Weekend Rewind! Goodguys 38th All American Get-Together
Goodguys brought a candy-coated dose of cool California custom flavor to the Bay Area this weekend by hosting the 38th All American Get-Together at the Alameda County Fairgrounds in Pleasanton. This is the granddaddy of Goodguys gatherings – the longest-running event on the calendar – and it renewed a springtime tradition of shaking off the cabin fever and kicking off the 2022 NorCal cruising season with a sea of vivid colors, glimmering chrome, good friends, and automotive action.
A key attraction to this storied event is the competition for the Fuel Curve Custom of the Year award, a long-running part of the elite Meguiar’s Top 12. From traditional tail-draggers to modern cutting-edge cruisers, this award attracts the best custom creations to California in a celebration of style and creativity. The Top Five was a showcase of some of GM’s finest, including Fred DeFalco’s ’54 Buick, Ken & Susan Fontes’ ’56 Chevy Pickup, David Biegler’s ’64 Riviera, Dan Duffy’s ’61 Impala, and Bill Ganahl’s ’65 Riviera. It was a spectacular lineup, but in the end, Dan Duffy’s incredible ’61 Impala, recently finished by Big Oak Garage, was deemed the Fuel Curve Custom of the Year. Watch for a full online feature on this standout custom on Monday.
The Custom of the Year honor was just one of dozens of awards handed out on Sunday, which sent many car and truck owners home with some cool hardware. Among the many winners was Sammi Frazier, who received the Goodguys Feature Pick for her cool ‘73 Datsun 240z. There’s a great story behind this young enthusiast’s ride, so be sure to check out the full feature in an upcoming Goodguys Gazette.
There was more custom coolness in the special indoor lowrider display hosted by Deadend Magazine, with many more customs and lowriders sprinkled through the grounds outside. We also had a Lowrider Hopping Contest, Pinstripers’ Brush Bash, and Cruiserama bicycle display to celebrate the low-and-slow custom culture.
Things were anything but slow on the Goodguys CPP AutoCross course, where dozens of racers put the hammer down during nonstop corner-carving action all weekend, leading up to the American AutoCross Shootout on Sunday afternoon. NorCal stalwart Mike Maier doubled up with the Speedtech Performance PRO-X class and shootout victories. Brian Hobaugh won the Summit Racing PRO class, but Rick Ray claimed the shootout victory, Bill Graves Sr. took home both wins in the Forgeline Street Machine Class, and David Carroll did the same in the LMC Truck class. Scott Fraser drove his ’89 Corvette to double Gearstar Sports Car class wins, Alexander Ayzman won the FiTech Challenger class, and Jason Trantham’s C8 Corvette took home double up Tremec All American Sunday class victories.
More automotive action could be found during Saturday’s Burnout Competition, as well as the multiple Nitro Thunderfest exhibitions during the weekend. And if you were looking for deals, there were many to be found in the huge Swap Meet and Cars 4 Sale Corral. A wide variety of other activities kept the weekend hoppin’, from a full array of vendor displays, to the Goodgals Gallery, Kids Zone, and multiple live music performances. And, of course, there was a steady stream of cool rides simply cruisin’ the grounds, checking out the thousands of other cool rides showing off.
It seems that springtime is in full bloom on the West Coast, at least when it comes to the colorful emergence of customs, hot rods, classics, and other cool cars and trucks. Based on the bounty we witnessed in Pleasanton, we’ve got high expectations for the 21st Meguiar’s Del Mar Nationals next weekend in SoCal – and for the rest of the upcoming season!
Photos by Steven Bunker, John Drummond & John Jackson
