Good Guys All-American Get-Together 03-28-08

The Good Guys All-American Get-Together is the first California Good Guys show of the year. It takes place at the same place all the other Good Guys shows take place, Alameda County Fairgrounds in Pleasanton, California. A great fairgrounds with a lot of room for all the various events that go on there. Good Guys are one of the largest and most well known car show promoters out there. They do shows all over the country, 3 of which in Pleasanton.

Good Guys was my dad's first car show when he was beginning the branch his business out from the toy show circuit which was dying in the early 00s. Since then he's gone almost exclusively to selling at car shows. At Good Guys who chooses to sell in the Swap Meet, the giant fleat market of car parts. He does great at these shows and continues to do them every year.

I usually don't like the shows much. Good Guys always seems like the height of the classic car scene where the cars aren't vehicles anymore, but display pieces. They aren't toys to be driven around every day, but collectibles that should be stored until the few times of year they are brought out. Good Guys is the exact opposite of Billetproof, a show where the majority of the cars are still driven and are labors of love just to keep running. With that opinion I went to the Autumn show last year and enjoyed it a bit. Though it's a very long day as a seller in the Swap Meet and the show is huge. It was even bigger for this event. I'd say there was between 800 and 1000 cars here. The requirements weren't that strict, as long as it had an American motor it was allowed in. I saw everything from a Ford Model T to a 2007 Dodge Viper, from a VW Beetle with a Ford V8 to the multiple 1945 Fords. With this relaxed requirement you got a lot of interesting things, you also get ugly things and things that really aren't special.

I like the variety of the lax requirements, but I prefer the strict pre-1965 all original requirement of Billetproof.

But with all that being said, enjoy my photos from the event. I took over 160 there, I won't be posting all here, the whole set can be found on my flickr account


The first pictures come from the Car Corral, where anyone can bring in their car to sell. There is a wide variety of junkers to cherry rides


I love Pintos, I don't know why, but I love them. But the racer Pintos are always so ridiculous. I know if you drop a V8 into them they are fast, but they always look ridiculous.


Lightly modified Model A's are always great to look at. Though I wish there was more out there with original tires and the wire wheels.


I'm not a big fan of 60s Buicks, but this 1965 Buick Wildcat is nice.


This 1951 Buick was only $8000, it ran. Just needs a paint job.


Why oh why must people insist on putting dub wheels and lambo doors on things that don't need them


Most unique thing at the show, a 1932 American Austin Roadster, to the right is a 1931 I believe. Only $13 for one of these babies.


A very creative use of license plates, it was really cool.


The car in the Good Guys logo, very neat to look at


This 1946 Caddy was a beauty.


Not sure what this used to be. Though I'm sure it's related to this


Good Guys is one of the few shows I go to where I can see my all-time favorite car (though the more I see '32 Fords, it may not be all-time anymore), a Dodge Viper. This is one of my favorite styles too, a GTS Coupe. The hood was pretty cool, but I prefer the stock version


I really like the back fins of Cadillacs, very different then all the other 50s tail fins


And being a 1950 Caddy means it still has leftovers of a '40s style grill, my favorite for taking pictures like this.


I'll give them credit for the effort, but I think this is kind of silly.


'40 Ford Coupes are nice. They are up there of my favorite cars but I like them 'rodded out.


My camera failed to capture all the flashing lights that came from this thing. It wasn't a real police car from what I can tell, but it had flashing blues and reds, not sure how it go away with that.


It's probably my dad rubbing off on me, but I think Hearses are cool. I've seen this one before and while its kind of standard on the outside. The inside is awesome.


And this is why, the coffin in the back complete with "dead person" who rises from the coffin.


I love '40s era cars, especially Buicks, but Ford made some good ones too.


And because I don't think I've ever done a roadkill shot of a Ford, here we go.


This is what happens when you have a new car with a hot rod feel, and then let after market people go crazy. You get a monstrosity like this PT Cruiser that seems to have every possible catalog modification available.


The arm gearshift was the crowning mark. That thing was creepy.


You'd be amazed how few pictures of Oldsmobiles I have. I'm not sure if they just aren't that popular among the car show crowd, or I just miss them.


My dad likes this car, I do not. We have differing tastes in cars, but we have a lot in common. I think that works fine.


Mercs. The reason I love grill shots. I did a roadkill shot for this Merc at the last Good Guys show. It's a beautiful car.


I don't like muscle cars. I think 70s Mustangs are the 2nd ugliest mustang generation (80s are ugliest), I never liked any of the Camaros that much, and Firebirds are bleh. But this Charger, I love this Charger. It is a great looking car. I'd love to own one.


Most people know what a Nomad is and when most people think two door station wagon by Chevy they think Nomad. This is a Nomad. However Chevy made other two-door wagons, and if you call one of those a Nomad, the owner usually doesn't appreciate it.


I think other than a Deuce Coupe, a '34 Ford Coupe is one of the most classic hot rods ever.


Chevy's attempt to get on the "modern hot rod" bandwagon to compete with the Prowler, PT Cruiser, etc. And like the Prowler, it suffers from the lack of a good engine. It's also god awful looking, but that's just my opinion.


If there we to be a car show Bingo, a red 1957 Chevy Bel Air should definitely be there. These things are everywhere.


Another rarity, a Willys Jeepster. I'm not sure if I like the modifications


to this.
'55 Buick Riv? Yes please


I like that I was able to take a picture of three generations of Mustangs lined up like this. Though it would've been better if the 4th and 5th generations switched places so it was in more chronological order


The painted grill kind of weirds me out.


You can probably tell by now that I love Buicks. Anything before 1960. The color on this is gorgeous.


I do not understand the appeal of half-car half-trucks like the Ranchero and El Camino. My mom likes Ford Rancheros though. Guess each to their own.


Rat rods always get huge gatherings at Good Guys shows. This is Exhibit A.


This reminds me of the Nomad from Home Improvement. Though I think that one was a 1955


The CHP brought one of their Camaros, which are quite cool. I'm sure this is the same I've seen sitting on 680 tucked away with his light bar taken off (it's strapped on and removable), masquerading as a broken down Camaro.


This thing was just ridiculous. The dub wheels thing has never made much sense to me and to put them on a Police Interceptor Crown Vic makes even less sense.


Model A's are another one of my favorite Fords. Not that big of a fan of the paint job, but it is nice.


Not sure if this was a kit Shelby or not, but I'm sure it's fast.


The Impala really is a car that has evolved over the years. Compare this 1960 to a 1970 and then compare it to the current Impala. It went from a Sport Coupe to a lowrider to a sedan. Though when I went to Vegas with my parents we had a '90s Impala and it was an awesome car.


An overview of the huge amount of cars at the show. Definitely take a look at this one in full size.


The new Shelby Mustang's are really nice. I've seen a few now and I really like them.


Ford really is playing into the nostalgia factor with the new Mustang. Every imaginable variation from the 60s and 70s seems to be available to the current Mustangs. Shelby, Saleen, Cobra, Boss 302, and now the California Special. This is a nice one. Though I prefer some of the other variations.


I don't see very many convertible Bel Airs. They lose a lot of their nice curves without the top, not a top car for me.


Arlen Ness was at the show signing autographs and showing off his bikes. I looked at quite a few of them and they were alright. They weren't what I was expecting. I expected more Orange County/West Coast Choppers type stuff, but got a mix of all different types of cycles, choppers and hogs. Here's a tricycle by him.


And here is a motorcycle with a sidecar from Ness


Have I mentioned enough in this post how much I love Mercs? I love them. The color on this one isn't great, but I still love it.


This color is great, no other car would look as good as this does.


Here is probably the most popular single car I've taken a picture of. It was at another car show and got a lot of views. It's a very unique car and a really eye catcher, probably due to the color.


When the Viper SRT-10 first came out in 2003, I wasn't impressed at all. It seemed too small and too much like a Corvette. It lost a lot of it's Viper charm. Plus the fact it was only available as a roadster until 2006 made it worst. But when the coupe came out in 2006, I rejoiced. It looked more like the GTS Coupe, it still looked really small compared to the original GTS and still had some Chevy looking points, but I was happy. The 2008 SRT 10 is even better. I was sad to hear Chrysler will stop producing the Viper though


Three words for this... WHY GOD WHY. I don't like GTOs much, I've seen quite a few originals and wasn't that impressed, but I see the appeal. But the new GTO is an awful continuation. Why bring back a muscle car name, and stick it on a sedan? It's stupid. But then, whoever did this customization went too far. I hate half-car/half-trucks, see earlier my comments about the Ranchero. This thing is just awful.


This guy really wanted to qualify as American powered. He took a Volkswagen Beetle... and dropped a American V8 (probably a Ford) engine in it, and called his creation Bugzilla. While the engine earns it its name, I think the addition of the some huge tires and maybe a lift kit would be appropriate. SUNDAY SUNDAY SUNDAY


There isn't many Willys out there and even fewer Willys pickups, but there's plenty of them made in diecast. A very unique truck.


As pointed out earlier, Rat Rods get all the attention at car shows like Good Guys, exemplified in this picture in that I had to resort to letting a guy be in the picture because I waited a good 10 minutes waiting for it to clear, and it never did.


And the final picture of this post, a beautiful yellow 1934 Ford with Greyhound hood ornament. A perfect example of a classic car.

So ends this long picture post, which took me a few weeks to write as I kept starting and stopping. It was probably a little too picture heavy and future updates probably won't be as heavy or they will be split up into separate posts.

Over