It was with tempered exuberance that the attendees of this year’s Street Machine Nationals in St.Paul Minnesota rolled their respective rides into their coveted parking spots of the hallowed event. The reason for temperance? Weather…While the bright and shining sun is typically an ever-present companion to the Bonnier-hosted event, this year started off a bit different and the cloudy weather had most enthusiasts expecting a bit of rain at the very least.
Every year, we certainly get a lot of love from Minnesota at the Street Machine Nationals, and this beautiful blue Impala was a welcome reminder of that upon entering the show.
Fortunately, the clouds saw fit to part and the sun showed on all of our hot rod loving brethren and sistren – at least for most of the event. We got a tiny amount of showers on the third day. All told though, the show was a huge success, with the event promoters reporting record numbers in attendance and participation.
There is just something about a bright orange Yenko Nova that puts a smile on our faces, but there’s a lot more to see, so keep reading!
The Street Machine Nationals is a show the Street Muscle Magazine team looks forward to every year because we know there will be some of the best and baddest hot rods the midwest and the whole country has to offer. Another reason we love to attend is that we get to present the Street Machine Nationals Editor’s Choice Award.
Every year it is a challenge, but somehow there ends up being one car and owner that stands out from the crowd, and this year was no different. You can read the feature on last year’s winner, here. For now, you’ll have to wait to see who won this year at the end of this article, because there was a lot more to cover in St.Paul.
We love the Street Machine Nationals because every year we go, there is one thing we can always count on – killer cars as far as the eye can see!
Obviously, the main attraction is the Show And Shine. The sheer magnitude of the event and the number of participants made our Editor’s Choice particularly difficult this year, but what an embarrassment of riches. With so many amazing cars to choose from, we were like kids in a toy store trying to decide which new Hot Wheels we want to add to the collection.
There were a bevy of Mopar, Ford, and GM hot rods everywhere. Everything from classic to late model. So, we’ve put together a gallery of our favorites below.
After we cruised through the show n shine, we took a moment to haul our butts over to the QA1 Autocross and check out some of the killer rides being piloted around the orange cones. We caught several unorthodox vehicles shredding tires and kicking up asphalt. Just check out some of the most notable below.
From a late model Ford Ranger to classic American muscle and all the little punchy imports between, the autocross was full of cone-crushing action.
From a late model Ford Ranger to classic American muscle and all the little punchy imports between, the autocross was full of cone-crushing action.
The QA1 Autocross isn’t just for hot rods and sports cars, this old farm truck was tearing up the asphalt between the cones.
Dyno Competition
When it came time to make a dyno pull, the owner of this rowdy El Camino had to back up over some precarious planks. Ultimately it reached a set of ramps that elevated the rear tires up to the dyno’s rotating drum in order to make one hellaciously loud pull.
Of course, no Street Machine Nationals show would be complete without the annual dyno contest, and this year did not disappoint. There were returning contenders along with plenty of newcomers. We couldn’t stick around for the entire competition because it went on for three days, but we did catch one particularly nasty big-block-powered El Camino make a run, and it was hellacious.
More interesting than the actual dyno pull itself though, was the method in which the El Camino was loaded and strapped down. As the dyno in question is a mobile unit, the loading process was a tad unorthodox and somewhat precarious, but all very professional so it wasn’t a big deal for the driver to back their El Camino over a pair of long wooden planks which led to a tilting ramp. The ramp then raised the car to the height of the spinning dyno drum where it made a raucous and crowd-pleasing pull. It was certainly a sight to behold!
Burnout Contest
The next attraction was a crowd favorite – the dyno contest. We weren’t shocked to see a few contestants return from last year’s competition, but we were pleasantly surprised when we saw the number of entrants more than double this year. There was everything from a monster lifted late-model diesel, to a time capsule of a mid-’70s Pontiac GTO.
That's right, this slammed bad boy was shredding tires with the best of them!
The first car of note was an insane Ford Ranger minitruck on airbags. This slammed blue oval was out of control, and had the crowd going wild as it bounced its way into the arena to light up its tires.
We couldn’t hear what the owner was yelling to the crowd during his smoke-filled performance, but we can only assume he took one out of the Gladiator’s book and said, “are you not entertained?”
Another awesome tire-shredder was a chopped-top G20 Van. And when we say chopped-top, we mean it! The entire roof has been removed making this a one-of-a-kind convertible Chevy Van. To top it off, the owner has covered the party wagon in some awesome graffiti.
While these contestants might not have been as jaw-dropping as those prior, they definitely had something up their sleeves. The Oldsmobile 4-4-2, for example, was sporting a twin-turbo LS setup.
Of course, there were some “conventional” vehicles in the arena making massive billowing clouds of tire smoke as well, like the OBS Chevy pickup pictured, here.
Contenders
We narrowed our choice for the award winner down to five contestants, but only one could be the final winner. Still, we made time to shoot photos of all of them and you can look forward to full-length feature articles on the others coming soon. For now, we’ll show you some of the runner-ups.
When we say photos don’t do that orange paint justice…believe it!
We will always have a soft spot for tri-fives and this bright orange custom jumped right out at us while we were scouring the grounds for our next winner. The owner’s story about the car made it that much better. We’ll just say, he’s had it for a really long time…
The saying, “less is more,” rings true for this perfectly stanced Impala.
They say, wheels and stance make or break a car…If that’s true, this Impala was totally made by the wheel, tire, and stance choice of the owner. He tells us it was found in near pristine condition and save for the air ride system, and swap in footwear, the gorgeous Impala remains close to original. It does sport a stout 400ci engine though.
Firebird…Skyride…See what we did there? Seriously though, first-gen Firebirds are some of the most beautiful cars GM ever produced.
We also came across a rather punchy Pontiac. This ’67 Firebird 400 stood out among a sea of Camaro and Mustang not only because it’s from the arrowhead brand, but because it’s a convertible. Seems there aren’t too many of those running around these days, and certainly not in this condition. This father and son restoration definitely caught our eye. Look for the future feature soon…
Editor’s Choice Award Winner
Finally, it came time to crown our winner. When we happened upon this car in particular though, it made our choice easy. We knew even before we had a chance to speak with the owner, Charger Bob. But when we did, it just locked everything in. The car had the right attitude, the right story, and the right style.
Just wait until you read the full-length feature on Charger Bob’s 1968 Dodge Charger. The sound of its 572ci Hemi won’t be able to knock your socks off like it did ours, but at least the photos will!
Charger Bob’s ’68 Charger, nicknamed Black Ops, rocks a monster 572ci Hemi, and tons of other goodies we instantly fell in love with. There’s a really great story about how he got the car and why he calls the thing, Black Ops, but you’ll have to wait for that and the rest of the photos from our shoot in the coming feature. Don’t worry though, it’s coming very soon!
For now, we’d like to thank the team at Bonnier Events for hosting such a fantastic show. We hope to see you all there next year. Until then…
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