2004 Grand National Roadster Show - The Best Never Rest

There's a lot more to the Grand National Roadster Show than street rods.

By Johnny Hunkins

Every year, a bunch of rich guys and their six-figure street rods get together for a little car show to sort out the pecking order on who owns America's Most Beautiful Roadster. That's the story most people associate with the Grand National Roadster Show, and if you want more details on that part of the GNRS, there are plenty of belly-button magazines and websites which will recount all the dreary details in snooze-o-vision, but that's not what we're here to do.

We're here to tell you there's another side to the Grand National Roadster Show--one that contains neither Grand Nationals (we don't know why, we think turbo Buicks totally rock) nor roadsters. Over the event's 55-year history (which used to be known as the Oakland Roadster Show) the GNRS has developed the solid reputation as being among the street rod hobby's most elite shows. For starters, all the cars are shown in doors--not on grass (that comes as a relief for both participants and spectators). And don't plan on just showing up with your ride and paying an entry fee for your car; there's a selection process that starts with an application, and--if you're lucky--ends with a highly-coveted invitation. Fortunately, the event's promoters have had the foresight to open up the GNRS to cars outside the traditional street rod milieu, and that puts the GNRS on PHR's radar screen in a big way. Simply put, you wouldn't believe the variety of cool cars at the GNRS.

This past January 23 - 25, we rolled into the beautiful Pomona Fairplex in Pomona, California, to check out the GNRS. If you haven't figured it out yet, there are no "dogs" at the GNRS--they're all top-shelf cars. We were tripping over ourselves to see all the cool stuff, from restored drag racers and musclecars to pro streeters and g-machines. Three huge exhibit buildings were filled with the west coast's hottest cars and we were hard-pressed to find favorites, in fact, there were way too many for us to photograph. If you thought the GNRS was only about '32 Fords and the America's Most Beautiful Roadster competition (AMBR for those in the know), you owe it to yourself to check it out yourself next year.

If you want more info on the Grand National Roadster Show or other west-coast events put on by its promoters, you can check out their website at www.hotrodshows.com. If your car has what it takes, you'll want to enter this prestigious event, and if you're into seeing a wide variety of great machines, we think you'll be pleasantly surprised as a spectator.