(Words and photos by Doug Gregory) – What were you doing in August of 1986…? I was 18 and one year out of High School trying to figure out what to do with my life. The one thread that has always been there is my attraction to all kinds of cars and trucks so its no surprise that I could be found at the Oklahoma State Fairgrounds during that hot, dry summer. The 17th annual NSRA Street Rod Nationals were right down I-35 from my hometown and I had to go snap pictures. Now my camera equipment has improved over the years, but almost without fail if I was at a car/truck related event I had a camera with me. Today I have a collection of pictures numbering in the many thousands and negatives that are more than double that.
Sorry, I don’t have self-taken photos of great stuff in the sixties or seventies because I was still pretty young and Hot Wheels were (and still are part of) my automotive world. As I comb through these and attempt to reassemble collections from specific events I am scanning them and hope to showcase them here for others to enjoy. This batch of photos were taken with a Kodak Disc camera (most of you won’t know what that is). The reason you will see different images of the same thing is that I learned early on with this camera that just slightly changing the angle of the lens could completely alter the exposure because the lens refracted light so badly if I didn’t take more than one picture I’d likely only half the cars would turn out.
Three things stand out to me in this gallery.
One – three colors are the core of the street rod community back then: red, yellow, and black. Nearly everything is a shade of these three.
Two- wire wheels were super-popular and could be found on virtually anything.
Three- there are some styles applied to the canvas of a street rod that are completely timeless.
The combination of the right wheels, correct rake, fitting the tires just right, etc all make for a car that is as awesome today as it was in the 1980s. What you don’t see in these are cars with 22” wheels tucked up in the fenders or many cars that literally never see the road beyond into and out of the trailer. You also don’t see any ‘cars in the rough’ as that trend really hadn’t hit yet. In 1986 I couldn’t believe how many cars there were, yet I am pretty sure I walked past nearly every one. The last couple of years we’ve spent three days at the Nationals in Louisville and I bet we don’t pass by more than a third of the cars in attendance. Its just not possible by mere mortals. Enjoy this collection and I’ll continue putting more old pictures together for all to see.
Very cool to see some of the timeless hot rods in that gallery. Some of them are obviously dated, but some of the cars would still be popular today. Also enjoyed seeing a shot of my friend/mentor Gerry Burger’s Chevy sedan delivery (the one with Rodder’s Digest on it). That thing went all over the country when Gerry had Rodder’s Digest magazine, and he still travels to many events as a contributor for Street Rodder.
Awesome. I had subscriptions to about 5 or 6 magazines back then and Rodder’s Digest was one of them. Sadly I sold my magazine collection in 1994 due to a military move (those things weigh a lot), but have several titles from that point to today. I was in a car club populated with mostly 40-somethings when I was 17. Keep an eye out for more stuff from this era including some Starbird shows and several rod runs.
Love that 32 Chevy 3 window,you must of too,you took three pictures of it. Hope my 3 window Chevy comes out as nice when I get it finished.
I have a thing for the chebbies big louver hood.
Thank you for sharing your great collection of photos. You can see the Restoral Rods tapering off and the Monochrome and fat fender trends gaining traction. All this before Boyds/billet, pastels, and splash graphics of the next trend.
Great Pics – really like the ’34-5 Chevy panel with the mural on the sides – kind of a cross over piece with the van thing