The National Street Rod Association (NSRA) made its annual visit to the Florida State Fairgrounds in Tampa, Florida, for their final event of the 2015 season, the 28th annual Southeast Street Rod Nationals. This event is one of the most popular and largest happenings that take place in the City of Tampa throughout the year, and the 2015 edition saw more than 1,300 specialty vehicles occupying the majority of the 330-acre fairgrounds. The tens of thousands of eager motorheads that made their way through the turnstiles were treated with chamber of commerce weather the entire weekend.
Hot flames and even an even hotter she devil show off the beautiful air brush artistry.
Everything from alternators to Woodies, and even a white elephant, could be found in the swap meet.
Mickey drove down from Orlando to enjoy the show.
Howard Tarnoff's award winning 1949 Plymouth sparkled in the bright Florida sunshine. Check out the wide whitewalls and custom wheel covers.
Tarnoff’s Plymouth sits on a modified Chrysler chassis with Fat Man dropped spindles, four-wheel power disc brakes and a Currie 9-inch Ford rearend. The motor is the original Chrysler 218 ci block with a 9.5:1 Edgy aluminum head, Edmunds intake, and Webber 2-barrel carburetor. Transmission is a ’52 Desoto overdrive. The build took three years and Tarnoff says “it was truly a labor of love.”
Mr. and Mrs. Rich brought their toy Met all the way from Washington State and never raised the top.
NSRA Long Distance Award: The Long Distance Award is just what it implies. The award is given to the entry that traveled the longest distance to attend the show. The honors for the 2015 Long Distance Award went to Jan and Jeff Rich from Lakewood, Washington. They drove their 1961 Nash Metropolitan convertible over 3,100 miles to attend the event. The little bright orange and vanilla shake white Nash is powered by a 2.4 liter 22R Toyota motor with a five-speed manual transmission. The car rides on a Fat Man Mustang II front suspension, and a narrowed 10-bolt GM rearend. Mr. Rich affirms the little car drives like a dream and Mrs. Rich grinned when she stated, “We drove the entire way here with the top down, and we don’t intend on putting it up anytime soon.” Not only did this car win the Long Distance Award, it was hands-down the crowd favorite.
The classic and beautiful lines of the Tri-Five Chevrolet, Greg Land's award-winning 210 hardtop
NSRA Pros Pick Award: Greg and Trish Land from nearby Trinity, Florida took home the prestigious Pros Pick Award with their gorgeous 1955 Chevrolet 210 hardtop. Mr. Land purchased this car in 1978 and used it as his high school driver. He even took his wife, Trish, on their first date in the car. As you might expect, the car has undergone a number of changes and improvements over the years. Its current configuration is the result of a two-year and 10-month frame off restoration by Time Machines Inc. in Hudson, Florida. The car sits on an Art Morrison Chassis with Heidts front suspension, a 9-inch Ford rearend with coil over shocks and four-link rear suspension. A GM Performance Crate 502 Ram Jet sits between the frame rails coupled to a 4L80 GM automatic transmission. The PPG black and gold paint adds the finishing touches. All in all, a beautiful ride.
A Milk Truck No More
This extra sweet 1934 Ford Panel Truck is owned by James Danner of Tallahassee, Florida. It is not your father’s milk truck. This custom designed and built beauty sits on a hand fabricated, tube frame with a Jaguar suspension, both front and rear. The truck is powered with a 430 ci Buick coupled to a GM 2004R transmission. A custom leather interior and hidden sound system provide the tunes, converting this one-time milk truck into the show vehicle it is today.
Mike and Debbie Boyd from Val Rico, Florida brought their mega horsepower, nitrous-infused, hand-fabricated dump truck to the show, which drew a lot of attention. The truck started life as a 1951 Ford dump truck. “I always wanted to build a dump truck.” Boyd laughed. “I didn’t think it would end up like this though.” The truck sits on a hand-fabricated 2×6 steel tube chassis with Afco coil overs on all four corners and a floating four-link suspension. The aluminum and pine dump bed was also hand fabricated by Boyd Bros. The truck gets its 900- plus horses from the 557 Ford stroker attached to a Ford C6 transmission. It moves power to the ground through the 3:70 gear housed in the Tiger Quick Change, and the 22.5-inch Hoosiers provide the bite. Although unconfirmed as of this writing, rumor has it, this could be a nine-second truck.
This 1951 Ford Dump Truck was one of the most unique vehicles on display and the craftsmanship is extraordinary.
Our overall personal favorite, The pretty little red Ford Falcon convertible is owned by Levon Hilton of Sarasota, Florida. This little red beauty may not have been the most photogenic, or the overall best of show, but the car brought this author back to a time when there was a 1963 Falcon sitting in the garage.

This 1932 Ford Woody will be given away at the 2016 NSRA Street Rod Nationals in Louisville, Kentucky. You might want to make your plans to attend August 4-7, 2016
The 2016 NSRA event calendar has been finalized with 10 events scheduled across our great nation. From coast to coast, north to south, there will be an NSRA event located in your area, so make plans to attend one, or more, when they come to your area. For additional information, event schedules, and how you can become an active member of the NSRA visit the official website at www.nsra-usa.com Please don’t forget to check out the gallery of images from the NSRA Southeast Street Rod Nationals at the conclusion of this article.