Grand National Roadster Show 2024 - A sort of road trip

[HoTWire]

Well it is a month late, however I'm going to get this thread on the go as there is too much goodness to leave it any longer.

I've written an article for Diskustom Magazine so that will be in Issue 5 I believe, I'm not sharing any of the photos from that feature here, also this is a different kind of thing.

If you don't know about the Grand National Roadster Show then let me explain why I flew halfway around the world for it. Started in 1950, and once known as the Oakland Roadster Show, GNRS (as it will be referred to from now on) is one of the top hot rod and custom shows in the world. Sitting alongside Detroit Autorama at the pinnacle of the hot rod world. You can read more about it on actual Wikipedia: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_National_Roadster_Show

Its centerpiece is Americas Most Beautiful Roadster, which we will come on to in a future part of this thread, for now let us get travelling.


I've been wanting to go to GNRS for a long time, I've often put up the results and galleries I've found on the forum over the years. Over the past few years I've been increasingly drawn to mild customs, sleds and bomb lowriders. My desire to actually go and experience these cars first hand in their natural habitat was increasingly pressing as I realise time only moves in one direction.

My absolutely awesome wife asked me if there were any car shows in California in the first quarter of the year that I fancied going to as we both fancied trying a bit of a holiday whilst the UK was at it bleakest. We also wanted to go to the desert, so a trip to Mojave or Joshua Tree seemed like a good idea. Combine that with a car show and we've got the makings of something great. Naturally GNRS was top of my agenda. Tickets were booked, hotels arranged and a vague itinerary formed.

So one horrible Thursday morning at the end of January we were at Terminal 5 and heading towards our plane. A few hours later...



We ubered from the airport to our hotel in Santa Monica, plan was to overnight in Santa Monica on Thursday night, pick up the rental on Friday morning and then head to the show for opening time (12-ish), back to Santa Monica for Friday evening/night, then show for Saturday, then off to Palm Springs for architecture, deserts and good times.

We've stayed at our hotel before, which makes dealing with the joys of jetlag easier because you're not learning a new place whilst also trying desperately to stay awake at 6pm. Anyway if you are in the area this is a lovely spot: www.channelroadinn.com/

We were up crazy early and headed to the beach whilst we waited for breakfast to be made ready


As it turns out, our host (who used to dance in the Royal Ballet) is married to a chap who owns a workshop for classic supercars. When we were talking she said that we must come back for Pebble Beach, so I guess that is another future trip.

We head into Santa Monica proper and pick up our hire car. I opted for the "Extraordinary" option from Sixt, I've had all the modern muscles cars as hire cars before and I rather fancied something a bit luxurious to waft around the desert in. Obviously this is a bit of a lottery as to what is available. We ended up with a new BMW 5 series, which is not an attractive car, but is a very very comfortable one.



Car collected, we headed to the Fairplex in Pomona for what we came for. Driving in LA is absolutely hellish. It was pretty much freeway from where we started to the Fairplex, however I took the wrong exit on the freeway a few times, not that it mattered as it seemed to take you on to roads that ran parallel to the road you were just on for about five miles before putting you back on the road you were just on. It wasn't until we were half way to the desert on the Saturday that I realised the thing to tell you what lane you were supposed to be in wasn't on the sat nav screen, but was being beamed on to a head up display that I hadn't even noticed was there! Modern technology.

We didn't end up in the proper car park either, we ended up in the Sheraton Hotel car park next door, which is on the opposite side of the show to the proper car park, but is also $2 cheaper to park in. A bit like events at the NEC it seems the Fairplex will nickel and dime you out of as much cash as possible. I think when I go back (spoiler alert, I had a good time), I'll try and stay at the Sheraton. One advantage of being at the Sheraton entrance is we had a loo we could use before queuing up, which made the thirty minute wait for it to open easier to take.

We stood in line and at 10am the gates opened and in we went, among the first ten members of the public into the show. The joy of jetlag.

In true cliff hanger style I will leave there. Come back tomorrow for more... in the meantime a teaser

[akku]

I had planned to go this year, could have seen you there... Unfortunately family situation got in the way of that. Next year maybe.

[HoTWire]

Okay let's start with a bit of housekeeping. I missed a couple of things from the previous post.

When we arrived at LAX we found that all the Ubers were taking ages to become available (busy airport), however if you selected Uber Exec there was a car available pretty much straight away, and it was £20 more expensive. If someone had said "give me £20 and you can get in a car right now and head to your hotel" I 100% would have given them that money. Which is effectively what we did.

Which resulted in us travelling from the airport to our hotel in a GMC Yukon. It was ridiculous from the outside. Weirdly not loads of room inside. A very strange vehicle. Big boot though.

Which also reminded me that our trip to pick up the hire car was conducted in a Tesla, the driver was completely silent throughout, except for the moment he saw a Cybertruck and yelled "CYBERTRUCK" out of nowhere. Apparently the first time he had seen one. Whilst I'm not a fan, it is kind of nice that there are vehicles out there that people get genuinely excited to see.


Right where were we?

Here I think


So the first car we got to actually have a look at was the one in the distance, up close it looks like this


One of the advantages of being early to an event is the lack of crowds at that time. Even better if you can start in the wrong place. A trick we also used at Volksworld this weekend by going downstairs first, whilst everyone was checking the cars out upstairs.

Seeing as we were already at the "wrong" entrance, we headed a couple of halls down the row, rather than follow the (small) crowd up to the main hall. Which meant the first hall we went in to was chocked full of lowriders and custom Lincoln Zephyrs. Like this one:


That is Ray Dunham's car : fuelcurve.com/1939-lincoln-zephyr/

The fun thing being at events with my wife is that she will spot things I wouldn't, the first of these was the window shape on these Zephyrs, I don't know if they are a common custom/aftermarket thing or if they are standard, but they are a very cool little detail


Part of the reason I chose GNRS as a show to go to is my love of Lowriders, knowing that GNRS covers all bases I knew I'd get to indulge that whilst also enjoying hot rod and custom action. To have it be in the first hall really set the tone.















The quality is absolutely exceptional, as you'd expect.





This hall also played home to a number of other custom cars as well





There was also this recently restored (by Canepa Customs) Barris Kustoms built 1940 Ford custom, which originally appeared at the National Roadster Show in 1953. Which was a great connection back to the history of the event (and hell of a build).





And on the slice of history I'll leave it for today... tomorrow some Pro Street era heroes and the exact opposite, in the same post.

[HoTWire]

Mar 19, 2024 13:45:00 GMT akku said:

I had planned to go this year, could have seen you there... Unfortunately family situation got in the way of that. Next year maybe.

Ah sorry to hear about family stuff. Would have been a surprise to bump in to you, but a good one.

[stealthstylz]

I love the restored period kustom stuff. Most of the styling is fairly awful compared to (what people would do to them) now, but the whole "it's a custom car so any modification is better than standard" thing is a ethos that has carried on to present day.

[ironmighty07]

Won't lie, quite jealous and a trip to the USA to take in a big show or swap meet is on my list. Am quite drawn to those 30s/40s based customs, but also the salt flat racer look.

[redratbike]

look forward to reading the rest of the trip

was due to go back to Cali last August but the threat of redundancy killed it.

had plans for the peterson museum and a show then into Palm springs and san diego 🙁

always remember the reports on this show in the mags and would love to attend

you mentioned crowds at the volksworld show ? i went Saturday and it was not busy at all , was there from 10:30 till 4 ish , i think the M25 closure was to blame

[HoTWire]

Mar 20, 2024 6:56:21 GMT redratbike said:

you mentioned crowds at the volksworld show ? i went Saturday and it was not busy at all , was there from 10:30 till 4 ish , i think the M25 closure was to blame

Will get to that in the thread when I do it

[HoTWire]

Pro Street. Or Legends of Pro Street was the big theme for their themed hall this year. Previously they've done Lowriders and lowrider culture, they did a VW hall last year and I think it is now set that they have a new theme each year for this particular hall. Unlike Lowriders and VWs I've got not particular history with Pro Street cars, and whilst I imagine some people would have been stoked to see some of these cars, I mainly took them at face value. Pretty cool street legal drag machines.










I did particularly enjoy those that gave a bit of context, with their old features and awards being displayed









This was a particularly nice one for me, I believe it is a more modern build 'in the style of'. Had a brief conversation with the owner online, it is built to be driven and does get used a bunch





Another modern build that had made the hall, I suspect due to Pro Streets influence on Pro Touring? (I dunno if thats a thing, but it seems like it might make sense)



The Ruffian Mustang looked all kinds of good.


Now at the other end of the spectrum, but only fifty yards away in a different hall is the Suede Palace. A show within a show really. All trad rods and customs, a hall that wouldn't exist if it wasn't for the Low Flyers club in the UK, but that is a whole different thread.









The ideal place for you to pick up a very cool jacket as it happens. Sadly I'm not committed enough to the style to make it make sense.





One of the highlights in here for us was a race nosed 27 Ford, as it happens this was built by Nostalgia Ranch. A hot rod shop out of San Diego run by Jay Dean, a Brit now living the Californian dream. Who is also brother of Simon Emery, of Paintbox fame. Clearly building awesome stuff runs in the family.





Bedlam Car Club were also present with a couple of suitable rides







There were a few trad rods scattered around the hall outside too. Which means I'm going to post this car as a nice transition to the next post (probably tomorrow), which will be outside and trade stalls on the Friday.

[blackpopracing]

Oooh nice trip!

I would have been in heaven in the Pro Street hall.

[akku]

The Dobbertin Nova is one of those cars which spoke to me as a kid. Astounding. So much more frustrated I didn't get to go this year now!

[atomman]

The GNRS looks dam awsome! always tend to watch the walk arounds on YouTube every year & would love to go one of these days,


I don't know if its coz I'm getting older but I've been having a real hankering for a proper old skool HotRod this past couple of years,(doesn't help living near Pendine) maybe it's the fact I used to dream about them in mag's & film's when I was kid and realizing how much time we really have on this planet,

Hopefully I can make it happen in the near future

[HoTWire]

Mar 20, 2024 20:09:23 GMT blackpopracing said:

Oooh nice trip!

I would have been in heaven in the Pro Street hall.

Mar 20, 2024 22:03:12 GMT akku said:

The Dobbertin Nova is one of those cars which spoke to me as a kid. Astounding. So much more frustrated I didn't get to go this year now!

I did think that there were people on this very forum that would have loved to have been in that hall. It was super busy every time we went in (thus the paucity of photos). It was a great display, I suspect there were people that would have gone in to the VW display the other year and not had any connection to those cars, but enjoyed it the same way I enjoyed the Pro Street stuff.

I notice as they do these special halls they seem to fold in more stuff in to the other halls the following year. I think the lowrider volume has gone up. So maybe some of these will be making an appearance again.


atomman I think it may be a zeigesity thing (but could be age haha), I've definitely got a hankering for this stuff. A fully fendered mild chopped 32 coupe, or Tudor would be it for me, think this, but with a roof (for the coupe option):

[atomman]

Mar 21, 2024 11:14:36 GMT HoTWire said:

atomman I think it may be a zeigesity thing (but could be age haha), I've definitely got a hankering for this stuff. A fully fendered mild chopped 32 coupe, or Tudor would be it for me, think this, but with a roof (for the coupe option):

That '34 did stand out to me,

I'm always torn between Coupe and Roadster, but living in Wales, probably better to have a proper roof, So I could use it more



this or a 5 window would do me I reckon,

[zeberdee]

Thanks for sharing this .

It’s something that isn’t really my thing , until reading through & looking at your pics , then it seems it is kinda my thing .

Always good to broaden your interest’s & this has definitely done that for me .

👍

[HoTWire]

Mar 21, 2024 12:27:41 GMT atomman said:

I'm always torn between Coupe and Roadster, but living in Wales, probably better to have a proper roof, So I could use it more

As you can imagine we'll be coming on to some tasty roadsters later on

Mar 21, 2024 12:27:41 GMT atomman said:

this or a 5 window would do me I reckon,

Yeah that is very sweet, UK car, but can't remember the owners name.

[HoTWire]

Mar 21, 2024 13:23:44 GMT zeberdee said:

It’s something that isn’t really my thing , until reading through & looking at your pics , then it seems it is kinda my thing .

Always good to broaden your interest’s & this has definitely done that for me

There is more coming up too, whilst everything we've gone through so far has been great, we've not even got to the "good" stuff yet, both in terms of what the show highlights and my personal favourites

Only problem with broadening interest is the increasing list of cars you'd like to own.

[ratchart]

Is Pro/Street the next thing on the revival list then? I mean it's never really gone away but the early ones are my favourites when it was all about getting as close as possible to a road legal version of a Pro/Stock drag car. When they morphed into the 90's street rod look I was less interested. The Pontiac J2000 is pure show car and probably never set a tyre on a drag strip but I do have a soft spot for it as I built the Revell Kit, though mine was painted metallic blue if I remember rightly.

[HoTWire]

House keeping: I should have linked some of the cars from the Pro Street thing to help spread some knowledge, if anyone wants to pick any out and add some links in reply that would be great, I'm going to share this little article about the J2000 and what it did to the scene : www.motortrend.com/features/pro-streets-most-famous-car/

In the words of the late George Michael, let's go outside.

In between the display halls of GNRS the grounds are littered with line ups of fantastic cars. These are part of the dubiously named "Grand Daddy Drive In", which is the sort of public turn up and play aspect to the show. It was much busier on the Saturday than it was on the Friday, so you'll have wait a bit to see what goodness that bought in. Right now though Friday is our focus and even now the areas are chocked full of goodness.











So Cal Speed Shop had a stall inside selling merch and things, outside was this little line up:







There were a few more unusual custom cars floating around too, not least of which is this Roller. Which is owned by a hot rodding legend, but I can't remember who, maybe John D'Agostino, maybe Rick Dore? Anyway it is super cool to see, as we've talk here before about these things as a base for customising.



Even more unusual was this, which I'm going to put more pictures up of in a later post, but you can enjoy (or not) right now





How about a bit of that 80's/90's flavour of Street Rod



Or maybe something a bit more traditional



A lovely sled lurking



I've been on a bit of a custom kick recently, that intersection between bomb lowriders and custom cars to be more precise, and I was super happy to get to see a few up close. Actually changed what is at the top of my list for this style of cars if I ever get the chance to build one.







In my head I file these under Deadend Magazine cars, as it seems to be their sweet spot for features. I was super excited to see their trade stand.



If you've ever seen a link that says "photos taken moments before disaster", that photo belongs in that link. Seconds after this photo I went to buy a tshirt, and that's when I found I'd lost my wallet. We then retraced our steps through the show from the last time I had it and just couldn't find it anywhere. My wallet lives in California now. At least it wasn't my phone (my previous phone ended up living in the back of a taxi in Tokyo).

Whilst outside lets do a whistle stop of a couple of the cars on the trade stands

If ever I was to get involved in stocking detailing supplies in the RR store, I think I'd try and get a Griots Garage distribution. The owner has one of the best modified cars in the whole world (the Iso Rivolta from SEMA 2019) and then they had this proper cool van on their stand at GNRS


Us Vs Them have a very cool pickup, that paint is super good


I'm not sure who these were with to be honest, some modern rodding styling though


Swill Co Speed Shop had this pair of beauties





Which got me wondering if that white pinstripe round the panel would work on my Porsche 996, and if I'm bold enough or foolish enough to do it. Someone better than me at photoshop could maybe give it a go and report back

Let's leave todays entry with this inside the hall, which is where we'll venture for tomorrows post (and some actual roadsters)



Just a reminder that 2024 is the year of the minitruck.

[braaap]

Perhaps Your wallet got pickpocket'ed?

Thanks for sharing Your trip btw.