Report from Louisville

It’s easy to see why people love street rods. They just look so cool. And they sound so cool. If you like street rods, you would undoubtedly love Louisville the first week of August when more than 11,000 street rods converge on the Louisville Convention Center for the NSRA Street Rod Nationals. The parking lots of every hotel in the area were full of cars from days gone by. And everywhere you went these very stylish cars were rumbling by, this way and that, wherever you seemed to go and good vibes everywhere.

The essence of the NSRA is people who love old cars and love to ride them. These are street rodders, which means they want to take their cars on the road and enjoy them by driving around in them. These are not museum pieces. They are bona fide cars that just happen to be very old.

To qualify as a street rod a car must be Pre-1949. Why the cutoff at 1948? According to Jim Rowlett, NSRA Marketing Director, 1948 was the last year of running boards and bolt on bumpers. Interesting.

The event is more than just a place to strut your stuff. It includes educational seminars for builders and enthusiasts, entertainment for the family, professional competitions, a swap meet (flea market for old car parts from lights to bodies, engines to hood ornaments), and more.

The NSRA is a true D-I-Y market, and perfectly suited for AMSOIL motor oils, drivetrain fluids and filters. Here are a few of my favorite images captured in Louisville this week.

Trivia Note: 2007 is the 75th anniversary of Henry Ford’s ’32 Deuce, an instant hit when intro-deuced along with the first mass produced V8 engine known as the flathead.