Thursday, September 6, 2018

Great day for the 37th-Annual 2018 Bowen Campbell Car Show in Goodlettsville

For 37 years, automotive enthusiasts from all over the Music City have gathered in Goodlettsville for the big Bowen Campbell Auto Expo at Moss-Wright Park. This year was no different, as a huge group of quality rides was on-hand for a surprisingly pleasant, overcast day. This one is put together by the Sumner County Vintage Vehicle Club, which is sanctioned by the AACA. As usual, these AACA shows attract some of the nicest old cars and trucks around. I don’t really enter my own cars in many of these shows, but this one was close enough to home that I actually entered both the ’63 Chevy C-10 and my ’93 Corvette. My son hung out with me, I talked to people about cars, and overall it was just a good day in the park.

If this ’41 Ford looks familiar to you, it might be because there’s one similar to it parked second front he right at my Grandad’s used car lot at the top of this blog. I suspect that this Super Deluxe Tudor at the show is in better condition than the one Grandad had. This was a pretty modern car back in the day. Ford eliminated the running boards in 1941, and you could still get an 85-hp, 221-c.i. flathead V8 while Chevy was sticking with the Stovebolt six. Every detail of this particular car was dead-on. The upholstery was right. The tires were right. The finish was beautiful, but not too beautiful. It was probably as nice a one of these as I’ve ever seen. You see so many of these turned into street rods that it’s very refreshing to see one like this.

What can you say about a 1957 Chevy Bel Air Sport Coupe that hasn’t already been said? But then one like this shows up and you can’t not talk about it. Sure, there are other ones out there with Onyx Black paint, India Ivory roofs, and red interiors. There are fewer of them with factory fuel injection. And there are fewer yet that are this unbelievably nice. I used to think all of these came with silver painted wheels, but as I understand it, some of the early cars had the wheels painted body color. So based on that logic, assuming this one was restored exactly like it came from the factory, it should be an earlier-production model. This was a very well-presented, well-equipped car.

You know the owner of this ’62 Impala coupe saved his pennies and saved his dimes, because it was a real life four-speed, dual-quad, posi-traction 409. It was looking real fine with its Ermine White paint contrasting with that Roman Red interior. Back in the day, this steel wheel and little hubcap look made you think “sleeper,” because all the cheap six-cylinder cars looked just like this. But now there aren’t many cheap old six-cylinder cars left, so this look just means business. Nothing can catch her, and nothing can touch her.

This was a good looking little ’66 Chevelle SS two-door hardtop. Aztec Bronze is a sharp color for one of these, and this one looks extra sporty with the optional full wheel covers that look like they’re straight off a Hot Wheels car. It even has redlines! But this car is not all looks, because under those chrome-trimmed hood vents you’ll find a 325-hp, 396-c.i. big block. They even usede the words “Turbo-Jet” on the air cleaner. Lord have mercy on those scrawny little bias-ply tires. This one has an aftermarket hang-on air conditioner, so you can feel as cool driving it as you look.

I’ve always been a Buick fan, and this one stands out in particular. This is a ’70 Buick GS 455 Stage 1 finished in a refreshing combination of Aqua Mist with a white interior. Don’t let the tropical color scheme fool you, though. This car is a beast. Stock, this would have produced 360-hp and a stump-pulling 510 pound-feet of torque. I’m not sure if this car was stock or not. It looked like it under the hood, but those wide drag radials wrapped around the rear steelies would indicate that the owner is using this car competitively. This is quite a car however you want to look at it.

Long before Chevrolet used the Citation name on their front-wheel-drive hatchback, it was used to designate the top-of-the-line Edsel. This ’58 Edsel Citation four-door hardtop would have been a pretty expensive car when it was new, but it provided a lot of space-aged fun for the money. The Citation was based off of the Mercury platform, so it was bigger than a Ford. A spinning drum speedometer and push-button transmission gear selectors in the middle of the steering wheel (Ford called it Teletouch) entertained the driver. The front bench seat had a 60/40 split so the driver could establish his turf over his two front seat passengers. This was a large car, so it had a large engine—410-cubes and 345-hp. This car had been painted along the way, but I wouldn’t call it restored. It’s more like something that’s been used and maintained for 60 years.

There were quite a few cars worth writing about at the 37th-Annual Bowen Campbell Car Show, but from here on, I’ll let the pictures do the talking. You can check out 524 pictures by following this link to the album.

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