MCACN 2017 Opening
Photo Credit : Gary Gerstner
Another Outstanding Year For the MCACN Show; We Thank You!
With our 9th annual show now behind us, the Muscle Car and Corvette Nationals team would like to extend our sincere thanks to each and every one of you. If you were at the show, you know we had another great year and the crowds were fantastic, packing the aisles both Saturday and Sunday. Of course, since we are dependent on the gate to be viable, this is great news for all of us.
The show sold out in all area’s earlier than ever this year, which certainly makes things a bit easier on our end. Of course, there really isn’t anything that is easy when it comes to producing what has become known as The Center of the Muscle Car Universe and The Pebble Beach of Muscle Cars! We are very proud to be referred to in this way, and we work hard to not only maintain this status, but to continue to raise the bar, as I often say. And raise the bar we did! Clearly this was the most balanced show brand wise ever. We saw quite an increase in participation from Buick, Ford, Oldsmobile and even Studebaker owners this year. Needless to say, our Chevrolet and Mopar presence was off the hook, with our ‘67 Z28 and Shaker Invitational displays being among the most popular hot spots. For the Ford fans, our Pinnacle competition saw four of the worlds best examples of FoMoCo muscle take top honors, while the Kar Kraft Invitational showed many that there was a lot more to these guys than just Boss 429’s. (and we had several of the best Boss 9’s in the display!). Our special guests Charlie Henry and Don Eichstadt were busy all weekend in the Kar Kraft display. And speaking of special guests, Courtney Hansen certainly brought plenty of smiles! What a sweetheart...
With our 9th annual show now behind us, the Muscle Car and Corvette Nationals team would like to extend our sincere thanks to each and every one of you. If you were at the show, you know we had another great year and the crowds were fantastic, packing the aisles both Saturday and Sunday. Of course, since we are dependent on the gate to be viable, this is great news for all of us.
The show sold out in all area’s earlier than ever this year, which certainly makes things a bit easier on our end. Of course, there really isn’t anything that is easy when it comes to producing what has become known as The Center of the Muscle Car Universe and The Pebble Beach of Muscle Cars! We are very proud to be referred to in this way, and we work hard to not only maintain this status, but to continue to raise the bar, as I often say. And raise the bar we did! Clearly this was the most balanced show brand wise ever. We saw quite an increase in participation from Buick, Ford, Oldsmobile and even Studebaker owners this year. Needless to say, our Chevrolet and Mopar presence was off the hook, with our ‘67 Z28 and Shaker Invitational displays being among the most popular hot spots. For the Ford fans, our Pinnacle competition saw four of the worlds best examples of FoMoCo muscle take top honors, while the Kar Kraft Invitational showed many that there was a lot more to these guys than just Boss 429’s. (and we had several of the best Boss 9’s in the display!). Our special guests Charlie Henry and Don Eichstadt were busy all weekend in the Kar Kraft display. And speaking of special guests, Courtney Hansen certainly brought plenty of smiles! What a sweetheart...
When we opened the floor Saturday morning, Bullet stopped everyone in their tracks with the National Anthem. Did you know that the guy that was out on the floor helping you get set up was also so talented? (We did!) Kicking into high gear with Dave and Kelly Molnar’s Unveiling of their previous Barn Find 69.5 Super Bee, the tone was set. Next up was NHRA Pro Stock Champion Jason Line with his ‘70 Buick G.S. convertible. What a great guy, who bent over backwards to accommodate us in every way possible, including getting up super early Sunday morning to help us spread the word with WGN TV. Another 17 Premier Unveilings followed with Oldsmobiles, Mopars, an outrageous AMC, several Shelby’s, a one-off Yenko, a RA IV GTO convertible, not only one but TWO of the original ‘69 Ford Drag Team cars, a Super Duty Trans Am, a ‘69 Daytona, the ‘68 Hard Times Firebird and our largest Unveiling car ever, Charley Lillards show-stopping ‘66 Bonneville with a 421 tri-power backed by a 4-speed under the hood. So all said, we had six Mopars, one Buick, three Fords, two Shelby’s, one Oldsmobile, a Yenko, four Pontiacs, and an AMC unveiled. How’s that for a balanced variety!
Photo Credit: Geoff Stunkard Car Craft Magazine
Shaker E-Body Display Sponsored by Wellborn Musclecar Museum
We had over 200 "first time shown within 200 miles of Chicago" cars this year, and even more than were shown at MCACN for the first time, and we are already confirming Official Unveilings for our 2018 show with some incredible cars that will again blow you away. I was particularly pleased to see seven Unveilings from our Official Sponsors; a 1970 ‘export ‘cuda 440-6 convertible from the Apex crew, the ‘71 Olds 442 W30 convertible and ‘71 Sport Fury GT from the Magnum team, the ‘70 SCJ Mustang convertible, ‘73 Super Duty Trans Am and the over the top ‘69 SC/Rambler MCACN Tribute from our friends at MASCAR, the “Blood Money” ‘71 Hemi ‘cuda from Frank Badalson’sAmerican Performance, LLC and the gorgeous ‘69 Daytona from Mike Mancini’s American Muscle Car Restoration, Inc. Whew!! Of course, our team of over 100 judges had their hands full, as we had the highest number of judged entries to date and more Concours and Concours Day 2 cars than ever. We also enjoyed one of our largest fields ofCorvette Central Triple Diamond contenders. We had so many we had to again utilize the Awards/Ballroom area to accommodate them!
We had over 200 "first time shown within 200 miles of Chicago" cars this year, and even more than were shown at MCACN for the first time, and we are already confirming Official Unveilings for our 2018 show with some incredible cars that will again blow you away. I was particularly pleased to see seven Unveilings from our Official Sponsors; a 1970 ‘export ‘cuda 440-6 convertible from the Apex crew, the ‘71 Olds 442 W30 convertible and ‘71 Sport Fury GT from the Magnum team, the ‘70 SCJ Mustang convertible, ‘73 Super Duty Trans Am and the over the top ‘69 SC/Rambler MCACN Tribute from our friends at MASCAR, the “Blood Money” ‘71 Hemi ‘cuda from Frank Badalson’sAmerican Performance, LLC and the gorgeous ‘69 Daytona from Mike Mancini’s American Muscle Car Restoration, Inc. Whew!! Of course, our team of over 100 judges had their hands full, as we had the highest number of judged entries to date and more Concours and Concours Day 2 cars than ever. We also enjoyed one of our largest fields ofCorvette Central Triple Diamond contenders. We had so many we had to again utilize the Awards/Ballroom area to accommodate them!
Photo Credit: Ed George
After the Official Unveilings, we kicked it into overdrive. I enjoyed seeing so many young ones participate in theHagerty Youth Judging program, and we thank the owners that played a huge part in the fun and success. Kids were also having a blast with the model car make and take Presented by Auto World, hot wheels racing, coloring contest and of course, the Scavenger Hunt. Kids big and small were all over the Muscle Bicycle display, which was our largest ever. Thanks go out to Gary Wold and the Koolestuff crew for making this so much fun. Seminars kicked off after the unveilings, and every one of them was a hit. Nothing like hearing the stories right from the source! Thanks go out to Jim Mattison, Phil Borris and the Norwood Ambassadors, Jim Luikens with special guest Paul Goldsmith, Rusty “Tires” Small, Tom Tignanelli, Jim Kramer and Clark Rand, and of course Charlie Henry and Don Eichstadt from Kar Kraft. The rest of the days brought countless stories, all kinds of memories and then...live music from Carmel Liburdi and Marty “Big Dog” Mercer!
After the Official Unveilings, we kicked it into overdrive. I enjoyed seeing so many young ones participate in theHagerty Youth Judging program, and we thank the owners that played a huge part in the fun and success. Kids were also having a blast with the model car make and take Presented by Auto World, hot wheels racing, coloring contest and of course, the Scavenger Hunt. Kids big and small were all over the Muscle Bicycle display, which was our largest ever. Thanks go out to Gary Wold and the Koolestuff crew for making this so much fun. Seminars kicked off after the unveilings, and every one of them was a hit. Nothing like hearing the stories right from the source! Thanks go out to Jim Mattison, Phil Borris and the Norwood Ambassadors, Jim Luikens with special guest Paul Goldsmith, Rusty “Tires” Small, Tom Tignanelli, Jim Kramer and Clark Rand, and of course Charlie Henry and Don Eichstadt from Kar Kraft. The rest of the days brought countless stories, all kinds of memories and then...live music from Carmel Liburdi and Marty “Big Dog” Mercer!
Sunday was another great day and the kids jumped in to enjoy the fun. A great day of story telling, shared passion, checking out all the vendor booths and cars and fellowship where old friends reunited and new friendships were formed. Now that is really what its all about! We were honored and pleased to pull the winning ticket for the Challenger R/T Scat Pack Shaker on behalf of the Lucas Leone Foundation and John Kramann, fresh from his flight from Las Vegas, brought some life to the stage before the awards presentation with his awesome band Redline 7000. Being the rock-star wanna-be that I am, I joined them on the drums for their final song, which I have re-named Running Out of Steam, formerly known as Running Down a Dream when Tom Petty did it. Thanks Redline 7000; OK, so I sucked, but it was fun and that’s what it’s all about. Maybe next year I’ll practice before the show! lol
Needless to say we are very proud of what we have created. A show of this caliber does not happen without a dedicated team that truly shares the passion and enthusiasm that has become the trademark of our event. We may not be perfect and we are already working on correcting some issues, but rest assured we do not sit back and rest on our laurels. This show will always be a work in progress and we strive to make each year better. We work very hard to make this a fun and must do event for the entire family, and as always, we welcome your idea’s and feedback. We sincerely thank you for your continued support and participation, whether you were a participant showing your car, showing your automotive goods or services, as an all important Official Sponsor, as a spectator or as a member of the MCACN team. Each and every one of you play an important part in our continued success.
Dates for our 2018 show are November 17-18, as we are always the weekend before Thanksgiving. Official Host Hotel booking links will be posted after the holidays, again with great rates and special perks. Applications are now being accepted for cars and automotive vendors, with same space vendor spots held until 2-15-2018. I have already started inviting special cars and will kick into high gear in January in Florida, Arizona and California. We will be announcing our first round of Invitational displays in our next E-Blast, and we welcome your suggestions. We are also looking for people to assist in hosting and assembling some special displays for our 10th Anniversary show, so if you have something you would like to see and have the connections to make it the best gathering ever, please let me know; bashton426@gmail.com
This is just the beginning and we look forward to having you join us for our 10th Anniversary show, Saturday November 17, and Sunday, November 18, 2018.
No matter what brand you prefer, what model you like best or even what color you like, we will have the bases covered with over 500 cars and 200+ automotive only vendor spots filled to capacity. We have incredible cars, the finest sponsors, awesome vendors, the best people, a dedicated staff and a truly outstanding show for the entire family with plenty of things to do and see.
Title Sponsor; Mecum Auctions. Presenting Sponsor; Bill Stasek Chevrolet
Bob Ashton
MCACN LLC
Managing Member
www.mcacn.com
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