My first trip to the Muscle Car and Corvette Nationals in Chicago was well worth all the buzz. My fellow Mopar Enthusiast Scott Kozlowski, who lives in nearby Juliet, told me I really need to make it to this spectacle. My 1966 Plymouth Belvedere II had been invited to attend by Bob Ashton at Mopar Nats, however the 6 hour trip didn't sound too exciting in cold November. Wow, was I wrong.
My friend Colton Lemaster and I drove up from Central Ohio Friday night and walked in the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center early Saturday morning to 500 of the most rare and highly collectable Muscle Cars in the world.
Immediately we were met with a line up of Wing Cars that was jaw dropping. Hemi Superbird's on the left, Hemi Daytona's on the right in every imaginable color. Incredible stories and owners with a willingness to share.
One of the things I enjoyed the most was social status, political affiliation and the weather were conversations left in the dust. How about a million dollar 71 Hemi Cuda that cost the original owner less than $5,000, unwilling to let go of his baby. The original owner of a Lime Lite Superbird seemed to be a popular man, sitting in his lawn chair with a smile as he told story after story.
I finally got to meet in person one of my friends in the Muscle Car world, Patrick Krook, from Rev Muscle Cars. I had spoke to Patrick on several occassions and always found him to be honest, caring and very knowledgable. He truly is one of the good guys in the business. He brought with him a 1967 Shelby GT500, one of his clients. I enjoyed our conversation and will look forward to doing business with him in the future.
I also got to meet Max Dorland from Petal To The Metal in the Netherlands. He had flown over here to attend MCACN and seek out some cars for clients back home. America Muscle Cars are a growing in popularity especially in Europe and Japan. Max and I will keep up, he's interested in my 1970 AAR Cuda but I don't think I could send a Mopar overseas and sleep at night.
The last guy I'll mention that I met was Joseph Palka with his 1970 Lime Lite AAR Cuda. He is getting ready to do a full rotisserie restoration on the car. I've spoke to him several times since we both have one of the very few Lime Lite AAR's in existence. It was neat to see the Lime Lite next to Sassy Grass Green next to Lemon Twist Yellow.
We enjoyed the show! Very much worth attending and I plan to return in 2023. And yes maybe I'll bring a car from The Boggs Stable. It was nice though to just be a spectator.
Aaron Boggs
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