Showstopper
January 22, 2025
THE AUTO BUILDER
Featured
Too Cool
When Billy Durant approached Louis Chevrolet about designing a new automobile, Chevrolet was a famous race car driver whose exploits in the Indianapolis 500 were legendary. The year was 1911 and Durant, who could see the writing on the wall for his horse-drawn buggy business, figured who better to design an all-new, high-performance vehicle than a successful driver. Chevrolet, a company that was founded by racers and has produced some of the best high-performance vehicles ever to hit the pavement, has once again gone where no other manufacturer has dared to venture. With truck sales making up nearly 50 percent of their sales volume each year, Chevy wanted to create a Flagship vehicle for their pickup line. It had to be a totally new idea in pickups. But what was to be the angle? Luckily, someone at Chevy figured that since the Corvette holds that title for the autos, maybe the new truck should be equally as high performance. With that, the new Chevrolet Silverado Coolside II was born.
MASH THE GAS (CA REFULLY)
Few vehicles have done more work or driven more rugged miles than the basic military Jeep. These vehicles covered the globe during World War II, and virtually every soldier since that time has ridden in the utilitarian Jeep. Thousands were built and many were destroyed, left behind or later scrapped, so today a World War II Jeep is something to treasure.
PHAT ’53
Join Jeff Schwierman in his quest for the prestigious F-100 Truck of the Year award as he breathes new life into a ’53 Ford F-100. From the ground-up build on a Fat Man Fabrications chassis to the powerful Ford Racing 351W engine, every detail of this custom pickup is crafted to perfection. Follow along as Schwierman and his team reshape the classic truck into a true showstopper, setting new standards for classic Ford truck enthusiasts.
Spotlighter
California Autofest
Tuners And Hot Rods Converge At California's Largest Racing Facility
Author
Sean Greene
Words & Photography
As an automotive enthusiast, you know that a huge part of our scene is showing the world your pride and joy, and car shows have traditionally been the best places to do so. They give you the opportunity to talk shop with people who share the same passion. Individuals with different makes of vehicles are drawn together by the same love affair, whether they are into Hondas, VWs or Nissans, so these are great networking places to learn and make things happen.
I got this call from JD, our publisher, who told me that I should head over to the California Speedway where the California AutoFest was about to go down. I had never heard of this event and had absolutely no idea what to expect in terms of attendance or caliber of vehicles. Hell, I didn’t even know how big the California Speedway was. Boy, was I in for a surprise.
The California Speedway is humongous and it took quite a while for me to drive around the perimeter before reaching the entrance. I also noticed something else out of the ordinary domestic vehicles. And I’m not talking about Neons, J-body cars or Ford Foci. I mean old-school hot rods. For a moment I thought there was a mistake or that I got lost, but then I noticed that there were imports mixed in the lineup.
Don’t get me wrong; I love old-school domestics with high-displacement engines, blowers and custom paint, but now I was even more curious about the show. How would the import dudes mix with the domestic cats? Apparently, they mixed rather well, but more on that later.
When I first joined the Buckaroo family, there was talk about a rig that had recently been purchased. It was being painted and gussied up to use as a mobile headquarters at various events across the country. I was anxious to see this thing and when I did, I was blown away by its commanding presence. It’s hard to miss the big red Buckaroo rig.
After meeting up with Neil Tjin, we took our initial tour of the show. For all intents and purposes, Tjin is The Man when it comes to the show aspect of things and I’m more the technical dude.
What’s your preference when it comes to cars? Tjin asked.
I told him that I love the old classic machines because the owners really know how to build true show vehicles. They pay attention to every detail and it shows in their finished products just take a look at the engine compartment of a well-executed classic show vehicle. The firewall is so clean that you could eat off it and there isn’t a speck of grease anywhere. Sure, there are trailer queens that never see the road; but if you compare apples to apples, you have to agree the domestic enthusiasts got it down. I pointed a few examples out to Tjin and he agreed.
The flipside was that more classics were sporting four-piston calipers, car audio and fuel injections. So there is some cross-pollination between both groups. That said, there were enthusiasts from both groups admiring each others rides and asking questions. This can only lead to great things down the road, especially in terms of growth as a community and what can be learned from one another.
American Products Company (APC) had its rig and freshly sponsored Team Orange, a group of Nissan S13 drift machines from Japan, on hand with Team Rotora to perform a drift demo for spectators. I always get a kick out of the reactions from newcomers when they watch drifting or import drag racing. The crowd was definitely thrilled by the drifters and wanted more.
There was always something going on at this event. The roar of pushrod engines could be heard during the day as stock car drivers sped around the track. After a while, a monster 4×4 school bus was giving rides to those willing to fork over a few bucks for the honor. Near the Rotora and Kicker display area was a rock climbing setup that you could scale and Loren Ho of Rotora was trying his best to imitate Sylvester Stallone in Cliffhanger. Elsewhere, pushrods and OHC engines competed on the dragstrip to satisfy the need for speed, while others satisfied the need to shed some rubber in the burn-out area in the infield.
The event spanned two days and spectators came out in droves both days to check out California’s best. The import presence was considerably smaller than the domestic turnout, but we know for a fact that it will increase next year, as major changes are in store and more tuners will know about the show.
The California AutoFest promoters did a spectacular job putting this event together. We’re certain there will be more emphasis on the imports next year. And we’ll be there too bigger and better than ever.
