Weekend Rewind! Goodguys 27th Summer Get-Together
Are you ready for summer? Goodguys sure is, and we helped West Coast car enthusiasts kick off our favorite season for cruising fun this weekend during the 27th Summer Get-Together at the Alameda County Fairgrounds in Pleasanton, California. It’s been three long years since we last held this summertime event that welcomes all years of American-made and American-powered cars and trucks and we were more than ready to have some laid-back good times with our NorCal friends and fans.
The weather was a little cooler than usual for early June, which made for an even more relaxed vibe as a fantastic selection of cars and trucks rolled through the gates and spread out throughout the picturesque facility. Variety is definitely the foundation for these Get-Togethers, and we definitely had it over the weekend, with everything from early hot rods, to ’50s and ’60s cruisers, vintage trucks, plus late-model muscle and customs.
We had a couple of special indoor displays that brought some truly distinctive flavor to the event, starting with the expansive Mopar Madness display. We had Hemis and big blocks galore, not to mention a fantastic lineup of wing cars, not to mention a rainbow of those bright colors like Sublime Green and Vitamin-C Orange!
Speaking of brilliant hues, you could find an entirely different variety over in the DUB Hall, which showcased wildly modified late-model machines with intricate custom paint, massive custom wheels, and mods like Lambo-style doors and concert-quality audio systems. If you needed proof that late-model customizing is alive and well, this is it!
The Summer Get-Together has historically attracted many muscle cars, making it a natural location for selecting finalists for Snap-on Muscle Car of the Year and Griot’s Garage Muscle Machine of the Year. Those slots went to Troy Bergeron’s ’69 Daytona for Muscle Car of the Year and Greg Thurmond’s ’65 Corvette for Muscle Machine of the Year. The media team, meanwhile, had classic trucks on the mind and chose Bryan Battaglino’s ’69 K5 Blazer Blazer for the Goodguys Feature Pick.
We can always count on a strong contingent of Goodguys CPP Autocross racers from NorCal and beyond at this event, and these drivers didn’t disappoint as they raced hard right up to Sunday afternoon’s Muscle Car Shootout presented by Speedtech Performance. Longtime Goodguys competitors came away with class and shootout wins, in fact all class winners ended up with double up victories over the weekend as they each claimed their respective shootout race victories as well. Those winners were Mike Maier in the Speedtech PRO-X class driving a ’72 Corvette, Brian Hobaugh in the Summit Racing PRO class in his ’65 Vette, Ken Yeo in the Forgeline Street Machine Class also behind the wheel of a ’65 Corvette, David Carroll in the LMC Truck class in his turbocharged ’74 Blazer, Scott Fraser in the Gearstar Sports Car class in his ’89 C5 Corvette, and Jason Trantham in the Tremec All American class in his brand new 2021 C8 Corvette. Jason Benson claimed the FiTech Challenger class win in his ’72 Monte Carlo.
The balance of the weekend weekend was filled with a wide variety of other activities to help enthusiasts cruise into summer, including a model and pedal car display, a fantastic Swap Meet and Cars 4 Sale Corral, multiple Nitro Thunderfest exhibitions, and an extensive roster of vendors selling great parts and showcasing their services. Simply put, it was the perfect way for West Coast car fans to get geared up, shined up, and revved up for summer. Let the warm-weather cruising season begin!
Photos by Steven Bunker & Terry Lysak
