Goodguys Third Annual Orange County Showcase - Socal Showdown

Jim Parsoni's parents nagged him to get rid of this car since the day he got it in 1976. It was still a fairly new car at the time, and in high school it was pretty cool. It even landed him his high-school sweetheart. As he racked up the miles and time passed, the condition went from decent to fair.....

......His parent's persistent nagging didn't lead him to selling it, but led him to restoring it. Three years ago, Jim got a 360-inch crate motor and fresh 727 automatic transmission to replace the million-mile original powertrain. He left the suspension stock, but reconditioned and dressed it up with 18- and 19-inch Budnik wheels.

Trans-AM Mustang
At first glance, we knew this '65 Mustang Fastback was cool, but we didn't know how cool it was until we got a little closer. The engine bay looks busy, but everything has a purpose. This 427 with Weber induction cranks out an easy-to-use 527 hp through a T-56 six-speed manual transmission......

......It has coilovers and Wilwood brakes front and rear, but that's still not what made it so cool. Everywhere you turn, there is a clever detail. There was a spare tire mounted on the same spindle-mount wheel as the rest of the car, visible through the backglass, that made it look like a race car you could take on the road. The whole car had a neat Trans-Am vibe.

'68 Hurst Hemi Dart
This is a true muscle car. Every inch of it screams factory racing at its prime. This '68 Dart is powered by a 426 Hemi, decorated with original goodies.....

.....The hood is much better suited up against the wall than hiding this ultra-clean engine bay. Owner, Gary Perkins of Lake Forest, California, had the Super Stock look down....

.....with the bias-ply skinnys up front, and big meaty slicks out back. We caught Gary just as he was putting some car-care items away in his truck, and noticed the Mopar Performance battery.

Brett Habegger from Garden Grove, California, is bringing the '70s back with his gold '79 Trans Am. His grandfather stumbled across this car headed for the junk yard, and offered twice what the owner could have gotten from the scrapper, totaling $100. Like any good grandpa would, he gave Brett a heads-up. At the time, Brett didn't know much about the Camaro's sister car, but he was about to! He stuck with original-looking colors and decals and gives 15-inch wheels a good home. He scored a 33.41 lap time, which is pretty good considering he is on 15-inch wheels with street tires.

Bob Saltarelli of Huntington Beach, California, originally purchased this '69 Chevelle as a placeholder for his other project that was stuck at the paint shop. He couldn't stand not going to the shows with a ride of his own, so he bought this car, threw some Budnik wheels on, and headed to the shows. It was his daily driver, but slowly progressed into his primary show car with the addition of a built 468 big-block Chevy, Hotchkis suspension, and 13-inch Baer brakes. He's been at every Costa Mesa Goodguy's show since the show debuted in 2007.

They don't just sell car parts here, but yummy junk food and other car show necessities like these comfy chairs. Here I am testing the comfort and mechanical integrity of the portable seating assembly.

Michelle Conrtreras poses with this Nova belonging to Don Swanson of Thousand Oaks, California.

Over 40,000 people attended the Goodguy's show this weekend, and all of them had the opportunity to stand front row and watch the cars kill the cones in the Street Challenge.

Jim Campisano, or "Campy" as we know him, took home Second Place for Super Chevy magazine, with DSE's '70 Camaro. His barely sub-30-second run of 29.978 was all it took.

Robert McGaffin handed the photography duties over to me, for the chance to participate in the Editors' Challenge, and drive Air Ride's '66 Chevelle. On the last run of the competition, I took the wheel of the Chevelle, learned how to drive an automatic, and made it to the finish with an alarmingly slow run of 35.804. Better luck next time!

The proud owner of the Bad Penny Camaro, Steven Rupp, got lots of practice in, and accomplished the lowest lap time in the Editors' Challenge, with a best e.t. of 29.694 seconds.

Robert and Rashell Tye of Corona, California, were by far the most excited to see us with our camera and clipboard in hand. Robert built the entire car himself, minus the body and paintwork, which he handed over to Airhead Kustoms in Corona. This '68 Camaro has a 420-inch small-block Chevy, TH350 transmission with a 2,800 rpm stall, 9-inch Ford rear end suspended by heavy-duty original parts and polyurethane bushings. Robert's wife, Rashell, especially likes the interior whose design came to her in a dream. They both drive the car quite a bit, but not as much as the retired gentleman they bought it from, who used it as a daily driver.

PHR Editor, Johnny Hunkins, didn't get to walk the entire show this time because he had his own thing going at the Air Ride booth. As a public demonstration, the guys at Air Ride installed their no-fab TigerCage in his '76 Camaro. Stay tuned, and we'll show you the step-by-step cage install story, and some video of the entire process.

We spotted this super-cool family transporter and had to snap a photo. If your kids aren't hooked on cars already, they would be after this event.