Another year is in the books for the Mopar Nationals. This year marked the 30th anniversary of this excellent event. It was hot. Well that's actually an understatement because it was excruciating! Thankfully, I'm born and raised in Tampa, Florida, which is known for some of the most humid weather. It's just depressing to fly over 1,000 miles north and have to deal with the same terrible heat...oh well.
This year we were pleased to find some of the nicest cars to ever enter into our Young Guns category of the show. Here are some of the entries this year:
Here is Fernando Rosado with...
Here is Fernando Rosado with his Go-Mango '70 Challenger R/T SE. Fernando was this year's winner and received a trophy at the awards ceremony on Sunday.
Under the hood lurks this...
Under the hood lurks this 451 cubic inch 440 backed by an 833 OD and 3.55 gears.
Matt Youdbulis' '91 W-250...
Matt Youdbulis' '91 W-250 was one of the cleanest trucks at the show.
It's powered by a Cummins...
It's powered by a Cummins Turbo Diesel.
Patrick Friel is the owner...
Patrick Friel is the owner of this Dodge Dakota.
It may looks like a 5.9 with...
It may looks like a 5.9 with long tubes but it's actually a 408 now.
When it comes to trucks, they...
When it comes to trucks, they don't get much better than the Dakota since they look great and have a lot of room for wide tires. Patrick decided to fill his wheel wells with a set of CCW 505As and SRT-10 Viper brakes.
Gregg Orr may look familiar...
Gregg Orr may look familiar if you read our February 2010 issue of Mopar Muscle when we featured him and his sister, Gayle, as two Young Guns who did it right.
Still the same great 340 we...
Still the same great 340 we saw last year.
Gregg decided to go out with...
Gregg decided to go out with a bang and made his car look even better than it did when we featured it. Not to mention the fact he installed the original wheels for a look that drips classic style.
Shawn Kelly uses this TB3...
Shawn Kelly uses this TB3 Chrysler Blue '72 Duster as his daily driver in college.
The modest 318 under the hood...
The modest 318 under the hood was rebuilt and bored .030 over and a set of Flowmaster mufflers were thrown on.
Cohen Marschall owns this...
Cohen Marschall owns this truly unique '49 Plymouth. It's not common to see these anymore and it simple looks sinister!
Inside the seats were recovered...
Inside the seats were recovered and given blue piping.
OK, so that's not stock. It's...
OK, so that's not stock. It's a 400-cube small block with a few go-fast parts to make the classic Plymouth one helluva ride.
Cohen plans to paint the Plymouth...
Cohen plans to paint the Plymouth soon but, thankfully, he's not going with a full gloss black. I personally love the flat black look with red wheels.
Jason L. Carrey stands proudly...
Jason L. Carrey stands proudly next to his '68 Super Bee, as he should. Jason built this car from the ground up and practiced his future profession as a mechanic. He tore it apart and installed all new fenders and ended up with this excellent Bee.
It's matching numbers throughout...
It's matching numbers throughout the car, including under the hood.
Another car we don't see too...
Another car we don't see too often is this '73 Coronet. It's owned by Morgan Campbell.
A small block 318 with 904...
A small block 318 with 904 transmission and dual Flowmaster exhaust hauls Morgan and his friends around town.
Jason Jacoby's Turbine Bronze...
Jason Jacoby's Turbine Bronze Metallic Satellite is a 440 clone.
Funny thing about 440 clones,...
Funny thing about 440 clones, they have a 440 under the hood so nobody cares if it's a clone.
Road Runners have that road-hugging...
Road Runners have that road-hugging style that makes them so appealing. Brent Hoffman certainly was attracted to the killer looks of his black '70.
Possibly the 383, four-speed,...
Possibly the 383, four-speed, and 3.91 gears had some influence on his purchase?
Finally we have Rodney Kight...
Finally we have Rodney Kight Jr. with his '74 Road Runner.
It's an original 360 four-speed...
It's an original 360 four-speed car that Rodney brought back to life to bring to car shows and drive on the street.