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

One of the events that I knew I was really going to miss when I moved from Kansas City to Nashville was the Midwest All-Truck Nationals. As an old truck owner, I always enjoyed the all-truck format, and the people that own old trucks tend to be fun to hang out with. My fears were put to rest this weekend when I drove my old heap to White House, Tenn., for the Southeastern Truck Nationals. This all-General Motors event had a lot of what I liked about the KC show, and I got to see a bunch of new (to me) trucks at a very nice city park. The skies were a little overcast, but that didn’t keep 85 trucks from making the show.

The Devil is in the Details. Photos that do not stink

If you have ever tried to slog through one of my slideshows, you are well aware that I am not much of a photographer.  Oh, I take a lot of pictures, but plenty of them are blurry, crooked, or downright irritating.  I’ve gotten better over the years, but I’m no Ansel Adams.  Still, I have discovered that if I take enough pictures, one out of every 5,000 might accidentally be tolerable.  That’s where we get to today’s story.  Sometimes when I’m looking through my pictures, I might see one that makes me think, “hey, that’s kinda cool.”  Usually it involves me squatting down or focusing in on something without shaking the camera all over the place.  With that in mind, I created a photo album that consists only of pictures that I think are interesting. 

Advertise on Hover Motor Company

You know I try to reserve these posts for car show coverage, car event calendars, museum visits, auto reviews, and automotive history.  But today, I’m going to do a little business.  Don’t be scared away, though.  I swear I won’t make it a habit.  I just don’t have a car show story lined up for today, so it seemed like a good time to bring this up.

1960 to 1966 Chevrolet and GMC truck mega photo slideshow

As someone who attends a lot of car shows, and also as the owner of an ugly old ’63 Chevy C-10, I tend to notice trucks like mine when I’m out and about. This generation of trucks was around from 1960-1966, and they sold a bunch of them.

I think they kind of went off the radar for awhile. I know I used to think they were pretty ugly old trucks, and not many people seemed to be focusing on them as restoration candidates.

2012 Midwest All-Truck Nationals is the place where truck owners come together

If you own a Camaro, Corvette, Mustang, Thunderbird, or Chevelle, there is a big, model-specific car show in Kansas City just for you. Now, I don’t own a Camaro, Corvette, Mustang, Thunderbird, or Chevelle. I have an old truck. Not even a pretty old truck. So the chances of me hitting a show that I would fit in at are few-and-far between.

Several trucks and a few cars at the Sonic Cruise in Bonner Springs

I decided to visit a car cruise that I’ve never been to before, so we loaded up the truck and headed to Bonner Springs and the Sonic cruise hosted by the Genuine Chevy-GMC Truck Club of Kansas City.

It was hot and sunny out there late Saturday afternoon, and the boiling temperatures probably kept some of the cars away. It was a fairly light crowd. But those who were there seemed to be enjoying the music, snacking on mozzarella bites, and savoring cool confections from Sonic’s ice cream menu.

The 12th Annual Midwest All Truck Nationals brought trucks and truck fans from all over America to the Riverside Red-X

They say that one of the dangers of owning a pickup truck is that all your family and friends will ask you to use it to haul things for them. If that's the case, Riverside was the location of the most popular people in town, because the 12th Annual Midwest All-Truck Nationals was wall-to-wall trucks.

For the past few years, this event was held at the E.H. Young Riverfront Park, but that location is still suffering from the ill effects of too much water and not enough riverbed. So the festivities were moved to the grassy lot out behind the eclectic Red-X general store. I haven't been to this exact location since the old Riverside Stadium dirt track resided on this spot.

Bob Bond, pinstriper extraordinaire, continues to add his artistic touch to cars all over Kansas City while passing his skills on to others

One of the reasons the old car hobby is so interesting is that it takes such skilled people to make it all work. Mechanics that are patient enough not to throw their tools through the garage wall, body men that are skilled enough to massage metal panels and lay smooth paint, even shade tree engineers who can design everything from brackets to headlight buckets, all deserve way more respect than they usually receive.

One of my favorite side skills in the automotive world belongs to the graphic artist. When you see flourishing pinstripes, faded flames, and hand-painted signage on an old vehicle, it doesn’t take long to determine how skilled that artist was. And if you are paying attention to what’s out there in the Kansas City area, you realize that some of the best stuff flows from the steady hand of Pinstripers Hall of Fame member Bob Bond.

The history of our 1963 Chevy truck, the history of your 1963 Chevy truck, and some 1963 Chevy truck pictures

I’ve mentioned in this column before about our old truck “Mater”. It’s a ’63 Chevrolet C-10 Short Bed Fleetside, and we have a great time tooling around in the old beater, taking it to car cruises, hauling junk to the dump, and dreaming about how nice it could be if we won the lottery.

Whenever I stop to get gas or have the old truck out and about, I usually run into somebody who had one like it, or knew someone that had one like it, or had a family member that had one like it. Lots of people have stories about this style of truck.