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2001 Car Craft Summer Nationals

Here’s The Real Deal
By Ed Zinke
Photography by Ed Zinke
Chevrolet Cavalier Front View
Enthusiastic owners arrived early to the 2001 CAR CRAFT Summer Nationals Saturday morning with hundreds of cars lined up to get in...
Chevrolet Camaro Front View
…There were so many cars in fact that the CAR CRAFT Events Staff was blown away and had to jump into warp speed to move vehicles through the grounds as fast as possible. Adjustments were made for Sunday morning and things went a much smoother—hey we’re honest!
1967 Ford Mustang Left Front View
Gary Nelson from North Branett, MN owns this beautiful black and flamed ’67 Ford Mustang. What makes it even more interesting is the fact that besides a recent tire and wheel update, this car was completed over 20 years ago. Any yes boys and girls, this is not a trailer queen and that’s a non-chipped lacquer flamed paint finish. Amazing!
1957 Chevrolet Right Front View
Gary’s brother Jim Nelson from North Branch, MN has one bitchin’ ’57 Chevy 210 two-door wagon. Mild body mods (look at the hood) and 16 wheels, this car sits and looks right. But wait, there is more! Under the hood lives a 265 with two four-barrels. Jim says, "Just grab the three on the tree and yank the overdrive and you can cruise all day." Bet so, Jim.
1969 Chevrolet Chevelle Ss Left Front View
Ray and Lori Fritz own this sharp gray ’69 Chevelle SS. Ray took and gave his car the "reserved" (read that sleeper) approach, but those 396 fender markings tell the real story. Nice work Ray!
Ford Sedan Left Front View0
Everybody likes old Fords and Dusty Brown owns this super-clean version from Sioux City, IA. With tons of body mods and a ghost Mystic Flame job, pictures just don’t do this car justice.
1957 Ford Fairlane Right Front View
The family that Fords together, stays together—Dick and Connie Brown from Sioux City, IA (Dusty’s got the ’49 shown above) brought their ’57 Ford Fairlane for some Summer Nationals fun. Two-tone paint with flames and chrome reverses with caps creates a period-perfect mild custom.
1968 Pontiac Gto Left Front View
Mr. Lererdo did not put us his first name on his entry sheet, but he sure caught our attention with his nicely done ’68 GTO. The all red paint looked 6 inches deep. There is nothing like a great looking goat–grrrrrrrrr….
1968 Dodge Super Bee Left Front View
Fred Williams cruised over for a day of CAR CRAFT fun from nearby Minneapolis in his super-straight black ’68 Dodge Super Bee. By the looks of the slicks on the back, we bet a few people have been stung by this bee!
1970 Oldsmobile Cutlass S Left Front View
Green with Silver Stripes is a great color combination found on Jon Thibault’s ’70 Olds Cutlass S. The car hails from St. Anthony Village and just looks and sits right.
Liberty Motors Funny Car Left Front View
Now here is a story in itself. This authentic Liberty Motors funny car, found some years ago sitting on its springs, with no engine or suspension, was resurrected to its 1967 race campaign set up. Details include original fiberglass panels in correct paint scheme, injected Hemi, and spindle mount "kidney beans." Way cool!
1969 Ford Shelby Mustang Left Front View
Pete and Michael Murlowski are the snake-bit pair from New Brighton, MN that own this beautiful ’69 Ford Shelby Mustang. The workmanship was outstanding.
1965 Ford Mustang Right Front View
Harold Rustand from St. Paul owns this ’65 Ford Mustang Coupe. Clean white paint with blue stripes and hood scoop makes it a real standout.
1963 Chevrolet Impala Ss Right Front View
Bob and Carol Bowen of Eden Praire, MN are the proud owners of this super clean '63 Chevy Impala SS. With body panels so straight you could shoot with them and torque thruster wheels, it is one fine ride.
1969 Ford Mustang Mach 1 Right Front View
Like ’69 Mustang Mach Is? If so, fall in love with Brian and Danielle Dodds’ that hails from Topeka. KS. This car looked better than the day it left Henry’s plant.
Chevrolet Camaro Left Front View
The owner of this sharp Camaro must have been shy, as there were no details on his entry sheet, but we liked it so much that we just had to include a photo anyway.
1957 Chevrolet Corvette Right Front View
An original ’57 Corvette that has served time on the dragstrip was converted over to street use by Scott Brisbois from Egan, MN. This bellybutton-high car just plain takes your breath away. Scott is still working on the final street power plant, but for now is using a small block to motivate the car.
1969 Oldsmobile 442 Left Front View
1969 was one of the greatest muscle car years and supporting that claim is Chris Rahmeyer and his ’69 Olds 442. Black and Silver combination with a "just right" stance makes this car from Roseville, MN a knockout.
1940 Chevrolet Sedan Left Front View
This ’40 Chevy twice-door sedan with chopped top and black on black was for sale and looking good. Classic styling and smoothed body had us digging deep for cash.
1967 Hurst Sc Rambler Left Front View
Here’s something you don’t see every day: a ’67 Hurst SC/ Rambler. This great looking example was part of a club display and unfortunately the owners didn’t leave their names, so to whoever, nice ride!
1969 Amc Amx Left Front View
Rick Gunderson from Grandview, MO was in the house Saturday with his ’69 AMX Super Stock. The car is complete down to the factory Special Order build sheet and dual-carbed 390. We wish we could have gotten two days to fully check this one out and bring it to you, but it is an awesome car.
Ford Mustang Left Front View
Want to try something a little different with your Mustang, how about setting it up for SCCA racing? The owner of this car added a bolt-in roll cage, tons of suspension mods, and a set of Hoosier tires to go do battle on the roadcourse circuit. We like the idea a lot!
1969 Ford Torino Cobra Left Front View
This ’69 Torino Cobra was loaded with trick modifications that made it a standout. Headlight ducts that feed cold air to the big block Ford and the owner’s overall attention to detail made up a nice, clean package.
Volkswagen Bug Left Front View
Take one VW Bug, get out the sawsall, work real hard and you too could end up with a super-neat street cruiser like this one. A big-block Chevy motivates this smoothed-over, roadsterized body, complete with ’38 Olds taillights. It looks like tons of fun.
1957 Chevrolet Bel Air Left Front View
Lots of tri-five Chevys, from Nomads to Bel Airs, turned out to this year’s CAR CRAFT Summer Nationals like this beautiful 210 Post model. Contrasting black and gunmetal gray two-tone was looking good and drawing crowds all day.
P94456 Image Large
Matt King and the entire CAR CRAFT staff were plenty busy all weekend long checking out cars and conversing with their owners. With so many great looking vehicles on hand, there simply wasn't enough time to cover them all. Every participant is to be commended for the fine workmanship on display. Thanks for coming!
1971 Chevrolet Chevelle Right Front View
A personal favorite of CAR CRAFT Associate Editor Henry De Los Santos was this beautiful ’71 Chevelle convertible. Sorry Henry, it’s not for sale.
1957 Forsel Right Front View
Not quite sure if this was a crossbreeding experiment or what, this ’57 Forsel was found lurking on the grounds Sunday. Any help?
1941 Willys Coupe Left Front View
An absolute knockout ride was this all steel ’41 Willys. Motivated by a single-carbed Hemi and 4-speed, this former drag star made the conversion to street in candy apple red that was a foot deep. It was the deserving recipient of the Editor’s Choice award on Sunday.
Chevrolet Camaro Ss Left Front View
Camaros, Camaros, Camaros! There were hundreds on hand to see. Like these two great examples that were packing some serious horsepower to back up their looks!
Chevrolet Camaro Left Front View
If either of these two Camaros shows up in your rear view mirror, best get out of the way.
Chevrolet Camaro Left Front View
On Saturday at 1:00 p.m., the Open Headers cruise was a symphony of horsepower, with hundreds of cars thumping their way through the park in the parade.
1957 Chevrolet Bel Air Left Front View
One of the parading cars in the Open Headers Cruise was this clean pro-street ’57 Chevy. With wheelwell headers and lumpy cam, it was a real earful.
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No matter which direction you looked on Saturday, it was a sea of cars and car enthusiasts of every age and description...
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With a great Midwest summer’s day, everyone was taking the great times of the CAR CRAFT Summer Nationals.
P94491 Image Large
The Ravin’ booth was the place to check out the new Z-Wave technology performance exhaust systems. The Ravin’ Girls were on hand to help answer questions about the product and also helped out during Sunday’s award presentations. Thanks!
Chevrolet Camaro Front View
A picture of a picture, the CAR CRAFT staff set up this cool photo shoot with multi-angle shooters. A smoky burnout was caught from three different angles. Watch for this shoot in an upcoming issue of CAR CRAFT.
Chevrolet Camaro Front View
Chevrolet Camaro Right Side View
How much do you love your job? No, they are not directly in front of the car, but it sure looks it.
Chevrolet Monte Carlo Right Front View
The Burnout contest was fantastic as all type of cars and light trucks competed to see who would be crowned "Top Tread Eliminator." Contestants lit ‘em up to the crowd’s approval in the packed grandstands.
Chevrolet Nova Right Front View
Chevrolet Chevelle Left Front View
Toyota Pick Up Regular Cab Right Front View
Now you see it, now you don’t! This small-block motivated Toyota pickup had the rear hides really cooking until….boom!
Toyota Pick Up Regular Cab Right Rear View
The rear tire took out the quarter panel in a big way and shot an empty soda can in the bed 20 feet in the air. The proud owner wore the damage like a badge of honor for the remainder of the event.
Amc Amx Right Front View
Another causality of the Burnout Contest was this super nice big-block AMX.
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The AMC product had some good tire smoke buildup when THE 390 bucked and went dead. Upon further inspection, something launched in the pan (note pan edge in photo).
1971 Dodge Challenger Right Front View
Saturday’s Burnout Contest winner was David Boeke in his green ’71 Challenger T/A...
1971 Dodge Challenger Right Rear View
...The 383 dyno’d out at only 248 hp, but it certainly was enough to get the job done...
1971 Dodge Challenger Tire View
...With only the inner liner of the rear tire still holding air, the tread and steel belts were cooked completely off the tire in his effort to win!
P94505 Image Large
Sunday’s Bikini Contest was a real crowd-pleaser. And why not, with this competing group of lovely ladies.
P94506 Image Large
The Main Stage area was packed for the Awards Ceremony as more than 50 trophies and awards were given out to deserving vehicle owners for the efforts.
1957 Chevrolet Bel Air Front View
Like the ’57 Chevy in this parting shot, make plans to head to the 2002 CAR CRAFT Summer Nationals. It truly is The Real Deal. We look forward to seeing you there!

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