For many attendees, the annual Muscle Car and Corvette Nationals has become a yearly pilgrimage. Filling up the Stephens convention center in Rosemont, Illinois, minutes from O'Hare Airport, people travel from literally around the globe to be here. For most of the year leading up to it, managing MCACN member Bob Ashton is out locating a few great cars to invite. Well, more than a few; a lot of really great cars.

There are no bad cars at MCACN. The best of the best originals, the best historical examples, the best modern and accurate restorations, and some of the best stories all come together. Bob made a great statement in the annual program about how our cars erase the political, religious, color lines and gender lines that fissure modern culture. As the unifier in these somewhat turbulent times, there is a level appreciation for the finished and found, the rarest and "realest", and more. But then Ashton goes and finds area managers from every interest and discipline who get cars for every category's subcategory.

There were many special groups of cars from 1967, 1972, Formula Firebirds, Kar-Kraft Fords. There are Saturday morning unveiling of the latest restorations just like the original new car shows used to do. There are seminars and concerts, judged awards, and special displays. This is the greatest musclecar show on the planet. Period. You need all two days, always the weekend before Thanksgiving, to see it. So hopefully you enjoy these picks, but you really should come next year. Oh, and Ashton, you owe me a pair of shoes



Car Craft Giveaway Car: 1969 Swinger in the Barn Finds section

Tom Ellie brought his find from St. Petersburg Florida in, the original 1969 "Swinger" 340 Dart GTS. Really long-time readers will recall this machine from almost 50 years ago, when staffers like Terry Cook built this thing. That it survived so intact and in its original custom paint is pretty incredible, and it would be a hard decision whether to leave it be or restore it. Back in 1969, the Dodge was given away at the NHRA World Finals in Dallas to contest-drawing winner 16-year old William Outlaw (yes, correct). His mother accepted it for him, as his father Odis was over in Vietnam at the time.



Coolest Ex Car Craft Cover Car: 1970 Hemi Challenger

This real Hemi Challenger showed up on our cover back in October 2013, after it had been stored but undriven for decades. Here it is, brought back to like-new condition by restorer Ward Gappa (left). The owner, Lowell McAdam (center), was very happy to have acquired this car, which has 98% of its original sheet-metal, a completely original Hemi driveline, and excellent documentation.



Nicest Engine without a Car: Malcolm Durham ZL1

With a lot of first-gen Camaros on hand, this engine was one of the most notorious. East coast racing hero Malcom Durham, known back in the day as the "D.C. Lip," was a prominent player in the FX, Funny Car, and early Pro Stock wars with his Strip Blazer Chevrolets. It is believed he raced a blue 1969 COPO Camaro that is now known in the hobby as ZL1 #42, and Jeff Stranak has the rebuilt engine on a stand on display.





Nicest Car Without A Body: 1953 Corvette Cutaway

You want to talk about cool Corvettes, this one is an engineering sample showcasing details for the newly-released Corvette from when GM's huge Motorama displays were happening. This is the lowest Corvette chassis number in existence, and when owner Ed Foss had it restored, a half-body was added to make it into a cutaway. Yes, it is a six-cylinder, but let's be honest- who wouldn't want to find this thing stashed away somewhere no matter what kind of cars you were into. And it drives, too.

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Coolest Old School Racing Hero: Tom Tignanelli

Some people will remember Tom Tignanelli's Detroit-based "UFO" drag cars- mainly Funny Cars that ran in the modified division on gasoline. Collectors Clark and Collene Rand had Tom's old 1965 altered wheelbase Plymouth on display following its fresh restoration, and Tignanelli himself also came to MCACN this year with a load of experimental parts like titanium torsion bars and stories about his work in Chrysler's legendary "skunkworks" the Woodward Garage.



Nicest One-of-None Car: 1967 Hemi Belvedere 1

There are exceptions to every rule, and this 1967 Belvedere 1 with Hemi power certainly fits the bill. In 1967, the Hemi option for Plymouth was specifically noted to only be available in the GTX. However, it is documented that four were installed in the basic Belvedere 1 model for drag racers like Judy Lilly. This car, however, was not raced, and features 100% of its original paint, very original interior, and original Hemi driveline. Now owned by Frank Karabetsos, it was in the Vintage Certification program.

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Best Collection Overall: First Gen F-bodies

The choice was a given based on the 1967-1969 best-selling model. Selection was a challenge when you consider that while both the 1967-1969 Camaros and Firebirds are plentiful, choosing ones that will fit into a couple of rows of "the best" meant hard choices. In fact, most of the Z28s were in another area. So here is Bill Jenkins Indy Nationals-winning L78-powered Super Stocker, the Penske-Donohue Trans Am champion, Pete Estes' one-off 1968 Z-28 convertible (shown), and a row of documented 427-CI supercars from Dana, Nickey, and Yenko. The Firebirds were highly-optioned Trans Ams and deluxe models, led off by Truman Fields' notable NHRA record setter barely seen in the left foreground. The guitars were used as eye candy around several display areas.



Most Expensive Car not in Attendance

A certain 1970 Hemi Challenger Convertible was drawing a lot of comments from people. This picture shows a 1970 Challenger R/T Hemi convertible whose asked-for number was a big $1,795,000. They were accepting trades for other cars, but we were fresh out of prewar Bugattis

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Coolest Show Car to drive for fun-1967 Camaro SS

This car had the largest accumulation of trophies at this year's event. It is all painted up nice and shiny in bright orange and has a chromed blower sticking through the hood like some '80s trailer queen. Well, this thing goes when Duane Waldrop hits the loud pedal on this car, as seen by his handout. The car runs on E85, sort of like an alcohol funny car.



Best Musclecar Equalizer Event: The Pure Stock Drags

This trio of monsters is part of the action when the Pure Stock Muscle Car Drag Race happens in Michigan each summer, and they all look the part of stock street vehicles. Seen here are Steve Hodges' 1970 4-4-2, Dan Kruger's 1968 Hemi Charger, and Dave Hemker's 1970 Buick Stage 1.



Biggest Muscle Wagon: 1964 Impala 409

Under restoration by Keith Curry is this 1964 Impala station wagon. While you can hot-rod these things, nothing extra is needed when it first came down the assembly line with a 425-HP 409 dual-quad engine and factory four speed driveline. Most of these things got crushed, so we are looking forward to seeing this one when its finished.



Best E-Body Shaker: The Swiss Connection

The Wellborn Musclecar Museum sponsored this display of Shaker Mopars, and this restored 1971 Challenger was making its first public appearance in the USA. Ordered new by a woman from Switzerland, this is a heavily-optioned 1971 Hemi / four-speed, with a formal rear window, spoilers, and colored rubber bumpers. Despite all this, the car ended up being road raced in Europe with a front air dam and wide wheel flares. So if you think running the Matterhorn on a Ducati would be a handful, trying this with a nose-heavy Hemi machine required skill and a little madness.

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Coolest team effort: Ford Drag Team display

Organized by noted collector Bob Perkins, this was likely the largest group of cars from the original Ford Drag Team assembled since 1971, and certainly the largest in a show arena. Two 427 SOHC Pro Stock Mustangs, two Cobra Jets Mustangs , the rare 428 Torino that debuted and is seen here, a "Going Thing" promotional Mustang, and a tribute Torino plus Bob's well-known glass house trailer full of rare memorabilia. Perkins is second from right here, and Torino owner Dave Steine is seen at the left.



Coolest Mustang: Shelby GT500 Paxton Supercharged

Kevin and Winona Suydam had two very impressive cars to unveil, a 1968 "drag package" Yenko Camaro and this beast that most people never knew existed, the 1969 GT500KR experimental test car equipped with a Paxton supercharger. Though a handful was built in the GT350 racing era, this one bolted atop a 428 is incredible, and the paint is a legitimate special-order color. Kevin stands with the screaming yellow zonker after the unveiling cover came off on Saturday morning.



Coolest Nifty Fifties Car: 1958 Packard

More supercharged cars were in the Studebaker invitational this year, following up on the blown Larks from 2016 with a group of late 1950s speedsters. One car that really drew attention was this very rare 1958 Packard Hawk, which came from the Studebaker factory that year with a McCulloch supercharger. If you are not familiar with this design, which featured EXTERIOR leather armrests, don't feel bad; only about 900 were built. This was the last year to ever see the legendary Packard nameplate.



Coolest Mod Wife: Sharon Jones

We sort of did this for fun, as a number of the ladies dress up in '60s fashions for the event. Sharon and her husband Ron had their deluxe 1969 Coronet 500 in the South Oak Dodge display. This car had been dragged out of a hometown field in rough shape and Ron constructed it as an OEM-looking rebuild for her, adding a Mercedes electric sunroof and a Hurst four-speed shifter through the console to the automatic trans. With a nod to hipster fashion, Sharon dressed up as part of the 1969 advertising campaign, which was likely approved by Dodge Sales VP "Crusher" Bob McCurry and his he-man crew over lunch-time martinis in late 1968. We were digging it



Coolest Corvette for a Car Craft guy: 1965 L88 experimental





Best-known Celebrity Musclecar Enthusiast: Jason Line 1970 Buick GS

Most people know Jason Line from the NHRA Pro Stock class, but not so many know that he has a wheels-up 1970 Buick GS he runs in Stock Eliminator. A while back, he bought a rough-but-rare real 1970 GS Stage 1 convertible and chose this event to debut it to the public after a lengthy restoration. He is seen toward the back of the group here with a big crew of his restoration guys and their better halves. Why Buicks? We know Line understands power-to-weight ratios, and 455-CI Buicks had the lightest long-blocks coming out of the OEMs in the era. That they are timeless in style doesn't hurt, either.



Coolest AMC: 1969 Scrambler by MASCAR

The crew from Costa Mesa states they have had some unhappy Kenosha campers as word on this project came out a real Scrambler converted seriously enough to clock 8.50 specs. Truth be told, what remained of the original car likely needed to be rebodied; it was cut on that badly. So they built a hot 401 engine, lifted the scoop a couple inches, blended the Group 1 and Group 2 paint schemes (you know what that is about, AMC dudes) in metallic paint, and bolted on a deck wing to prevent flight at 160+ MPH. The result was a head-turner even in a sea of the rarest musclecars on planet earth.



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Most Valuable Available Racecar: 1965 Landy's Dodge

Mecum's big area has been used to showcase cars for their upcoming events, especially their season opener in Kissimmee, Florida. The racecars collected by Nick Smith will be a highlight there next January, and for the first time, the restored Landy's Dodge will be offered in public. The king of the 1965 "funny cars," Dick Landy wheel-stood this Dodge to infamy, and this is the best survivor of the Chrysler program. Oh, you're a Chevy guy? How about the 1963 Z11 Impala of Frank Sanders, the most original of those cars, and Fords, which were Smith's personal favorites, will include not one but two original Gas Ronda Mustangs!



Best Survivor Oldsmobile: 1971 Cutlass

Dave Belk is a pretty experienced car collector who got wind of a 1971 Olds Cutlass Supreme convertible owned by a woman 20 miles from his Iowa home base. The well-optioned car turned out to be everything hoped for, the equivalent of a 4-4-2 in classy trim with a 350/four-speed/Anti-Spin-type rear end, and less than 40,000 original miles. Carefully cared for since day one by Lonna Rea and her late husband, this silver beauty had single-family ownership until 2017. It is never modified, a cruiser not a bruiser, from the waning days of Dr. Olds performance medicine show. So Belk chose to bring it up to MCACN for Vintage Certification, where specialty judging found it scoring a Legend rating at a very high 92.5% originality.

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Best Restored Oldsmobile: 1970 4-4-2 Oldsmobile

This was a hard choice, as there were a lot of them here. The Olds we chose was just redone by Magnum Auto for Jeff and Joanna Stolowski, a 1971 tri-color (blue, black top, white interior) convertible with 445 cubes of W-30 under the hood and many options. Its emotional unveiling for original owner Kathy Maddison, who had owned the car with her late husband Keith from new until 2015, was a highlight for the crowd who was on hand as the restored car was revealed to the public for the first time.



Best Oddball Barn Find: Early Logghe Streamliner

We will admit, we are always blown away by the stuff that shows up in Ryan Brutt's Barn Finds and Rare Gems display. There were very cool cars in 2017, like COPO Chevys with documentation, vintage muscle trucks and even an old funny car, but one car that took everybody by surprise was this 1959-era Logghe Stamping Company streamliner. According to research still being conducted into this car's origins, it was one of only two sports-car chassis built by the brothers for a possible road race effort that were instead pressed into drag strip duty. This may have been because Detroit Dragway was host to the NHRA Nationals in 1959 and 1960. Of course, Logghe later helped Mercury ignite the funny car revolution. Saved from a Motor City-area junkyard, Dragrace Relics LLC, owned by Clark and Collene Rand, will direct its eventual restoration.



Best Oddball Cruiser: 1967 Boss Bird

Randy Birchfield built and displayed this 1967 Thunderbird, which obviously has had some upgrades. The engine is a Cobra Jet-type 428, complete with Shaker scoop. The car uses a C6 automatic, features a deck wing, and has flawless "highway star" deep purple paint. The clean execution includes custom Boss Bird lettering. Not something you see every day





And Best Car of the Event (in you author's opinion): 1970 RT/SE Hemi Challenger

It started with that super-cool Gator-Grain roof and survivor appearance. This Challenger R/T SE with its 426 Hemi engine, four-speed transmission and 4.10 Dana rear is pretty cool, and it was highly optioned. But I needed a story, and this car had it. Original owner, the late Godfrey Qualls, was in the 82nd Airborne and bought this car after a tour of duty for Uncle Sam. He later served the city of Detroit Police as a police officer for 37 years. He ordered the N96 Shaker, and was not happy when his custom $5,272.00 factory build showed up at the dealership without it, and was further told he could not get one on a Dodge, period. So he sued the company and eventually won, getting the parts from Chrysler for the conversion. As you can see, he never put that design on. When off-duty, Officer Qualls established a noteworthy reputation as the baddest Hemi car on the east side of Detroit, parking it during the mid-1970s gasoline crisis. His son Greg and their family brought to MCACN after Bob Ashton, a native of the area, found out this ghost still existed in solid unrestored shape, with dealership plastic seat covers intact and every piece of imaginable factory paperwork. There were a sea of Shaker cars in pristine shape at this year's event, and a lot of other very worthy cars, but a cop from Detroit with a Street Hemi whose reputation echoed to Woodward and a car that still exists today, unrestored and with his family? Yep, that's MCACN



Next year's dates November 17-18, 2018