Photography by Patrick C. Paternie
Destinations: The Hot-Rod Evangelist
October 1, 2006
By and large, most new cars don’t excite the senses," says Gary Meadors, president of Goodguys. "You can’t take them apart, fondle them, and then put them back together like a hot rod," he explains. "You can install a stereo or TV, but not much else."
By new cars, Meadors means vehicles produced after 1972, the year in which automakers began making more technologically complex cars to satisfy government regulations.
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Meadors, who grew up in the ’50s "dragging Main Street" in the central California valley farm town of Dinuba, built his first hot rod at age 14. He lowered the suspension of his 1947 Plymouth coupe by cutting a few coils out of the springs, added moon hubcaps, a louvered hood, and a scalloped paint job, and drove fast enough to earn himself the nickname the Dinuba Kid. Today, he jokingly calls himself the "Billy Graham of hot-rodding."
At least 70,000 hot-rodders belong to his flock, formally known as the Goodguys Rod & Custom Association. Meadors founded Goodguys in 1983 to host hot-rod car shows and vintage drag racing events. Today, Goodguys annually hosts about 25 events in 15 states. One of its oldest events is also its largest; the Goodguys PPG Nationals in Columbus, Ohio, draws more than 6,000 hot rods, customs, classics, and trucks, each from 1972 or earlier. The March vintage drag race at the Famoso Raceway in Bakersfield, Calif., features more than 500 participants, 1,500 hot rods and customs, and 50,000 spectators.
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A 1955 Buick sports lakes pipes
side exhausts and a lowrider attitude. (Click image to enlarge)Last spring, when Goodguys held the Del Mar Nationals at the venerable fairgrounds near San Diego, I witnessed how Meadors practiced what he preached. He insisted on meeting me at the gate so we could cruise down the show’s main drag, just like the attendees in their custom cars and hot rods.
Meadors arrived in the perfect cruiser: a pristine 1957 DeSoto
hardtop coupe with a white-and-lipstick-red interior. Long, low, and wide, the
car was equipped with a push-button automatic transmission, original Hemi
engine, real wire wheels, and the de rigueur Chrysler Forward Look swooping tail
fins.
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The Del Mar Nationals includes a special exhibit
of Southern California surf woodies, such as this rare 1947 Oldsmobile. (Click image to enlarge)
Navigating the big DeSoto up and down the aisles of the event, Meadors scoped out the details on various cars and occasionally stopped to chat up the owners of cars that especially caught his eye. It was easy to see why the hot-rod crowd flocks to his events. Besides being the original Goodguy, Meadors is a real car guy. He gave up a successful career as a sales manager in a large corporation for the hot-rod lifestyle. It is a family affair that, in addition to his wife, Marilyn, includes one of their two sons, Marc, who is a vice president in the Goodguys organization.
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