The Goodguys Get-together is a fantastic melding of car show, autocross, swap meet and lots of family-friendly, car-loving fun. This year's Get-together was held in absolutely beautiful and sunny California weather.
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Goodguys 25th Autumn Get-Together
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Goodguys 25th Autumn Get-Together
November 8 & 9, 2014 Pleasanton Fairgrounds, Pleasanton CA
AHPS staff
The last Get-Together of 2014 couldn’t have had better weather. The sky was crystal blue, the temp in the high 70’s and bright sunshine made for a fantastic two days. Goodguys' Get-Togethers are truly events for the entire family to roam the spacious Fairgrounds and take in a slice of what the automobile hobby is all about. First, you have more than 2,000 cars, trucks, street rods, gassers, altereds (even a twin engine dragster !), customs, low riders (they had a special exhibit) and more 57 Chevys than GM made (ha-ha ). Top that off with the Goodguys autocross where you watch hot rods, muscle cars, trucks, Vetts, and pony cars all compete on a timed road course. This is a great time to see if fast cars can also handle—and they do !!
As always at a Goodguys meet, there are special exhibits and events. This Get-together was no different. For lovers of big trucks—and I mean BIG—there was an exhibit of Peterbuilts and other long-haul trucks from the '40s, '50s, and today. To see a black & chrome “conventional” Peterbuilt up close is a wild sight. To see a hall full of them is breath taking.
This was the Veterans' Day weekend, and Goodguys honored those who served, and are serving, in the nation’s military with a special “Vettes for Vets” display and parade on Saturday and Sunday. At least 50 Corvettes from 1954 to the present were exhibited and paraded for our nation’s veterans. Special displays of military equipment and vehicles and a color guard to start each parade added to the Veterans Day observation.
But there is much, much more at a Goodguys' Get-together. A huge swap meet presents unique opportunities to “snag” some good deals. I personally scored a set of tail light assemblies for my Ranchero. Vendor exhibits and booths from major manufacturers as well as T-shirts, hats, sunglasses, car care product vendors, and scores of specialty builders made this a “shopper’s paradise” for us car lovers.
To make sure you didn’t go hungry (fat chance) food vendors had everything from breakfast burritos to garlic fries, corn dogs, kabobs, and (my favorite) garlic sausage pizza. I needed to walk the fairgrounds after that slice. Water, soft drinks, coffee and wine & beer was also available from selected booths.
How about all those cars!! Just a sample of the “eye candy”, how about a '65 Buick Riviera with 6 deuces; a '67 Fairlane running an injected 427 side oiler, a real '62 409 “bubble top,” or (my favorite) a '35 Ford that epitomizes the word “flames”—for more show photos click here.
But best of all, at the Get-together you have the chance to meet and “talk cars” with some great folks who share your passion and love of cars. I was parked next to a great guy with a '39 Chevy coupe, and we had a great two days. I brought my 1967 442 and was found by many a 442 lover for some “Dr. Oldsmobile” tales. So bottom line, if you want to go to a fantastic car show/swap meet/autocross/fun day, make sure you visit the Goodguys web site and commit next year’s schedule to memory.
How about a twin-engined dragster to start your day ?
An entire exhibit hall filled with big rigs -- WOW !
Vettes for Vets was a wonderful tribute to our veterans.