We’re deep into the indoor show season. And the web is jam-packed with current photos and show coverage so even if you can’t make the scene you can still keep in touch and lap up some of that tasty eye-candy. Since indoor shows are a big part of our gearhead tradition, I figured it might be fun to dig through my own archives and share a few views I’ve snapped in the past. You cool with that?
1979: The Toppers of Fargo, North Dakota were still holding their annual show in the downtown Fargo Civic Arena. My local clubsters, Darold S. and his ’34 Ford sedan along with Bob and Betty Z. and their ’34 Olds sedan, were part of the shine on the show floor.
As an aside, I’m reasonably sure both ’34’s are still around. The Ford sedan went to a new owner in Iowa and was spotted since at MSRA’s Back to the 50’s. Darold bought it as a rolling project car needing completion. It may have been a former Amblers’ car. We were told the beautifully finished chassis work was done by Chuck Dupaul in the Twin Cities. The chassis and underside components were liberally pinstriped and “Nice 34” was hand lettered on the center section of the rearend housing in a style that sure looked like Dave Bell’s work? The last time I saw it, the car still displayed its naugahyde spare tire cover with “Nice 34” sewn in. I have a number of photos of the car and would be happy to toss some of them up here if requested. Meanwhile, the big Olds was part of a trade and wound up in northern Minnesota. The car’s stately stance came from an early 1970’s MoPar torsion bar front suspension graft. Power was supplied by a 318 Mopar/Torqueflite engine and trans combo. And as was often done at the time, “Bob the Builder” also adapted the MoPar gauge cluster to the original ’34 Olds dash. I think I saw a photo of the car, now wearing a different color scheme, somewhere in a past MSRA “Linechaser” although I can’t find the issue now. If you know the whereabouts of either of these cars, let me know. We spent many miles sharing the highways with them and it would be neat to know the current caretakers.
Next up: takes from the 25th anniversary Gopher State Timing Association Rod & Custom Spectacular. It was 1981 and the show’s silver anniversary was indeed a worthy celebration. As I recall, the Greg Fleury-built yellow, chopped ’50 Chevy pickup took “Best of Show” honors that year, a title it totally deserved. So yeah, I’ve been there, done that, got the T-shirt – that’s the GSTA Rod & Custom Show 25th Anniversary T-shirt. It might be a little snug, but it still fits.
Don’t worry, I have more indoor show photos. I’ll see if I can dig up a few for a future session. In the meantime, until we can see the asphalt ahead of our hood ornaments again, stay cool and dig the drive!
Terry's Garage 