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Between true Cacklefest events
there are several cars in the "family" that serve as
goodwill ambassadors doing displays, charity functions and appearances
at large public events. Such was the case at the 60th annual
Grand National Roadster Show at the Fairplex in Pomona, CA where
12 cacklecars (8 from the Class of '64) drew thousands of roadster,
hot rod and custom car fans to their displays and fire ups.
With the theme of "The Class
of '64", the cacklecars were organized by Ron Johnson of
Cacklefest.com with from the Wally Parks NHRA Motorsports Museum
and Blake Bowser of the Auto Club Famoso Raceway (promoting the
March Meet). The field of first class race cars were welcomed
with open arms by the shows promoter, John Buck who gave them
all premier spots for maximum exposure. Twelve cars were housed
indoors (show only) and four outside doing fire ups all weekend.
Without further ado, enjoy these
photos documenting the show.
Photos by: Tom West, Darrell
Conrad, Pam Schavrien and John Ewald
The first car to arrive at the
assigned building was the "Godfather" of Cacklecars,
Bill Pitts and his Magicar.
By the following day, under the
banner of Cacklefest.com, Don Prieto's "Hustler V"
and 11 other cars were on display.
Ron Johnson's Tommy Ivo "Barnstormer"
and Shubert & Herbert cars catty corner to Ted Cyr's Lincoln
and the Magicar.
Next to the Hustler V
was The Addict.
Doug Robinson's Horsepower
Engineering and Ken Blackmore's Poison Ivy.
The Albertson Olds and
Dragmaster Dart where on hand representing the NHRA Museum.
Rich Guasco's "Pure
Hell" was on display under the Goodguys banner.
Although it would have been a
better fit in the cacklecar section, the Tognotti Speed Shop
Special was featured in the high end show car building.
Meanwhile, outside the arenas
were four nitro belching cacklecars including both of John Ewald's
cars, the McCloud Bros. and Ratican, Jackson & Stearns. Most
of the fire-ups at this event were paid for by fans and all the
profits went to the NHRA Wally Parks Motorsports Museum.
Friday saw some rain
in SoCal but that didn't stop the cars or fans from coming out.
Here Ewald gives his patented
pre-cackle crowd warm-up where he explains the history of the
cars and the power of nitro.
Betty Dalla-Dea got her
first fire-up ever in the BankAmericar.
Ron Stearns made some noise with
his Ratican-Jackson-Stearns A/FA. In the seat was ace photog,
Darrell Conrad.
The second fire up for the Mastercar
was a young lady named Teresa Babler from the Twin Cities area
in Minnesota. Her husband Clark is the son of 60's top fuel
driver Davey Babler.
A paying fan gets the
seat of the McCloud Bros. car. with Jake doing the overseeing.
Bob Danly does some maintenance
on the BankAmericar between fire-ups.
Part of Ewald's traveling road
show is the Budweiser Indy Car sponsored by Firestone. Cynthia
Carpenter pretty much runs the show on this one that accommodated
many fans over the weekend.
Betty Dalla-Dea and Cynthia
with their charge.
Cindy Gibbs Arias never passes
up a chance for a cackle. This is her latest fire-up in the BankAmericar.
Lou Santiago who hosted
"Muscle Car" on TV gets a thrill in the Mastercar.
More money for the museum....
Another fan contributing
to the museum fund in the McCloud Bros. car.
Barry Weissert who works
at the NHRA Museum got his nitro fix.
Ron Stearns made more
noise A/FA.
We'll close this up with
a few random shots of other cars in the show.
Taking up its own piece of real
estate was the 'Lil John Buttera display featuring a wide variety
of his talents. From race cars to motorcycles Buttera was a true
master of form and fashion. The BankAmericar (the last dragster
Buttera ever built) was invited to be in the mix but was busy
outside using up some nitro.
"The Fonz"
Henry Winkler was on hand signing autographs - everywhere.
Winkler with Bill Holland.
A part of the show was
a tribute to John Buttera.
Next stop - the March Meet
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