– 75th Anniversary event filled with the best of the best show cars
– The Mopar® contingent well represented
– HEMI® engines everywhere from vintage rods to modern era
The Pomona Fairplex in Southern California is home to the massive GNRS (Grand National Roadster Show) and when attending, yes, there’s loads and loads of “roadsters” as there should be! And for Mopar people, there’s always an ample amount of them with Chrysler HEMI powerplants installed, not only because of the horsepower they provide, but also as a result of the HEMI’s impressive visual appeal, the huge rocker covers and uniform location of the individual exhaust header primary pipes being two important design features!
This year’s GNRS was the 75th annual, making it an extra-special event to attend as there was a huge selection of show vehicles indoors (a sell-out), and as a bonus, walking around the seven huge exhibit halls showcased live music and periodic nitro HEMI dragster fire-ups. Yes, the GNRS is a big deal, “The Granddaddy of them all” is an accurate description.
Walking through the Pomona Fairplex and absorbing all the automotive excitement, it’s clearly apparent that the event promoter, John Buck, and his talented team did a fantastic job in generating tons of high-quality vehicles and gathering large amounts of exhibit booths, everywhere you looked there was cool car stuff to see. Add in the 50 legends that were at the Hall of Fame signing and the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity at this 75th gathering to get autographs of numerous hot rod builders and industry leaders.
Here’s a selection of Mopar vehicles that participated:
HISTORIC 75TH ANNUAL EVENT
“75 Years” in gold leaf was what this show was all about, celebrating the 1950-2025 years of the “Roadster Show” going all the way back to the first one that took place at the Oakland Exposition Building where it all started.
HEMI = IMPRESSIVE HOT ROD PRESENTATION
Since the earliest days of hot rodding, builders have chosen the Chrysler HEMI engine as their preferred choice for power… a Gen I example show here.
354 SUPERCHARGED HEMI ENGINE POWER
Found in South Africa and shipped to the USA some years back, this 1939 Willys coupe now powered by a 1956 Chrysler 354 HEMI, supercharged with a Gary Dyer 6/71 and backed by a 727 TorqueFlite®. Owned by Hot Head Lou Stands.
MOON EQUIPMENT
Custom fuel tanks and Gen 1 HEMI valve covers were part of the massive display Moon Equipment had, and their owner Shige Suganuma flew in from Japan to be a part of the gathering. Moon sponsors the Jim Dunn Racing Dodge Charger with special “Mooneyes” full body markings.
FAMILY CAR 426 MAX WEDGE SUPER STOCK DODGE
A very special Dodge Polara Hardtop was “special ordered” from California Dodge dealer Atlantic Dodge (East Los Angeles) with the Ramcharger 426 engine and with rare 3-speed manual transmission, and was upgraded with a Howards Cam and 4.56 rear gearing. The gorgeous Mopar car is still in the family and was a popular display car at the show!
Black with red interior and fitted with period “mags” and cheater slicks, this is a extremely well-preserved Max Wedge car and with factory trunk-mounted battery, it’s a rolling time-capsule of a car that cruised the streets, tachometer and gauges added, as well as a Hurst shifter.
A PAIR OF (CRATE) HEMI DODGES
All the while with a very subtle appearance, this 1970 Dodge Dart Swinger has a certain look of innocence, however when seeing the twin hood scoops and the bumblebee rear stripe, well that’s an indication there’s more to see! A 392 HEMI crate engine is what we found under the hood, and front K-member now of tubular steel, coil-over suspension, rack-and-pinion steering, plus jumbo Brembos front and rear. With a lowered stance, and combined with the 22-inch 10-spoke Budniks wrapped with low-profile Nitto rubber, a whole new personality was given to the “70 Dart” and it was a popular site outside the exhibit halls!
A fresh build that debuted at this event, this 1968 Dodge Charger is out of the South City Rod & Custom Shop (Hayward, CA) and one of the “best of the best” seen at the event, everything is immaculately detailed, big HEMI crate engine, modified Roadster Shop chassis, one-off EVOD wheels, loads and loads of unique features (one-off custom dash, pistol grip shifter and tucked-in bumpers are just a few examples). And to keep the design theme true to the original 1968 production Charger, the front and rear round side-marker lights were retained. Truly fabulous!
SERIOUS PRO STREET CHARGER R/T
Recently completed, Drifters Garage created this flawless 1970 Charger R/T, done in Pro Street fashion and the result of a 10-year build! Extreme detail everywhere, clean and well-sorted front to rear.
An 8-71 Mert Littlefield supercharger sits atop the 528-cid “Gen II” HEMI engine and just a glance at “Magnum Force” reveals this is a 100-percent pure pro build. Sweet!
PLYMOUTH MUSCLE
Spectacular Direct Connection “Hellephant” powers this 1971 ’Cuda built by Salvaggio Design. Big HEMI backed by Tremec 6060 6-speed gearbox, custom-design E-body full frame and cage, Detroit Speed suspension and free-flowing Magnaflow 3-inch exhaust. HRE custom wheels and carbon Shaker. Named “Barbarric,” 1,000+ horsepower. One wild fish!
1969 1/2 “A12” Plymouth Road Runner, 440+6 package car and now equipped with polished old school Cenrterline “Auto/Drag” two-piece forged aluminum wheels … right out of the 1970s scene! Factory lift-off fiberglass scooped-hood a telltale feature of these special versions of the Road Runner.
1972 Road Runner with 440 engine, painted bumpers and a unique application of the Plymouth ’Cuda “hockey stick” matt-black stripes. Clean!
Rolling on 17-inch polished Americans, this Ruby Red ’68 Fastback Barracuda now features an SRT® Crate HEMI engine (392-cid) and running a 904 automatic, narrowed 8.75-inch rear axle (3.55:1 gears) and QA1 adjustable shocks. 22 miles per gallon with 625 horsepower!
Talented automotive artist Keith Kaucher (Santa Monica, CA) showed off one of his artistic creations, a “sport wagon” themed ’70 ’Cuda done up, complete with an AAR hood. His renderings come to life for his customers’ 1:1 cars!
RETRO DODGE VANS
Walking the various exhibit halls found a couple of early 1970s Dodge Vans, one a 4WD conversion originally done up by TerraVan back in the day, and with custom airbrush work, and inside custom touches like swivel seats, CB radio, radical sound system and, of course, the obligatory “shag” carpeting.
And the other a lowered 2WD set up to haul a motorcycle inside, sidepipes and wide wheels, dog dish caps. There’s been a resurgence in finding, fixing up vintage Dodge vans!
WIDE RANGE OF MOPAR VEHICLES
Both inside and outside, everywhere one looked there was a wide variety of Chrysler-built vehicles, including a radical 1957 Dodge pickup with body mods galore, including a top-chop, plus total one-off custom bed.
A ’66 Dodge Coronet 500, a ’63 Dart, ’65 Imperial Crown Coupe, plus an in-process custom 1960 chop-top Chrysler Windsor sporting a ’60 Dodge front clip, bound for a future SEMA Show.
A FACTORY HEMI 1970 CHALLENGER R/T
Outfitted with classic aluminum “slots” for retro wheels and a set of air shocks just like “back in the day” street action, this local girl had to check out the authentic “R-engine code” 1970 Dodge Challenger R/T that came up from San Diego to participate in the “Grand Daddy Drive-In” portion of the show. Everybody digs the E-body Dodges!
SRT HELLCAT REDEYE JOINED IN THE FUN
With 797 horsepower and 707 lb-ft of torque from its 6.2L supercharged HEMI engine, there were no questions asked when this White Knuckle White Widebody Challenger rolled in; yes, a legitimate factory hot rod … 0-60 in 3.4 seconds, 1320 in 11.6-seconds at 128 mph. All that plus a nice growl!
HERB MCCANDLESS MAKES THE SCENE
Yes, it’s a “hot rod” event and a long ways away from North Carolina, however there’s so much to see and so many industry people that attend. Mopar hero Herb McCandless walked the show and visited exhibitors and talked a lot of Mopar with old friends along the way!
GEORGE BARRIS FIREBALL 500 CUSTOM ’66 BARRACUDA
It was shown as a tribute to its creator, George Barris, the actual Fireball 500 movie car that started as a 1966 Plymouth Barracuda, 273-cid V8 power, and still includes the trailer hitch that pulled the #43 Petty Plymouth racecar. Movie buffs remember the car and the movie, especially those that followed Annette Funicello, Frankie Avalon and Fabian.
Author: James Maxwell
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