When I used to think of Nashville, visions of Hank Williams belting out "Lovesick Blues" and knocking them dead at the Grand Ole Opry-the same place a young Elvis Presley bombed his first appearance-came to mind. Known for its honky-tonks, like Tootsies Orchid Lounge, and the famous RCA Studio B, Music City is all about, well, the music. Or is it?
This past June, the Goodguys Rod & Custom Association added a little extra horsepower to these parts of Tennessee with the inaugural Nashville Nationals. Held at Titan Stadium, just across the Cumberland River, the venue featured one of the most dramatic backdrops of any national event-historic downtown Nashville, or The District, comprised of the world famous 2nd Avenue and its great hot spots, such as B.B. King's Blues Club and the Wildhorse Saloon; Lower Broadway, home of the Ryman Auditorium; and Printer's Alley. In other words, not your average dinner and a movie-type town, if you know what I mean. But despite all the temptations looming on the other side of the river, the Goodguys managed to stage a show well worthy of staving off The District at least until the sun went down!
For its debut, the Nashville Nats enticed many a rod, custom, and yes, classic truck to be dusted off and hauled out for the weekend, making it easy and hard for a magazine type like myself to do his job. You see, there was an abundance of nicely built trucks on hand-maybe an overabundance. With only 10 choices allowed for the CLASSIC TRUCKS Top Ten and two days to shoot the event and features, my work was cut out for me. Tough as it may have been (maybe just to me!), I dealt with the insane humidity and completed the job as expected. Enjoy!
For more info on the 2nd Nashville Nats, please visit www.good-guys.com. See y'all next year!
 |  Park your brightly colored,...  Park your brightly colored, nicely built, perfect-stance truck front and center and you're bound to get a shot in the magazine, just like Jimmy B did with his '57 Chevy Stepside. |  Throughout the afternoon on...  Throughout the afternoon on Friday and Saturday, the sound of revving engines and screeching tires could be heard coming from the far corner of Titan Stadium, where Air Ride Technologies was hosting its Autocross competition. Air Ride's Peg Vernon is shown here giving Mr. Clean a precautionary warning-hold on! |
 After receiving a CT Top Ten...  After receiving a CT Top Ten award, ex-pro road racer John Maffucci took his '55 F-100 straight over to the Autocross course and won the Street Rod class. Along with having an upper hand skill-wise, John's truck is pretty much a race car with a bed! |  |  If a Top Ten wasn't enough,...  If a Top Ten wasn't enough, how about becoming a finalist for Truck of the Year-Early to boot? That's just what Jeff Wingo left the Nashville Nats with for his efforts (along with GS Customs and Custom Fab) on this stunning '50 Studebaker. Beyond the loads of custom body- and paintwork, the Stude features a Ramjet 350/700-R4 and air-bagged C4 suspension. |