One of the biggest car shows around is the Goodguys Rod and Custom Association shows. These events are held all over the country, bringing in thousands of unique cars and trucks.  

The show grounds are at the Del Mar fairgrounds. This venue is a favorite in Southern California and its so close that you can literally see the ocean from the show grounds. This show was held from Friday, April 4th to Sunday, April 6th with perfect weather all weekend long. Bringing out just about everything you can imagine, there was bone stock trailer queens to radical customs, to pro-touring race cars were on display. 

Main Halls 

Starting off we entered the O’Brien hall, where the top dollar builds were at. These cars were restored to beyond perfection, with not even a blink of consideration at the pocket book in the pursuit of having the best. Looking around it was easy to see why these cars were showcased here; the paint jobs were smooth as glass, chrome that had more shine than a mirror, and leather interiors that were from the finest hides available. 

On the outskirts of the building there was manufactures and retailers set up, showing off the latest goods available. One manufacturer on display was Dakota Digital. With blinking lights, moving needles, and classy looks, it was hard not to stop and stare in awe at their awesome gauges. 

We decided to check out the other buildings as well, before heading outside. The other two halls were filled with just as many beautiful cars and trucks. With the variation in vehicles on display, there would be a beautiful ’32 hot rod with a wild Chevelle sitting next to it. This kept us on our toes, making sure we covered every square inch of the buildings, making sure that we saw all the amazing rides inside. 

Outside the weather was perfect for a car show, in the low 70’s with a slight overcast. With over 2,500 cars at the show, we had a hard time trying to capture all of them. We are showcasing our top five Chevrolet’s from the show.

Our Top Five Chevrolets At The Show

#1 Bill Chamberlain’s 1970 Nova SS

One of the first cars we spotted outside the halls was this Forest Green 1970 Nova SS. Green isn’t a color that you see on many cars, so this really caught our eye. Then we saw how clean the car was and had to snap some pictures. The owner, Bill Chamberlain has owned the car for seven years now. “I repainted the car, built the motor up, and reupholstered the interior.” 

The motor is the original numbers matching motor, but Bill did some upgrades to it. “The motor has about 400 horsepower with aluminum Edelbrock heads, a March serpentine system, and a 700R4 transmission.” 

Being a part of the East County Cruisers, Bill gets out and cruises the car regularly. When asked what his favorite part of the car was he said “driving it!” We would be just as excited to drive the car too. 

#2 Rob Wright’s 1969 Camaro

We were standing halfway across the show grounds when we spotted this ’69. The wild paint job grabbed our attention and sucked us to the car. Rob Wright has owned the car for three years now and has just completed the ground up restoration on it. “When we bought the car it was a big block drag car that was painted hugger orange. It was a nice car then, but we tore it completely down, started over and did a pro-touring car.”

The motor is an LS3 that dyno’d 502 horsepower to the wheels. Behind the potent LS is a T-56 six speed transmission that’s putting the power through a Fab 9 rearend. Suspension is handled by Total Cost Involved, with their front clip and one of their torque arm rear ends.

Other details include a Ron Davis radiator, Ididit tilt column, custom made Rushforth wheels that fill the Detroit Speed mini tubs and a custom leather interior to complete the package.  This car has only been up and running for a year so far. Rob only has a few hundred miles on it, since he’s been working out the kinks. 

The one thing about the car that really caught our attention was that wild paint job. We asked Rob what the story was behind it. “I knew that I wanted to go two tone with it, with these colors but we didn’t really know how to break up the paint.” The paint shop hired a local artist to do the break up. “I told them that I was conservative, but they just told me ‘trust us on this one’ and one day I showed up to the shop with it three quarters of the way done.” Rob decided to go for it, and this is the impressive result. 

Rob had a hard time pinning down what his favorite thing about the car was. He loves the way it looks, the power, the speed and that owning a ’69 Camaro has always been on his bucket list. We have to agree Rob, this is one sweet bucket list of a car. 

#3 Doug Renner’s 1969 Camaro

After walking around the show grounds for a bit we decided to head over to the autocross area to see what was going on. One car grabbed our attention and that was Doug Renner’s 1969 Camaro. Sleek black paint with white racing stripes, this car had that classic race car look to it. 

“I’ve owned this car for six years and it was stock when I got it” said Doug. Upgrades includes a Speedtech suspension all the way around the car with a set of 19″ and 20″ Rushforth wheels. The motor is a traditional 406 cubic inch small block mated to a T-56 six speed transmission. 

“I have an LS3 and Detroit Speed subframe that I plan on adding to the car within the next year.” Aside from upgrading the power, Doug plans on adding wider wheels as well. “The DSE mini tub kit will be installed in the next month.” The interior remains fairly stock with a set of Sparco seats, but he is putting in a set of Dakota Digital VHX gauges as well in the upcoming months. 

This car was scaring the cones on the course, but at the same time he drives this car a few times a week to work. About once a week he will go on a 50-60 mile round trip up the coast of California for his personal enjoyment. Doug definitely loves his Camaro, and isn’t afraid to drive it! 

#4 Joe Shenk’s 1959 Brooklyn – Impala

After our quick trip in the autocross pits we headed back onto the show grounds. This Brooklyn caught our eye and we had to know more about it. Not only was the car this beautiful lime green color, it was a two door! A rare car that was modernized and sitting on the ground it was a crowd favorite. 

Catching up with the owner, Joe Shenk, he gave us the low down on the car. “I’ve owned this car for almost three years. I went through the entire car mechanically, repainted it, and put the interior in it.” In order to move this big hunk of sheet metal, Joe put a built 468 cubic inch big block coupled with a 700R4 transmission. He also put the Impala trim on the car to help accent the look and add some style.

In order to get that car sitting on the ground Joe installed a complete Accuair air ride suspension. “I can put four people in the car with all their bags and the car will always sit at the correct ride height.”

His favorite part of the car, besides the paint, is his family. Joe explained that he had street rods in the past and couldn’t fit everybody and their belongings in the car. With this car he’s able to grab his wife and two kids, all their luggage and hit the road. In fact he drove the car with his family all the way from Las Vegas to Del Mar. Since the car has been finished he’s been to “Delmar, Phoenix, Lake Havasu, and put a few thousand miles on it.” 

Overall Joe is extremely pleased with how the car came out. Just like any other car guy, now that the car is finished he has plans to make some changes to it including swapping in new gauges, buying a set of Billet wheels to swap out, and changing the carpet. We love the look of the car now, we’re sure that Joes improvements will only take the car to the next level! 

#5 “Street Rod Jimmy’s” 1972 Monte Carlo

While walking the show grounds we took a stroll down the swap meet area of the show. Tucked away was this beautiful 1972 Monte Carlo. It’s not everyday you see 1970-1972 Monte Carlos at a show, let alone one that has been customized. Catching up with Jimmy Tarango, aka “Street Rod Jimmy” he told us about the car. “I picked this car up and basically finished it.” Jimmy explained that the car was 90% done, so he brought it into his shop and finished the car off, and fixed a few things that weren’t up to his standards. 

“I put the new Original Parts Group bumpers on it, the chrome side trim, cleaned up some of the wiring, new carpet and finished the engine compartment.” Most of the work that Jimmy did was all the small details that really take a car from a driver to a show car. Jimmy likes to find cars like this where he can let somebody else do the hard work, finish the car then sell it. He was in no rush to sell the car either; Jimmy enjoys them for however long and lets them go to a new owner. 

“The car only has 96,000 original miles.” The numbers matching motor had been gone through at some point including a healthy camshaft. If he could change anything Jimmy wants to change the interior to an Ostrich leather interior. “I won’t change it though so the new owner has something they can do to make it theirs.” We liked Jimmy’s outlook on cars, we tend to love ours too much to let them go!

#6 Dean Leslie’s 1970 C10

Now we said that we were going to showcase the top five from the show, but this truck was just too sweet to pass up. Lots of us prefer to get an old car and fix it up spending countless hours and emptying our wallets in the process. However in Deans case, the perfect truck popped up. “It’s like they crawled into my head and built the truck of my dreams.” Finding the perfect vehicle is a rarity, but also saves lots of time! 

This truck was built by a shop in Northern California and sports a blown LS2, with 4L80E transmission. A set of Baer brakes adorns each wheel, with a large set of custom classic five-spoke wheels from ET Wheels. Dean has no plans to change anything on the truck after owning it for two years. He absolutely loves everything on the truck, just as it sits. 

Everything on this truck has been modified slightly, where you really have to look to see the changes. The gauges look stock but have been retrofitted and include a boost gauge. The bed floor has been raised a few inches to allow clearance for the lowered suspension and the wheel tubs were widened. Machine turned accents adorn the truck as well, adding a clean custom look. 

The truck has a static drop, utilizing a Porterbuilt front cross member and complete C4 suspension in the front. The rear has a Classic Enterprises lowering springs to keep that low slung look. “My plans are to just cruise it and enjoy it, the truck was basically a retirement gift for myself.” We love Dean’s retirement gift, one of the cleanest C10s we’ve seen in a long time! 

Swapping parts and stories

In the swap meet area of the show we saw all sorts of goodies. To start there was a bunch of different cars, trucks and bikes for sale. Everything from a 1962 Cadillac to a 1955 Bel Air. Walking down the isles the people set up had an array of different items. Some things were car related, such as door knobs and window cranks, while others were glass insulators for old power lines.

Whatever souvenir or oddball item you want, the swap meet had. We saw stacks of seats, license plates, parking meters, and everything else under the sun. 

Cone killing autocross

Another hot spot was the autocross course. We saw everything out there from Kyle Tucker, owner of Detroit Speed’s 1970 Camaro, to a Oldsmobile Vista Cruiser. The course itself was spread out, allowing a little room to hear a few short wide open throttle blasts. The middle of the course dropped elevation, which made the brakes work when coming up to a 180 degree hairpin turn and adding some entertaining sliding. 

All weekend long there was a crowd spectating. This sport is growing bigger and bigger and we see more high end, border-line race cars competing. The competition was stiff as well, with lots of seasoned veterans hitting the course along with plenty of amateurs. All day long we could hear the roar of motors and screeching of tires, with the occasional cow bell when somebody would set the low track time. 

The Goodguys 14th annual show was a great success. Lots of beautiful rides were on display with plenty of vendors available to show case their products. Make sure to check out the Goodguys show schedule and find a show near you!