The NSRA Street Rod Nationals Plus, held in Louisville, Kentucky, is a yearly “Mecca” for everything street rod, hot rod, rat rod, classic car, and musclecar. In our opinion, this is “THE” car show and, in fact, it is the largest in the world with more than 12,000 specialty vehicles in attendance. The 46th annual show was no different as it was exciting, mind blowing, incredible, and awesome all rolled up into one hell of an automotive enthusiast paradise!

This year, all things associated with the Street Rod Nationals happened once again. The Kentucky Exposition Center in Louisville is an unbelievable venue that is comprised of approximately 750,000 square feet of air conditioned space. Inside, with more than 400 exhibitors, it served as the focal point for both participants and spectators. Outside, there was a massive swap meet, located at the northeast portion of the Kentucky Exposition Center grounds, which was full of car parts for nostalgic collectors and project builders alike.

Since the addition of “Plus” added to the marquee five years ago, the NSRA Street Rod Nationals is packed with not only pre-’49 rides, but also classics, musclecars, and any vehicle that is at least 30 years old. This means there are all kinds of little surprises that step out of the realm of street rodding, such as the attendance of the Griswold’s Wagon Queen Family Truckster Station Wagon (from the 1983 ‘Vacation’ movie) which made the rounds during the show, garnering many cheers from fans during the long show weekend.

If you have never been to Louisville to attend this XXL car show, it is time you put it on your bucket list and go check it out! Until next year, follow along as we take you to the tip of the iceberg and zero in on some of the hot rides in attendance.

Mustard Seed
R.J. Kring, of Ortonville, Michigan, is the owner of this 1931 Ford Roadster, and as far back as 1968, when R.J. first started his expensive hobby, he used to dream of someday building a roadster. Well, better late than never; he fulfilled that dream in 2006.

This Ford was a built from scratch project, which started out as a few original body parts and a Ford Model A cowl. This sans-fender street rod sits on a set of gray Torque Thrust style wheels wrapped in BFG rubber in a staggered fitment.

Inside the cab, the interior sports a tan leather interior with matching carpet, and a tan ragtop offers a solution to any rain encountered on the road. The catchy name “Mustard Seed” is derived from the mustard yellow paint job laid down on the original steel body. Some pin striping on the trunk and a not-so-common flush-mounted triple taillight combo finishes up this super-clean street rod.

This street rod is far from a trailer queen. Since its completion, R.J. has racked up the miles touring all over the country. Several years ago R.J., along with his then teenage son, drove the “Mustard Seed” from Michigan to San Francisco, then drove south along the Pacific coast, then cross country to Nashville, and back home to Michigan. Now, that is the way to street rod!

Steel Survivor
Lee Morrow of Ontario, Canada, is the owner and builder of this all-steel original 1934 Ford three-window coupe. This car was built in Lee’s garage over a period of seven years, and is a dragstrip survivor. The last owner, John Schuller, had owned it for 49 years before deciding to sell it to Lee.

The car was kept as-is (an old school, unchopped hot rod) for several years before undergoing a significant transformation. After six years of buying parts, Lee finally put his restomod build into motion. The car had been in an accident at some point, so the firewall and floor were replaced, then tubbed out. The chassis was also replaced with a TCI Engineering complete chassis utilizing Ridetech Shockwaves. With the foundation set, Lee decided he wanted plenty of ponies to move his ride down the road like a bullet, so he chose the 560 hp Roush IR 427 with an aluminum block which minimizes weight.

Making a black car stand out at a car show is a daunting task, so Lee opted to go with a classic set of bright green Dayton wired wheels (which is the reason we noticed the car to begin with), in a staggered fitment, with BFG tires.

The rear and front bumpers were retained to give the exterior that restomod look, while the interior received the all black leather treatment, custom Dakota Digital gauges, Billet Specialties steering wheel, and a trick bright green skull shifter that complements the wheels. Finishing off this sexy street rod is an immaculate jet black paint job.

The Golden Empress
Chris Ryan from Ryan’s Rod & Kustom in Ninety Six, South Carolina, is the owner of this standout custom 1949 Cadillac Convertible. The car had been dismantled and was in boxes and pieces for 30 years until Chris and his team decided to make it a project. The build was a very important one since the car is owned by Chris’ wife, Lori.

One of the first things that people notice about this car is the paint job, which consists of a custom mix of PPG Gold Candy Pearl, but there is much more to this Caddy than just a standout paint scheme. It’s been decked, shaved, nosed, firewall relocated, the bumpers have been cut and tucked, and the headlights were reworked with a set from a 1955 Oldsmobile. It’s powered by a 390ci Caddy engine with a rare Horne intake and four chrome Strombergs.

Chuck Hanna reworked the interior with a gorgeous white tuck and roll leather over 1974 Thunderbird seats. A custom center console flows between the seats from front to rear. The dash has been smoothed and the gauges have been center-mounted, with plenty of the exterior’s paint present throughout the interior.

This bold Caddy rolls on Firestone classic wide whites with traditional Sombrero hubcaps. The killer stance is achieved with a Ridetech chassis and suspension components.

Lovin’ The 50s
Chris Gore of Louisville, is the proud owner of this 1953 Buick Special Coupe. Being a huge fan of everything 1950s, as a throwback, Chris decided to theme his Buick along those lines, all the while keeping the actual shape of the car as original as possible.

Kent Hansford was tasked with painting the exterior a two-tone eggshell hot rod black and Arcadian silver with heavy metal flake with custom gloss black scallop styled graphics and pinstriping.

Inside the car is a classic two-tone tuck and roll, black and silver leather seating, which complements the Buick’s exterior paint scheme. The graphics on the dash depict the 1950s pastime of drive-in movies, radio broadcasting, and the historic U.S. Route 66. The theme continues with an old school microphone set in place as the automatic transmission column shifter, and in the back seating area there are drive-in movie window speakers to complete the 50s nostalgic theme.

Under the hood, a black powder coated Buick straight-eight engine providing all of the power. Rolling stock consists of original 15-inch wheels that have been upgraded with ’57 Caddy hubcaps and Coker wide white tires. Finishing off this cool custom are gloss black powdercoated bumpers, instead of the usual chrome, which follows contemporary automotive trends.

Revelation
This wild, yet restrained, 1967 Corvette roadster is owned by Sonny and Debbie Freeman of Lafayette, Louisiana. This Arctic White 67 Vette, nicknamed “Revelation,” was built by Mike Goldman Customs, and is a top shelf car with outstanding styling.

The Vette’s scratch-built rockers sit a mere three inches off the ground, channeled neatly over the Roadster Shop chassis. The majority of the panels on this car are handmade, including the rear pan, full belly pan, wiper grates, one-off grille, and one-off nickel bumpers, as well as an all-nickel trim.

The power plant for this Corvette consists of a Mast Motorsports LS7 427ci Black Label Hilborn rated at 700 hp. This beast of a Corvette rolls on a staggered set of custom coated Forgeline MS3C wheels finished in matte graphite with a custom pinstripe, 18×8 inches under the nose and 19×10 inches under the tail, with Continental tires providing all the traction.

The interior is a rust-colored leather stitched up by Paul Atkins. Classic Instruments gauges were mounted in the dash, while the column is topped off with a Billet Specialties steering wheel. If you’re thinking the car is all show and no go, you are mistaken, since it clocked one of the fastest laps around the autocross track (42.414 seconds, to be exact) at the Goodguys 18th PPG Nationals.

A Little Something Extra
There were far too many stunning rides at this event to only show off photos of five that stood out for one reason or another. This show has so much eye candy that there is no way we can do it justice without showing off a handful of other bitchin’ rides that we ran across during this large four-day event. Enjoy!