The 21st annual Southwest Nationals in Scottsdale, Arizona, marked the end of another full calendar season for the Goodguys Rod and Custom Association, with more than 3,000 street rods, racers and custom creations filling the famed WestWorld event center last weekend.
The Southwest Nationals are the culmination of the year’s show series, with 18 events held during 2018 and 19 scheduled for 2019, with a show in York, Pennsylvania, added for August.
This was the second stop of the year in Scottsdale for Goodguys, with the Spring Nationals taking place every March at WestWorld.
As always when the Goodguys are in town, WestWorld became a sea of spectators wending their way along row after row of spectacular custom builds during the three-day celebration of automotive artistry and ingenuity.
As the last show of the year, the Scottsdale gathering includes the special feature of showing off the Top 12, which are the winning vehicles of the year in each category. The final winner, Autocrosser of the Year, was determined in a high-performance shootout between the top scorers of Goodguys’ timed races around tight, twisting courses delineated by traffic cones.
The colorful array of 12 winners were lined up outside the gigantic WestWorld tent, which was filled with vendors focused on the custom-car community.
And the 2018 Top 10 winners are:
Street Rod of the Year
1929 Ford Model A owned by Mark and Dennis Mariani and built by Rad Rides by Troy of Manteno, Illinois
Street Machine of the Year
The 1969 Chevrolet Camaro owned by Stuart Adams and built by Detroit Speed & Engineering of Mooresville, North Carolina
Hot Rod of the Year
The 1931 Ford Model A owned by David Martin and built by Hot Rods and Hobbies of Signal Hill, California
Street Rod d’Elegance
The 1949 Ford owned by Debbie Walls and built by Goolsby Customs of Hueytown, Alabama
America’s Most Beautiful Street Rod
The 1936 Pontiac owned by Robert Anderson and built by Legens Hot Rods of Martin, Tennessee
Custom of the Year
The 1949 Cadillac owned by Bruce and Cheryl Conwell and built by Chris Carlson Hot Rods of Muvane, Kansas
Custom Rod of the Year (1936-72)
The 1957 Chevy owned by Greg Hrehovcsic and built by Johnny’s Auto Trim & Rod Shop of Alamosa, Colorado
Truck of the Year Early (through – 1966)
The 1934 Ford pickup owned by Danielle Lutz and built by Jason Graham Hot Rods of Portland, Tennessee
Truck of the Year Late (1967 through ’87)
The 1968 Chevrolet C10 owned by Alex Short and built by DeCol’s Speed Shop of Riverton, Utah
Muscle Machine of the Year (1960-87)
The 1968 Dodge Charger owned by Vic Buraglio and built by BBT Fabrications of Mahomet, Illinois
Muscle Car of the Year (1960-87)
1969 Pontiac GTO Judge owned by Brandie Broomhall and built by Classic Performance Restorations of Mesa, Arizona
Autocrosser of the Year
Scott Fraser driving the 1966 AC 427 Cobra roadster owned by Bruce Cambern, who is considered the last living original owner of a 427 Cobra, which he bought new
Goodguys shows resume March 8-10, 2019, with the Lone Star Nationals in Fort Worth, Texas. The following weekend, it’s back to Scottsdale again.
god bless you all -love you joann – could use a car-love you all so much
Wonderful article, Congratulations to all the Good-Guys Top Twelve Winners of 2018! Article correction – The 1969 GTO Judge Muscle Car of the Year was restored by Classic Performance in Calgary, Alberta, Canada and not Mesa Arizona. Good-Guys shows are the best!