Sunday, July 12, 2015

2015 Southeastern All-Chevy Truck Nationals in White House

Chevy trucks. You gotta’ love ‘em. And there was a lot of love to go around on Saturday when 125 shiny Silverados, shimmering C-10s, beautiful Blazers, and awesome Apaches packed the Municipal Park in White House, Tenn., for the Southeastern All-Chevy Truck Nationals. There was a Chevy truck for every taste and style (I even found three Fords in the adjoining parking lot), plus a robust Chevy truck parts swap meet. I took the old HMC ’63 C-10 out there and snapped a bunch of pictures. Of course, the one thing the pictures don’t show you is how hot it was. I’m no meteorologist, but I would estimate that it was 125 degrees out there with 275% humidity. And even under those conditions, the show staff ran things off smoothly, and everyone still seemed to have a good time.

This guy could have made a killing if he had actually sold ice cream out of this thing. It’s a 1953 Chevrolet Good Humor ice cream truck, and it was restored as nice as I’ve ever seen. There was a tag that said it was built by www.iccreamtrucks.com, which appears to actually construct modern, in-service ice cream trucks. They sure did a nice job here, though. Every detail of this little truck brought you back to the ‘50s. The graphics, the striped canopy, and even the jump seats looked spot-on. All the trim tags were there, and it ran on period-correct biased-ply rubber. This may be a novelty truck, but it exudes high quality in every way.

’67 to ’72s Are really popular at this show, so it was tough to choose a favorite. This Fire Red ’71 C-10 Custom Deluxe long bed was easy to like, though. The paint was so shiny that you would assume that it was restored, but I’m not really sure it had been. I think maybe it was mostly original, and just polished up really well. If it had been painted, it was quite a while ago. This one had factory air conditioning and power steering, so it was darned near a modern truck. The storage compartment built into the right side of the box was a cool touch.

Lots of people were focused on this ’68 C-10 CST. Finished in a smooth coat of Ermine White paint, it seemed pretty plain at first glance. But this was no bargain-basement work truck. It had a 327 V8, factory air conditioning, and bucket seats. That short bed body style is what all the kids are going for these days. Sometimes you don’t need all that chrome and fancy leather and big, shiny wheels to stand out from the crowd. In the case of this truck, a little understatement drew you in, but the details kept you looking.

Of course, sometimes a little razzle-dazzle gets you the hardware. This Light Green ’68 C-10 shorty won the coveted “Best of Show” award, along with “Best ’67-’72.” As you can imagine, the truck is nice all over. But it’s the interior that really stands out here. The bucket seats, complete with center Buddy Bucket, are finished in light brown leather with darker brown suede inserts. Even the area behind the seats is finished and detailed to perfection. With the heat radiating out of there, it smelled like the inside of a saddle store. Everything just looks rich and expensive here.

This ’75 K5 Blazer was a real eye-catcher. You didn’t really see that many of these when they were ten years old, because they usually rusted into dust. But here’s a beautifully restored example in 2015, and there’s not a hint of iron worm anywhere. Rosedale Red and white make up the color combination here. Even the white painted wagon wheels are correct on this one, and since you rarely see them anymore, they look better than ever. Blazers of this era were rough-riding, bad-handling beasts on the road. But they weren’t built to be boulevard cruisers. These were built to run off road in treacherous conditions. They named them “Blazer” because they could blaze trails. They had a purpose, and they served that purpose well.

The mini-truck category isn’t one that I normally get too excited about, but the class winner in this show was definitely worth a second look. This is a sharp-looking 2004 Colorado regular cab from a distance, and it gets even better up close. Basically, they took everything good out of a late-model Corvette ZR1, and bashed it together with a Colorado. It’s got the wheels. It’s got the seats. There’s even a six-speed transmission under the hump. I saw the truck earlier in the day with the hood closed, and just assumed it was mostly an appearance package. But the hood was up later, and sure enough, there was a 638-hp supercharged LS9 V8 in there. I’ve never seen so much love lavished on a Colorado. I think it was the neatest one I’ve ever seen.

Finally, let’s focus on this Regal Red ’66 C-10 long bed. I can only wish my truck was this nice. This truck is basically original, including what appears to be the factory paint and bed wood. It’s a Custom Cab, so it features extra chrome and that fancy, 1966-only steering wheel. The seat had been recovered at some point along the way, but overall it looks just like it did all those years ago. It even has two little Unity spotlights, and you know how I love spotlights. The big back window is also a desirable feature. I’d love to take this rig home and polish the shine out of that pretty red paint.

There were 125 trucks at the 2015 Southeastern All-Chevy Truck Nationals, and I somehow managed to take 450 pictures. You can see them in the slideshow below, or click this link for a nicer version.

9 comments:

  1. Craig, thanks for the great pictures! This was our first show to have entered a truck, and even though we didn't win anything (well I did win a door prize) it was great just being there.

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    1. Cool, man. Thanks for checking out the pictures!

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  2. Total awesomeness, Craig! Love these articles and pics! I especially liked the craftsmanship of the trophies!
    Jim Gross

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    1. Thanks! I agree--these might be the best car show trophies I've ever seen.

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  3. Thanks for the pics of the show. We wanted to go but couldn't. Saw an old friend in the pics....the blue 71 lwb with the flame detail on the emblems and the yellow plug wires. Brought our "old blue" down with us when we moved from Michigan but sold it a couple years later. Here he is.....with some different wheels though.

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  4. Glad to see you are still attending and taking great photos at Car and Truck Shows. I wasn't sure you'd have the time to do so with your new job and 4 hour commute. Did you do the scale model of the Hover Motor Company Truck? If so, you did a great job. Roger G, Grotewold Motor Co. Larchood, Iowa

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  5. Thanks for the article and all the great pictures. You captured a lot of details I over looked while trying to make it around to all 125 trucks.

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