Twice a year, the Wilson County Fairgrounds becomes the site of one of the most unusual car events in town. The Redneck Rumble combines elements of a car show, swap meet, motorcycle racing, camping, and a big, crazy party. Usually it seems to rain, making everything that much grittier. But this time, sunny skies and mild temperatures ruled the day. I’ve never seen so many people lined up to buy tickets for this. There were a ton of vendors, there were a ton of cars, and there were a ton of motorized vehicles, scooters, bikes, and ATVs recklessly bombing through every conceivable road and path. This is not your normal parking lot cruise-in. It’s a manic spectacle that crackles with life from every direction.
It would be hard write about this show and not mention this vehicle here. It’s registered as an 1892 Horseless Carriage, but it looks like something George Barris would have come up with and converted to a model kit. The driver and passengers sit in the carriage in the back. The front “car” just houses the engine and transmission. Of course, something like this requires a lot of “horse power,” so a 392-c.i. Hemi is there to do the job. For added craziness, an old horse out of a carousel sits on top of the engine with velocity stacks poking out of its back. As something you’d actually want to drive, it probably leaves something to be desired. But that’s not the point. As a pure show car, it is impossible to pass this creation by.
’55 Cadillac Sedan DeVilles didn’t used to be something that got a lot of love from customizers. But times are changing, and four-door cars are starting to gain a pretty strong following. Cadillac actually offered a color called Wedgewood Green that looked just like this from the factory. This one was enhanced by some very elaborate paint designs on the roof, as well as gold leaf-infused pinstriping around the emblems and hood ornament. Of course it sits low to the ground, and the interior was reupholstered in white. I wouldn’t expect much from a modified ’56 Cadillac sedan, but I have to say, this one was an exception. They managed to do some fun stuff to it without getting too radical, and it really does work here.
I don’t know much about this chopped ’50 Mercury Kustom, but I suspect that it’s more well-known than I’m going to give it credit for here. It has to be, because it is too well-built and has too much impact to be flying under the radar. I really liked this candy magenta-and-white flames combination. It absolutely popped under the florescent lights of the Expo Building. Naturally, it had all the stuff you would want in a car like this, including Frenched-in ’59 Cadillac taillights, Frenched-in dual antennas, hundreds of louvers punched into the hood, thee-cap Lakes Pipes, bubble skirts, dummy spots, white pleated interior with white carpet and contrasting magenta piping, and the signatures of George Barris and Gene Winfield across the dashboard. You could study this for a long time and keep finding more interesting details. This was a good one.
This ’27 Model T Ford roadster has a very authentic, late-1950s hot rod look to it. Bright, bass-boat sparkly blue paint is surrounding a chrome-drenched, supercharged Chevy 409. Driver and guest nestle into a white and gold pleated interior, and functions are monitored on vintage Stewart-Warner gauges. Wide whitewall cheater slicks put the power to the pavement. The 1960s inspection stickers in the windshield are also a nice touch. This car is appealing to be because it looks like it might have appeared in a 60-year-old copy of Rod & Custom. I don’t know if it was actually built a long time ago or not, but if you told me it was, I’d believe you. Gotta love that genuine vintage style.
We battled the traffic at this year’s Fall Redneck Rumble to knock out 624 pictures. You can see the entire album by clicking this link.
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