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2023 Grand National Roadster Show Mega Photo Gallery | Hot rod heaven

POMONA, Calif. — From an outsider's perspective, it would be easy to assume that the Grand National Roadster Show has always been a Southern California institution. After all, it celebrates the diverse postwar car culture of the region — hot rods, lead sleds, lowriders, and more. However, the show had its roots in NorCal in 1950 when Al Slonaker and his hot rod club showed their custom cars at the Oakland Expo. The GNRS moved to Pomona, California, in 2004. By then it had grown exponentially and seen about a dozen more car customization trends come and go. However, the show and its centerpiece award, the America's Most Beautiful Roadster prize, celebrate what is perhaps the first of those trends: the American hot rod in its purest form. Today, in its 73rd year, the GNRS is the oldest indoor car show in America. Annually it welcomes 500-800 cars, gathered into special themes like Tri-Five Chevys or Volkswagen Bugs. At this year's show, which was last weekend, a special hall was dedicated to pickup trucks built between 1948-98, including mini-trucks, groovy camper bed conversions, and resto-mods.  However, of all the vehicles presented, only nine are eligible for the America's Most Beautiful Roadster award. Winners get their names engraved on a 9-foot-tall perpetual trophy that was, according to The Ultimate Hot Rod Dictionary, the largest in the world when it debuted in 1950. Slonaker chose the word "roadster" initially because "hot rod" bore slightly negative outlaw connotations in 1950. Only American cars built before 1937 of certain body styles — roadsters, roadster pickups, phaetons, touring cars — are eligible, and they cannot have roll-down side windows.  Cars in the running for the cup cannot have been shown anywhere else before their debut at the GNRS.  Contestants for this accolade essentially build their cars to the a platonic ideal of a hot rod. This year the honors went to Jack Chisenhall of San Antonio, Texas, for his "Champ Deuce," a 1932 Ford Roadster. It's exactly what you picture when you think of a hot rod, but distilled to its absolute essence.  Other standouts included "Green Eyes," a two-tone green 1959 Chevy El Camino  with a heavily metal-flaked bed, "Blue Monday," a 1964 Buick Riviera lowrider, and a personal favorite, "Purple Reign," a purple and black 1951 Mercury. Cars may have started out as tools, but there aren't shows like this filled with custom refrigerators.

GM to restore legendary Corvette damaged in sinkhole accident

Car lover's hearts' sank when they saw images of bent and destroyed classic Corvettes at the bottom of a sinkhole last February after the floor of the National Corvette Museum gave way. General Motors announced Wednesday it would restore the one millionth Corvette ever produced to its former glory. The 1992 convertible was heavily damaged when a 40-foot deep sinkhole opened beneath a bevy of rare cars at the National Corvette Museum in Bowling Green, Kentucky. Since then, GM has been slowly restoring the classic cars, though five of the eight that caught in the sinkhole were determined to be too damaged to repair. This November, the 2009 Corvette ZR1 Blue Devil was the first car to be returned in mint condition to the Museum, according to Autoblog. It suffered significant damage but was still drivable after being pulled out of the debris. The one millionth Corvette is still in bad shape. The automaker is estimating six months worth of work to restore the car, which sustained paint scratches, rear-suspension damage and a mangled front fender. Related Gallery Consumer Reports Most Loved Cars 2014 Chevrolet GM Automotive History corvette famous cars sinkhole corvette museum

GM tells 2021 Chevy Express and GMC Savana owners to park vans outside due to fire risk

GM is telling owners of certain 2021 Chevrolet Express and 2021 GMC Savana work vans to park them outside and away from other vehicles and structures due to a fire risk. Additionally, the company is recalling 10,154 of the vans it believes to be at risk of catching fire. The breakout is 7,891 for Chevy and 2,223 for GMC.  Only vehicles equipped with the 6.6-liter V8 (the new-for-2021 engine option) are included in the recall, and it’s limited to vans produced on or prior to December 7, 2020. The problem stems from some anti-rotation tabs on the positive battery terminal that are too close to a fuse block assembly attachment post. This lack of clearance could cause the tabs to come into contact with the fuse block, causing a short circuit. GM points out that a short-circuit of this nature could cause battery drain or lead to a fire under the hood. Your warning for the time being will come in the form of a low battery voltage warning, or you might just wake up with an unexpected dead battery. GM says that it first opened an investigation into this problem on January 26 this year after it was notified of an underhood battery fire on a 2021 Express. The investigation found three other underhood fires and concluded that these fires were originating from the positive battery cable attachment near the fuse. This recall was officially posted on March 11 this year, and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration just sent a notification out to the media yesterday. The fix is a relatively simple one. Dealers are going to remove a portion of the anti-rotation tab on both positive battery cable terminals near the fuse block assembly attachments. This increases the clearance and eliminates the risk of fire, GM says. The job will be done under warranty, and GM says it will begin contacting owners for recall work on May 3 this year. Recalls Chevrolet GMC Safety Minivan/Van Commercial Vehicles