by Conrad Monroe
Westworld in Scottsdale, AZ
March 9 – 12, 2017
According to the Goodguys staff we had around 2500 cars at this year’s spring show. The weather was clear, sunny and warm with temps in the mid to high 80s. Actually on Saturday it may have been over 90° F. by 4:30 PM the field had pretty well left for cooler territory.
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Thursday – Shop Tours
Very large turnout for the shop tour this year, I am guessing we had around 200 cars or more leave the Registration Tent for the tour. Unfortunately we only had 4 shops on the tour, the other 4 shops that had been lined up, canceled at the last minute.
The 1st stop on the tour was to Speed Sports in Gilbert. Mark Clark and his crew offer a broad scope of service including EFI & Turbo systems and Chassis Dyno Tuning for optimum performance. Unfortunately I was not able to get a lot of photos due to the large number of tour members in the shop. One of the better speed shops in the valley in my opinion.
We next headed over to Squeeg’s Kustoms in Chandler. It is always fun to visit Squeeg’s shop, they always have several interesting projects in work. I was especially impressed with the 1963 Corvette with a tube chassis and LS engine & transmission. It would be a joy to own and drive when it is completed! For the 1st time ever I saw an LS powered off road buggy in the shop getting a custom aluminum interior. King shocks all around and a Mendeola transaxle with 20+ inches of wheel travel… another I would love to own!
We skipped the 3rd stop since it was basically a car dealer, and headed up to Fountain Hills to Mods for Rods. Pretty impressive shop with a number of cars being worked on. From what I saw it looks like they do some quality work. This was the lunch stop and the end of this year’s tour.
Friday – Swap Meet and Vendors
This year’s swap meet and car corral was one of the largest that we have had. Nice selection of parts, memorabilia and cars to look over and buy. One of the big hits this year was the Bob’s Big Boy statues in either bronze or fiberglass. One of my friends from Show Low bought one of the smaller 4-5′ bronze versions and asked me if I could haul it back up the mountain for him. I was hoping that I could stand him up in the back of the wagon, but he was too tall. It would have been very cool to have him looking out the back window. As it was he laid down and took a nap while we drove home. Paul & Judy Nolte bought one of the bronze one as well…
It seemed like there were less vendors in the tent this year but more down on the field.
I watched the autocross for a bit thinking that it would be fun to build a car for it, but then I went into the tent and had a cold beer and the feeling went away!
Saturday – Car Show
I usually spend Saturday walking the grass and taking photos of all of the wide variety of cars that Goodguys draws. This year I had to stick around the wagon. My daughter and son in law were coming to the show and also my newly found Grandnephew who I had not met in person yet. I wasn’t sure when everybody was going to show up, so I spent a good deal of time in the Specialty Parking Area photographing some pretty nicely done cars in the Home Built Heaven section.
Sunday – Awards Part One
Sunday – Awards Part Two
The Sunday Awards were special this year in that Terry & Barb Scott won the Trick Truck award for their Chevy Pickup and Mike Combest picked up an award for this blown Chrysler powered Model A coupe. All in all this year we were treated to a great selection of cars in the winners circle!
After the awards Michelle, Big Boy Bob and I headed up the mountain for home, with a late lunch, early dinner stop at our favorite restaurant in Payson, Mackey’s Grill for a cold beer and pattie melt with sweet potato fries.
Early spring evening in Payson AZ outside of Mackey’s Grill
Another Goodguys in the books, next stop for Michelle and I will be ViVa Las Vegas Rockabilly Car Show in Las Vegas… it should be very interesting! We attended a similar show in Austin Texas last year and had a great time. What is not to love, traditional hotrods and customs and Pinups… doesn’t get much better.
Till the next time, stay safe and Keep On Keeping On!
Conrad.