Thursday, January 1, 2015

The top five most popular stories on Hover Motor Company for 2014

This has been one of the craziest years I’ve ever had. When 2014 rolled in, I had no idea that my life was going to change so drastically. We were humming along, hitting the usual Kansas City-area car shows and events in my old truck, when suddenly, General Motors offered me a job. And just like that, our house was sold, and the Hover family was off to Nashville. So the top-five stories of 2014 represent a little of the old and a little of the new. Let’s look back at the most popular stories on Hover Motor Company as calculated by Google Analytics.  By the way, if you click on the story title, it will take you to the story.

1. The National Corvette Museum. More than just a sinkhole.  

This was not only the biggest story of the year, but it’s the most viewed story I’ve ever had on this blog. The giant sinkhole that swallowed eight significant Corvettes captivated the nation, and people were starving for more information. I had to go to Bowling Green, Ky., and see it for myself. They are already restoring some of the cars and filling in the sinkhole, so there was really only a short period of time to see all of this history firsthand. And while the squashed Corvettes were fascinating, I was still more interested in the intact portion of the National Corvette Museum’s historic collection. Sinkhole or not, this is the mecca for Corvette enthusiasts.

2. 54th-Annual Kansas City World of Wheels. The cars were clean in 2014.  

Who knew that after almost 30 years in Kansas City, this might be my last World of Wheels? I’ve always looked forward to this event, because it’s usually the first time you see all the old cars come out after a long winter. I even entered the Hover Motor Company ’63 Chevy pickup in this one, which is pretty unusual for me. As is the norm for this event, there were some awesome hot rods, customs, muscle cars, and classics within the walls of Bartle Hall. I even saw Richard Petty and Gene Winfield. I will miss this show when February rolls around in 2015, and I really do mean “miss” it.

3. 9th-Annual Goodguys Nashville Nationals brought 2,000 cars to the Tennessee Titan Stadium.  

I was happy to see that there are some large-scale car shows in the Nashville area too. Kansas City didn’t even have a Goodguys show in 2014, so the Nashville Nationals was like a breath of fresh air. This is the one everybody talks about around here, and for good reason. We’re talking about 2,000 cars, parked in every nook and cranny of the expansive LP Field. This was shortly after I moved to Nashville, even before my family made the transition. But even by myself, I spent an entire day and took almost 1,000 pictures. You can bet that as long as I live here, I’m not going to miss this show.

4. 2014 Southeastern Truck Nationals proves that nice trucks are all over America.  

This was the first show that I entered the old HMC truck in after I moved to Nashville. This is truck country, and there were a bunch of nice ones at this all-General Motors event in White House, Tenn. I loved the mix of untouched originals and all-out customs. Plus, the trophies that were crafted out of mechanical car bits were some of the best I’ve ever seen. My truck even took one home for “Best Shop Truck,” which was a very pleasant, but very unexpected surprise. I really liked this show, and hope it continues to grow in the future.

5. 2014 Chevrolet SS test drive review. Not what it first appears to be.  

These automotive test drives always prove to be popular, and this one made it to the top-five stories of the year. The new Chevy SS looks like a Cruze, but it performs like a Camaro SS. The more I think about this car, the more I want one, so I’m not surprised that HMC readers were taken with it too. No, this is not an Impala. It is a rear-wheel-drive performance sedan that out-BMWs BMW for half-again less money. They aren’t going to build many of these cars, so I actually feel honored that someone let me drive one for a week. You mark my words—the Chevrolet SS will be a blue chip collectable someday. I’ll take mine in red, thank you.

And there you have it—the top five most viewed stories on Hover Motor Company for 2014. I hope you enjoyed looking back on this exciting year, and I look forward to bringing you more stories in 2015, and for many years to come. And as always, thank you for visiting this place, I really appreciate all your loyalty and support.

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