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2ND ANNUAL GRAND NATIONAL TRUCK SHOW, SEPT. 14-15, 2024, FAIRPLEX AT POMONA, CA

admin — Sun, 08 Sep 2024 04:51:18 +0000

Posted September 9/15/2024: The 2nd Annual Grand National Truck Show came to an end around 6:00 p.m. Sunday night. It was another great event by Rod Shows. The culmination of the show was naming American’s Most Beautiful Truck. The winner was a 1956 Ford F-100 owned by Ed Ganzinotti which is shown below. Further down in this post are more photos of the winner as well as all the contenders. THE WINNER A lot of trucks of all sizes, colors, and customizations were at the event. The very big – The very low – The very customized – The very unique – And everything in between. Also at the event was a group of BMX riders that gave an impressive display of their skills. Their extraordinary control of the bikes as seen below included jumping over four volunteers laying on the ground without the use of a ramp. Several trucks displayed some awesome paint jobs. One truck owner with such a display told us it took a year or more to create the art. Below are photos of some of these exceptional murals. The Grand National Truck Show is a family affair and many kids had a lot of fun choosing their favorite truck and hoping that maybe, just maybe, someday their Dad will buy it for them. This is Roger and as his favorite he chose Thor the biggest truck at the show. The trucks were both inside and outside and offered a wide variety of vehicles. Two days was just barely enough time to see everything. One of the original vehicles we especially liked was this ice cream truck. It’s owner said it still keeps the ice cream frozen and he gave out about $140 worth of ice cream at the show. This jet car is pretty impressive and even more so when shooting fire and travelling down the drag strip at 200+ mph. There were always more trucks to look at and each of them provided something special to see. Another special event at the show was the truck bed dancing. These truck beds lean left and right and spin around in circles. It’s amazing that these trucks don’t tip over. A permanent part of the Fairplex is an outdoor model railway which is open to the public. This was a very elaborate train set up and was a fun way to to take a break in a garden setting. The awards ceremony was the final event of the show. It began with the pinstriper charity aution. Throughout the show the pinstripers were busy creating some very unique panels and items which were auctioned off during the awards ceremony. The auction raised $20,000 for the Volunteers for Veterans Foundation. Before the awards were handing out the color guard presented the colors while the Star Spangled Banner was sung by 16 year old Gavin Stevens. Gavin has been blind all his life but that hasn’t affected his incredible ability to sing. Once the many awards were presented, including the one for America’s Most Beautiful Truck, the show was over. It was annouced at the awards ceremony that there will be a 3rd Annual GNTS, no specific dates yet, but likely about this same time next year. Also don’t miss the upcoming Grand National Roadster Show Jan. 31-Feb. 2, 2025 at the Fairplex in Pomona. Below are photos of America’s Most Beautiful Truck and all the contenders. Posted Sunday 9/15/2024: The 2nd Annual Grand National Truck Show is over and America’s Most Beautiful Truck has been named. Out of the eleven contenders at this show only one could take the title. The winner is the 1956 Ford F-100 owned by Ed Ganzinotti. The award not only came with a special trophy, but a check for $12,500. Congratulations to Ed Ganzinotti (far right) and the crew at Classic Car Studio Speed Shop. Its clear why this truck is America’s Most Beautiful Truck. The sign below gives all the information about this beautiful truck. Tomorrow evening we’ll post all the photos from the show as well as an article about the event. it was a great show and we are very pleased to know there will be a 3rd Annual Grand National Truck Show in 2025. Posted Saturday, 9/14/2024: The 2nd Annual Grand National Truck Show opened today at the Fairplex in Pomona. There are eleven contenders for the title of America’s Most Beautiful Truck. Here they are: 1972 Chevrolet C-10, Owner: Mark DeAtley 1966 Chevrolet C-60, Owner: Tony Gomez 1950 Ford, Owner: Rod Bryant 1963 Volkswagen Double Cab, Owner: Mark Amavizca 1957 Ford Ranchero, Owner: Leo Cid 1959 Chevrolet Apache, Owner: Steve Borgogno 1956 Ford F-100, Owner: Ed Ganzinotti 1953 Chevrolet, Owner: Tim Horner 1934 Ford, Owner: Bill Paul 1932 Ford Roadster Pickup, Owner: Gary Holyoak 1956 Ford F-100, Owner: Holden Jung The show will continue tomorrow opening at 10:00 a.m. The awards ceremony will start at 5:00 p.m. and America’s Most Beautiful Truck wil be named. We’ll post the winner tomorrow night. There were a lot of fine trucks at the show, both inside and out. We’ll have photos of many of these trucks posted by Monday evening as well as an article about the event. Check back to see the full coverage of the event. _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ The Grand National Truck Show is back at the Fairplex in Pomona. This is the 2nd annual show and promises to be even better than the first. This year twelve one-of-a-kind custom trucks will compete for the weekend’s most prestigious prize, the World’s Most Beautiful Truck Award. The World’s Most Beautiful Truck in 2023. This year’s entries range from early Fords to C10 Chevys and everything in between. The winner of the coveted Most Beautiful Truck prize will receive $12,500 and a custom trophy. Additional awards will be given in over 75 judged classes. As last year, there […]

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DAVID FLEEMAN’S 1932 FORD COUPE

admin — Wed, 01 May 2024 23:37:15 +0000

This outstanding 1932 Ford Coupe was the timingtower.com pick for 2024 at the Western Street Rod Nationals in Bakersfield. Arguably, one of the most famous ‘32 Ford coupes is the five-window driven by John Milner (Paul LeMat) in the movie “American Graffiti”. David Fleeman of Bakersfield set out to build a deuce coupe reminiscent of the movie car but with modern safety and comfort features. He met his goal and produced a car that is not only fun to drive but draws admiring looks. David said his wife didn’t see much of him for a year-and-a half as he built the car but she helped out with the upholstery and sewed the headliner. David went to Lewiston, Idaho and brought back the body, frame and a ‘truck load of parts”. In his shop he put it all together himself and only sent the car out for bodywork and paint. This is a real home- built car but the quality of workmanship looks pro-built. David put a 327c.i small block in his coupe just like the movie car. Nobody seems to know the origin of the movie car engine but David sourced his from a 1968 Corvette. He then put four Holley 94s on top so the engine evokes the look of the movie car. David went further and added an alternator, power disc brakes and air conditioning which the movie car lacked. To top it all off David added a piston gearshift knob like the one that Milner’s passenger playfully unscrewed from the gearshift lever in the movie. When David and his wife drove into the Western Nats, their yellow coupe only had 371 miles on the speedometer but they plan to put many more miles on this outstanding hot rod.

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47th ANNUAL WESTERN STREET ROD NATIONALS, April 26-28, 2024, Bakersfield, CA

admin — Tue, 23 Apr 2024 04:13:56 +0000

The Kern County Fairgrounds was brightened both by the appearance of over 1,000 hot rods and by the weather which changed from a rainy Friday to a Sunny Sunday. In addition to trying to see 1,041 cars, A lot of activities went on throughout the week-end; i.e. The Safety Team was busy inspecting cars; Women’s World offered a lot of hand-made items, a Swap Meet offered many needed parts as did numerous vendors. More photos of cars that were at the show are below. Sunday was the final day of the show and the day of the awards ceremony. The ceremonies started at 1:00 pm but in the morning all of the winners were gathered in the Winners’ Circle. The Winners’ Circle gives everyone a chance to see the cars up close and to talk with the owners. The first award, was not to a car, but to Dave Cahill (on the right in the photo below). After 37 years, Dave retired this year from his position as the NSRA Division Director. Those of us who have been used to seeing Dave every year at the Western Nats, will miss him. We wish him well and hope he’ll return to the Western Nats as a spectator. This year the timingtower.com award went to David Fleeman and his 1932 Ford Coupe. This Coupe brings back memories of the Coupe driven by John Milner in the movie American Graffiti. David’s Coupe only improves on the American Graffiti Coupe. There will be more photos of this car as well as a feature article posted soon. Here are the award winners in the order of presentation: Once the awards were given, it was time for the prizes to be handed out. Nick Donovan, who provided the music for the week-end, was on hand to give out the prizes; and as always, a willing, young volunteer was recruited to draw the numbers. In addition to merchandise prices, three cash prizes of $2,000 each were given away. Mitchell Guillen, Chuck Perdue and Jimmy Shannon, II, all of Bakersfield were the winners of the cash prizes. The three winners along with event director, Mike Adams are shown below. Once the prizes were all given away, the show was over and we waved goodbye to another great week-end. Next Year the Western Nats will be held April 25-27, 2025 in the Kern County Fairgrounds. ____________________________________________________________ SATURDAY – UPDATE Like Friday, Saturday was a great day for looking at cars and trucks at the Western Street Rod Nationals in the Kern County Fairgrounds and there were a lot of beautiful and unique cars and trucks in the fairgrounds to look at – like this Ford truck and those in the slideshow below. Car enthusiasts of all ages enjoyed the day. Below is Levi who said this Ford truck was his favorite. Levi has very good taste. One unique car we saw was this Chevrolet demonstrating it’s hydraulics. This Chevy truck came with a matching camper trailer. This 1932 Ford coupe was reminiscent of the coupe driven by Milner in American Graffiti. This Willys coupe was a drag racer back in the day. Below are a few more of the nice cars at the show today. Tomorrow is the last day of the show and will include the award ceremonies and prize give-aways. We saw some of the cars that will take home an NSRA award and they are spectacular. Monday evening we’ll post photos of all the award winners as well as a wrap-up of the show. _______________________________________________________________________________________________________ FRIDAY – UPDATE The 47th Annual Western Street Rod Nationals opened on Friday, April 26, 2024 in the Kern County Fairgrounds. And the weather forecasters were wrong – predictions of rain and wind did not materialize in Bakersfield. The day was sunny, with a few clouds, and the temperature was around 70° Couldn’t ask for anything better. The event registration on Friday was about the same as it was last year on Friday – about 1,000 cars. Saturday is, however, the big day and, no doubt, tomorrow the fairgrounds will be full again. Below are a few of the cars we saw today: The entertainment started around 6:00 pm with Orphan Jon and the Abandoned performing live. Although the band was excellent – the main attraction was the cars and trucks. The cars will keep on coming tomorrow. We’ll be back at the fairgrounds tomorrow and will post again tomorrow night. Take a look again to see more of the fine cars and trucks that will be at the show. ————————————————————————————————————— The 47th Annual Western Street Rod Nationals will be held in the Kern County Fairgrounds, Bakersfield, CA on April 26-28, 2024. Registration for the show will take place at the Doubletree Hotel, 3100 Camino Del Rio Court, Bakersfield beginning on Thursday, April 25 from 12 noon to 6:00 pm, Friday the 26th from 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. and Saturday the 27th from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. Throughout the week-end there will be comercial exhibitors, a swap meet, Women’s World, kids games, live entertainment and cruising on Friday and Saturday, The Streets of Rods will be held on Saturday and on Sunday there will be an all denomination Church Service. Also on Sunday the award winners will gather in the Circle of Winners on Sunday before the awards ceremony. Nick Donovan’s Rockin Road Show will provide music all week-end as well as drawing numbers for prize giveaway.. Timingtower.com will be there for the week-end and will post on Friday and Saturday evenings with a full article and photos posted on Monday evening.

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DR. GEORGE CHARITY CAR SHOW, INDIAN WELLS CA, FEBRUARY 10, 2024

admin — Sat, 10 Feb 2024 05:38:00 +0000

The 21st Annual Dr. George CHARITY CAR SHOW was held on February 10, 2024 at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden, Indian Wells, CA. There were 1,100 pre-registered vehicles and many vendors in the Tennis Garden. At 9:00 a.m. the gates opened to allow spectator entrance and thousands of people were added to the Tennis Garden. After all the rain during the month of February, nice weather for the week-end seemed iffy, but on Saturday the sky was blue and the sun was shining. As always, the Dr. George Show attracts some of the very best and most unique vehicles. The show kicked off with singing of the National Anthem and presentation of the colors by Marines from the Marine Air Ground Task Force Training Command and Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center in Twentynine Palms. After that the music started and was provided by the Flash Back Boyz. Bob Beck was on hand to serve as announcer and kept everyone posted about the day’s happenings, including the annual pedal car races. The cars were lined up for review prior to the racing. But once the racers took to the track the racing was non-stop. The racers were very focused on the job at hand. Once the pushers got the cars started it was up to the drivers to finish the job. While they couldn’t all win, they all had fun. All the racers took home a trophy, but the winner got the big one. The pedal car races have become an annual event and a good fundraiser. Once the races are over the kids surrender their race cars which are then auctioned off. Renowned pinstriper Von Hot Rod served as auctioneer. Not all the pedal car action was on the track, however. Ale brought her own pedal cars – maybe she’s getting in shape for next year’s pedal car races. While Ale liked her fire engine, she was partial to her lowrider. She no doubt got that preference from her uncle Alexis Avila who took home the Best of Show Lowrider trophy. One very notable car at the show was the 1936 Ford Roadster owned and built by Danny Hale. Danny worked as a body and fender man throughout his career and he is very good at it. This remarkable car started as a coupe and was a roadster by the time Danny was done. To accomplish this transformation and keep the body proportions, Danny shortened the frame. This car was a contender for America’s Most Beautiful Roadster at the Grand National Roadster Show in 2023. Below is a photo of Danny with his Best of Show trophy. Well Done! Two AA/FD Nostalgia Top Fuel Dragsters were on hand and fired up twice creating a crowd pleasing cackle fest. Throughout the day, raffle tickets were being sold and there were silent auctions. All of the funds raised by the show and it’s many activities go to benefit the Desert Cancer Foundation. The show takes its name from Dr. Sebastian George, co-founder of the Desert Cancer Foundation. Dr. George was a local oncologist and was known for helping those battling cancer, even if they were unable to pay. There was plenty of time to walk around the Tennis Garden and see all the cars and trucks on display – and there were some nice ones. There were also cars with a story. This 1956 Ford pick-up shown below belongs to Don Freymiller. Don’s son built this truck for him for his 80th birthday. What a gift and it took home a trophy. Don is very fortunate to have such a caring son and such an outstanding pickup. Some cars, like Todd Frazier’s 1955 Chevrolet, 2-door post, is painted to remind him of his career in the Navy. The light gray is the color of the hull of the troop transport ship he served on, the dark gray is the color of the deck of the ship and the red stripe is the color of the Captain’s gig (a 30′ power launch for the Captain’s use). A great car and a trophy winner. And one car served as a memorial to Nick Nigosian, a member of the Palm Springs Cruisin’ Association and a friend of the owner of this car. And more of the nice vehicles at the show: Below are the trophy winners at the Dr. George Show 2024. BEST OF SHOW – 1936 FORD ROADSTER BEST OF SHOW LOWRIDER BEST OF SHOW – SPECIAL INTEREST The three cars shown above took home “Best of Show” trophies. But there were many more trophy winners. Below are photos of the award winners. This show was another great show put on by the Palm Springs Cruisin’ Association. Next year the show will be held on February 8, 2025. Put the date on the calendar and watch for the pre-registration announcement. This show is so popular entrance is by pre-registration only. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________ FRIDAY, FEB. 9, 2024 The 21st Annual Dr. George Charity Car Show sponsored by the Palm Springs Cruisin’ Association takes place on Saturday, February 10, 2024 in the Indian Wells Tennis Garden in Indian Wells, CA. The Tennis Garden has room to show 1100 cars and the Dr. George Show fills the Tennis Garden every year. This show is so popular attendance is sold out by pre-registration only. Today (Friday) provided a hint of what tomorrow will hold. On Friday attendees can obtain reserved parking by going to the Tennis Garden, obtaining a stake with a name tag on it from the registration desk, and pounding the stake into an available parking spot. This system makes parking on Saturday morning easy. It also provides a chance to see some of the cars that will be in the show on Saturday. Below are a few of these cars. Tomorrow will bring, not only a lot more cars, but also […]

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