Weekend Rewind! 31st Autumn Get-Together
West Coast car enthusiasts enjoyed some late season cruisin’ fun this weekend as the Goodguys 31st Autumn Get-Together rolled into the Alameda County Fairgrounds in Pleasanton, California. Two days of cool mornings, sunny afternoons, fall colors, good friends, and fine rides made for a picture-perfect weekend to cap off the California car show season for 2021.
This long-running autumn event has always had a laid-back vibe, one that was enhanced this year with beautiful weather luring out thousands of cool cars and trucks and a full house of enthusiasts looking to enjoy some Goodguys Good Times before the hustle of the holiday season begins. Given the proximity to Veterans Day, it was also an opportunity to salute past and present members of our nation’s military, which we did on Saturday with our traditional invocation and ’Vettes for Vets parade through the facility. You could feel the patriotism throughout the fairgrounds!
This year’s Autumn Get-Together also welcomed the 2021 Snap-on Custom of the Year competition, originally scheduled for the cancelled All American Get-Together earlier in the year. It’s always amazing to see the creativity and style this contest brings out, ranging from traditional chopped taildraggers to more contemporary custom-crafted creations. The Top Five included David Ceccanti’s ’47 Buick, Bob Dron’s ’48 Chevy, Don & Brenda Waters’ ’66 Cadillac, Mitch Gustafson’s ’51 Merc, and Bradley Ranweiler’s ’63 Impala wagon. During the Sunday afternoon awards ceremony, the radical ’63 Impala two-door wagon built by the Ranweiler family was revealed as the winner.
The Goodguys team also looked ahead to next season and selected finalists for two 2022 Meguiar’s Top 12 Awards. Mark Sanfort’s bitchin’ ’65 C10 grabbed the LMC Truck of the Year Late finalist spot, while Sal Seeno’s hot home-built ’53 Chevy took home the Scott’s Hotrods Truck of the Year Early finalist award. Our media team picked some winners, too – Mike Lopez’s ’31 Model A coupe for the Goodguys Feature Pick, and Edgar Arceneaux’s ’71 Nova for the Fuel Curve Pick.
West Coast racers were happy to hit a Goodguys CPP AutoCross track for the second time in a little more than two months and made the most of the two-day competition, which culminated with Sunday’s Fall Shootout presented by Kicker. There were some usual suspects among the winning names, including Mike Maier winning the PRO-X class and shootout in a ’72 Corvette, Brian Hobaugh doubling up with PRO class wins in his ’65 Corvette, Ken Yeo topping the large Forgeline Street Machine class in his ’65 Corvette with Mark Scroggs claiming the Street Machine Shootout victory driving David Carroll’s ’73 Vega, and Curt Hill sweeping the LMC Truck class and Truck/Challenger shootout in his ’72 Blazer (which is all Corvette underneath). Jason Benson topped the FiTech Challenger class in his ’72 Monte Carlo for the class win.
Like all Goodguys events, the Autumn Get-Together packs a lot of activity into a short amount of time. Highlights of the weekend included a fun vintage camper display, three buildings of indoor car show vehicles, a wide variety of vendors, the Cruiser-Rama bike display, multiple Nitro Thunderfest exhibitions, live music, kids activities, a Burnout Competition, and a spectacular swap meet and Cars 4 Sale Corral. It was a lot to take in over just two days!
As the days get shorter and cooler in the fall, we learn to make the most of the warm, sunny days we’re fortunate to get. The Autumn Get-Together provided a great opportunity for gearheads to do just that with a full dose of car-centric activity over the course of two beautiful days. We can’t think of a better way to wrap up the Bay Area cruising season, and we look forward to celebrating the end of the 2021 National event season in even more spectacular fashion next weekend in Scottsdale at the 24th Speedway Motors Southwest Nationals presented by Barrett-Jackson!
Photos by Damon Lee & Steven Bunker
