Chiefs can't stop Moody's Hotrodtoberfest

Sunday was a tough day to have a car show.  Most of the difficulty stemmed from the big Chiefs’ game in which they were trying to be 6-and-0, they were trying to break a record for the biggest private flyover formation, and they were trying to break the loudest stadium record for the Guinness Book of World Records.  They accomplished all of that, by the way, but you can see why most people would be interested.  Still, Moody’s Hot Rods held their annual Hotrodtoberfest gathering, and they got a surprisingly decent turnout.  Sure, there were a few TVs and radios tuned to the game, but everyone seemed perfectly content enjoying live music from The Mighty Wax band and watching the traffic go by on North Oak.

Among the neat stuff out there was this vintage dirt track sprint car, which was originally built in 1966 by Wes Farrand of Raytown, Mo.  It was restored in 2007 by Layne Automotive.  The Laynes have successfully campaigned modifieds at dirt tracks in the area for years, but rarely have they looked as pretty as this car.  This thing was so nice, it’s hard to imagine that it ever participated in the cut-throat, wheel-to-wheel action that took place back in the day.  From that jet black paint, to all the chrome, to the gold-leaf lettering, this was certainly more of a show piece than a piece of racing equipment.

Here’s a ’61 Rambler Classic Cross Country station wagon that could be yours for $5,500.  It looked like a pretty original old car, not pristine, but still very presentable.  Under the hood was what appeared to be the original 195.6-c.i., 127-hp inline six.  I think Nissan copied this roofline with the curved side windows and flat rear window when they designed the current Armada.  Rambler did it so they could use the same curved back glass that was in the sedan.  I’m not sure why Nissan did it.  Anyway, this was a pretty fun little car to look at.

This ’54 Chevy two-door sedan was pretty pleasing to the eye.  Of course, all of these came from the factory with a Stovebolt under the hood, but this one had been upgraded to a small-block V8, finned valve covers and all.  Inside, there was a nice, two-tone green pleated pattern that was a similar design to the Bel Air scheme.  There was also a hang-on air conditioner in there, and some modern gauges.  The fake drive-in tray was a nice touch, although with the window rolled up that much it would be hard to actually eat from it if you were sitting in the car.

This is a fairly unusual car.  It’s one of only 3,811 Chrysler 300s built in 1979.  This was a one-year-only deal, so you hardly ever see them.  The ’79 300 was an option package on the Cordoba, so you could get your fix of rich Corinthian leather right here.  These had a 360-c.i. V8, good for 195-hp.  This is one of those cars that 15-20 years ago, I probably would have said was the ugliest thing ever made.  But the passage of time, combined with the rarity this model, has actually made it more appealing. 

Here comes 164 pictures from the 2013 Moody’s Hotrodtoberfest.  Check them out in the slideshow below, or click this link for a nicer version.