A few weeks ago we jumped in our 1970 Super Bee and drove almost 500 miles round trip to the 53rd Street Rod Nationals in Louisville, KY. The event is four days long, with an autocross, swap meet, car show, and more.Unfortunately, there was a little bit of rain, but the event still had a car count of over 10,000 cars registered. The rain kept the temperatures in check and the autocross challenging (when it was wet).
Everything that you could want was at this car show. If you missed it this year, plan to attend next year.
We understand why they show spans across four days because it takes that long just to walk through the show field. Although the show is open to all makes and models, all of the cars had to be at least 30 years old to participate.
Walking through the sea of cars, you could find everything from all original factory cars, to probably the most unique custom cars we have ever seen. It filled the Kentucky Exposition Center parking lot and the inside of all the buildings.
Our main reason for heading to this event was to participate in the autocross. Like many of the autocrosses we attend, we were the only Mopar running laps. We think that with our QA1 suspension, we might have opened some eyes to how well the car handled the track.
It was neat to see a Mopar car corral on day three that was sponsored by Be Cool Radiators. Vendors of all sorts filled the Exposition Center showing products for all makes and models.
A few companies like QA1, Coker Tire, Tremec, Powermaster, Borgeson, AMD, Moser Engineering, and Flaming River had some of their Mopar products on display.
We really drooled over the 1969 Dodge Charger Heidts had on display. They were revealing their new independent rear suspension for B body Mopar’s. We crawled all over the Charger to see the suspension, but also the rest of the build.
Somernite Cruise is the official car cruise capital of Kentucky. They put on several car cruises throughout the year in Kentucky. They were raffling off a 1969 Dodge Dart GT with a 340 at the event. You can still get in on the raffle on their website until October 16.
Walking around the swap meet, we found everything from a Hemi engine, whitewall tires, 1968 Plymouth tail panels, SRT seats, and dozens of cars for sale. We have not attended this show in the past, but it is definitely on the books for next year.
