster and locking glovebox. He uses his ’41 Chevy truck to haul camping gear for a Bay Area program he’s involved in for kids. It’s called Camp Patriot.

There were tons of trucks at the event. The ratio of trucks to cars was definitely hovering around 20% trucks (or so it seemed), which is much higher than we’ve seen at Goodguys shows in years past.

Rod Authority’s Top 5 Picks

The Goodguys team and participating manufacturers gave out plenty of well-deserved awards, which can be found in the list located later in this article. Rod Authority does its own judging at the show and we pick the Top 5 standouts of the event and showcase them here for you.

Rick Robbins’ 1957 Ford Fairlane 500

We found Rick Robbins’ 1957 Ford Fairlane 500 basking in the sunlight showing off its beautiful two-tone red and black hues. The builder Mark Tingley was on hand to show us around the car and answer our questions. Every part of the car was reworked and very clean. The brightwork was spectacular and the trunk was nicely refinished. Mark also fabricated some custom dash panels to house the Vintage Air ducts.

Under the hood, there were custom panels to hide accessories while showcasing the 351W dressed with a March Performance serpentine system, Edelbrock carb and intake, and MSD ignition. The 500 cruises down the freeway with the Ford AOD trans. The Fatman front clip helps the handling and Wilwood disc brakes on all four corners helps it stop. This would be a fun car to drive.

Bob Bailey’s 1960 Chevy Sedan Delivery

We have a soft spot for ‘59 and ’60 sedan deliveries and we don’t see them very often. So when we ran across Bob Bailey’s ’60 from San Ramon, we had to check it out from top to bottom. Bob’s wicked and low 1960 delivery has been in his possession since 1985. It didn’t have a lick of rust, but needed some TLC and Bob was just the guy to give it some.

Every panel and piece of trim on the car is straight as an arrow. Under the hood resides an old-school small block Chevy 307 getting fuel and air through an Edelbrock carburetor and Performer intake. Spent gasses exit out through some Chevy ram horn cast iron exhaust manifolds. It moves via a firm-shifting TH350 transmission and a 12-bolt Posi rearend. Bob improved the braking by ditching the horribly unsafe single reservoir master cylinder and converting to a more modern dual reservoir master and disc brakes up front.

The interior is nicely upholstered from front to rear and kept very cool with upgraded air conditioning. It also has power windows and a power bench seat to keep everyone comfortable. We couldn’t believe a gem like this was for sale too!

Ken Nicholson’s 1936 Ford Sedan

Ken Nicholson was parked out by the barn with his beautiful 1936 Ford. The cool Forest Green metallic paint caught our eye. Ken said it was expertly applied by Dennis Moitozo of Hayward. The perfect body is all original steel and still uncut. Great looking accent pinstripes were applied by hall of fame inductee, Cary Greenwood.

The clean interior was loaded with Lokar bits and the banjo-style steering wheel was right at home. It was all stitched up by Finish Line in Santa Clara. He says that it drives like a new car because of the TCI chassis equipped with a polished Kugel front suspension and chromed Jaguar IRS rearend.

The package is complete with a 330 HP Vortec 350 Chevy topped with an Edelbrock intake and carb. Gases are ignited with an MSD ignition system and then evacuated through Hooker headers and Flowmaster mufflers. Gear changes are made by a 700R4 overdrive transmission. Ken is very proud of his ’36 and he should be.

Mark Will’s 1933 Ford Coupe

We were stunned when we happened across Mark Will’s ’33 Ford coupe. Mark’s ‘33 is a ‘60s hot rod survivor. He’s upgraded and tweaked a few things that needed attention. The more we looked around Mark’s coupe, the more cool details we found. The overall theme of the car was ’50s-style rockets and space. He calls it the X-33 and the modifications were well-executed.

We found cool rockets in the exhaust tips, valve stem caps, shifter handle, and more.

Motivation is a pumped up 327 Chevy fed by six polished Holley carbs and fired by a Joe Hunt magneto!

When Gene Worth was applying the cool X-33 pinstripes to the deck lid, he noticed some faint ridges under the paint. They turned out to be old pinstripes that had been painted over many years ago. They are still there and a great conversation piece while enjoying the new stripes Gene laid down.

Mark gave the interior a much needed makeover with a custom seat with a ’62 Impala speaker grille that he modified with an Oldsmobile globe accented with stars and an X-33 rocket. Mark built a cool center console to house a 40s Airguide thermometer and humidity gauge and two vintage pocketwatches. Mark also installed an accelerometer inside a cup and covered it with a custom lens and installed it under the dash.

Mike and Elaine Burns ’55 Chevy Truck

We saw a lot of awesome trucks and wanted to pick only one for our Rod Authority, so we decided to pick the fine ’55 Chevy truck owned by Mike and Elaine Burns of San Jose, CA. We found this truck with a well-deserved Winner’s Circle sheet on the front window. It won the Meguiar’s Magnificent Masterpiece award.

The Bordeaux Red metallic paint really caught our attention a few hundred feet away. Upon closer inspection we admired all the fine body and paint work. The panel gaps on this truck were perfect! A few of the custom touches were smoothed steps, shaved emblems and door handles, custom rolled front pan/bumper, and Frenched turn signals.

Under the hood was a big block Chevy 396 wearing a Weiand 6-71 blower and two Edelbrock carburetors capped with a custom low-profile intake top hat. The engine and its compartment were just as clean and polished as the outside of the truck.

The truck was rolling on an original chassis that had been boxed as well as notched in the rear to clear the rear axle when the Ride Tech suspension drops the truck to the ground. The Ford 9-inch rear housing is kept in place with a nice streetable ladder bar arrangement and the drum brakes were all ditched for 4-wheel disc brakes. The huge Budnick wheels were wrapped with Mickey Thompson Sportsmans.

Some of the Event Winners!

Best Bitchin’ – Monte Hurd of Livermore, CA – 1934 Coupe

Chicks Choice – Paul Woofer of Redwood City, CA – 1955 Chevy

Chopped and Dropped – Terry Freeman of Clayton, CA – 1933 Ford

Class Act – Joe Mangelos of Ripon, CA – 1956 Ford

Cool Coupe – Carole Compton of Livermore, CA – 1940 Ford

Fabulous Flames – Debbie Chadwell of Modesto, CA – 1958 Ford P/U

Fat Fendered – Keith and Sherrie LoForth of Ceres, CA – 1940 Chevy

Goodguys AutoCross – Street Machine Winner – Nathan Reid of Dublin, CA – 2006 Pontiac GTO 37.119

Goodguys AutoCross – Truck Winner – Terry Bland of San Jose, CA – 1987 ElCamino 39.660

Goodguys Gazette Pick – Cherry Boque of Livermore, CA – 1952 Ford

Goodguys Pick – Rick Ross of Woodside, CA – 1949 Cadillac

Goodguys Staff Pick – Mike and Esther Zierau of Pleasanton, CA – 1931 Dodge

Hot Hi Boy – Art Engel of Pleasanton, CA – 1932 Ford

Low Lid – Dennis Casmer of San Ramon, CA – 1951 Mercury

Meguiar’s Magnificent Masterpiece – Mike Burns of San Jose, CA – 1955 Chevy Truck

Nifty 50s – Bruce Gibson of Pleasanton, CA – 1950 Mercury

One Fine Deuce – Craig and Kim Cherry of San Ramon, CA – 1932 Ford

Memory Lane – Santos Ramirez of Newark, CA – 1939 Pontiac

Right on Resto – Mike McKinney of Dublin, CA – 1934 Ford

Righteous Roadster – Ed Thomas of Castro Valley, CA – 1932 Ford

Sexy Sedan – Bob Estiensen of San Jose, CA – 1933 Ford

Slick and Smooth – Charles and Dotti Ott of Santa Maria, CA – 1955 Oldsmobile

Slick Sled – Chris Rourge of Vacaville, CA – 1958 Impala

Check out Rod Authority’s exclusive gallery of Goodguys 24th Autumn Get-Together below.