Once you parked in the mall parking lot and started making your way towards the Opryland Hotel, you didn’t even need the signs to tell you where to go. All you had to do was follow the people who looked like they had been transplanted out of the 1940s, 1950s and even the early 1960s and you would find yourself enjoying the Nashville Boogie. This isn’t just a car show…in fact, the cars are only one part of the whole experience. There are art galleries, fashion shows, concerts and much, much more. But I didn’t have a ticket to see the Reverend Horton Heat, and anyone who has ever seen me in person knows my fashion sense is pretty much paired down to a black shirt and blue jeans, so to the cars we went.
I met up with Matthew McCain, the owner of the 1958 Edsel Pacer, who showed me around the floor. He admitted that the car count could have been better, but Goodguys Nashville is also going on right now and a good amount of people who had been lined up to show at the Boogie had backed out at the last minute. That didn’t detract from the cars that were present, not by a mile. The general rule of thumb for the Boogie is pre-1972, with pre-1960 encouraged. You will not see an LS swap here, period, and while present, “rat rods” aren’t exactly encouraged. What you will see are the “other cars”…sure, there was a 1955 Chevrolet, but it was parked next to an early 1950s Dodge, near a Mercury Meteor that looked like a factory racer. The two newest cars in the show were a 1971 Plymouth Road Runner that was just finished and a restored 1969 Dodge Charger 500. The idea isn’t so much to hot-rod the cars, but to get out, drive them, and enjoy them for what they are. Some cars are nearly stock, some cars aren’t. But they are enjoyed and represent the personality of the owner. If you like older iron, this was a show for you!
Click on a photo below to check out the cars of the Nashville Boogie!
Suddenly I like Edsels, and I’m not even a Ford guy…
Hey! I was there! I was looking thru my pictures from Saturday morning and found that I took the most of the Edsel and the 59 Chevy. Not a lot of cars, but some cool ones for sure. I also saw a few in the parking lot too that were cool.
As for the concerts- I will be back next year for sure. First time at a vintage weekend and won’t be my last!
Thanks for the great pics and article. This is the 2nd Boogie car show hosted and ran by the Tennessee Voodoo Kings Kustom Car Club. We are not trying to become a 2000 count car show, it is more of a Kulture show. We are already making plans and a few upgrades for Boogie 2017 please stay tuned. Hope to see you there again..