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FEATURE INTERVIEWS:

MCACN SHOW SPECIAL 2024:

For the second year in a row, we gave show writer Scotty Stap a pair of microphones, access to the company credit card, and an unlimited budget of up to $49.99 to cover the Muscle Car And Corvette Nationals (MCACN) car show in Chicago. Ryan Brutt once again got Scott access to some great interviewees including a famous car that many people thought was gone for good, the Hurricane Superbird. MCACN is a unique show in that both original, unrestored, barn find, and rare/oddball unique muscle cars are curated along with barn finds, specialty restoration parts suppliers, and everything in between!

Richard Ruth – Two Lane Blacktop Chevy: Sometimes you stumble into a situation where you are not really aware of what is going on. The booth that featured two nondescript 55 Chevys in drag racing attire was one of those places. What made this booth special was that it contained two out of three movie cars from Two Lane Blacktop. The owners were there answering questions but there was one more person there that made the combo spectacular. Richard Ruth, the original builder of the cars for the movie was there for the first time in a very long time paired up with his creations. No time was wasted getting a mic hooked up and starting to talk to Mr Ruth. The conversation flowed so smoothly afterwards that even after the mic was off and put away the talking went on. He is a man of many talents among which is fabrication and building gasser style drag race vehicles. He even created and sold bolt in suspension parts for the drag racing market. These parts were engineered to be a little better than the others I was assured by taking existing designs and adding enhancements to put the racing over the top.

Hope Sellars – 1960 VW Beetle: Hope Sellars has been interested in cars since she was very young and this trip was a chance to show off her passion and hard work over the years. She brought to MCACN her very first car, a modified and re-painted pedal car. She also brought a 1960 Volkswagen Beetle that she has been saving up for since she was four. At twelve years old she had saved $900 was ready to buy her dream car out of a field in Ohio. The car was not in great shape when she got it but working with her dad they went through every part of the car and lovingly replaced or repaired what needed to be without breaking the bank. A lot of parts came from other VW parts cars to keep costs down instead of simply buying new including the engine that needed a rebuild before it would ever run. Hope and her dad finally worked out enough to make the car roadworthy and they then took it on Hot Rod Power Tour where she met Bob Ashton and was personally invited on the spot to attend MCACN. Instead of just hanging out and relaxing at the show, Hope and her dad decided to take that time to rebuild a larger 1600cc VW engine while people looked at her car.

Ana Mercado – Klairmont Kollections: There is so much to see and do at the MCACN show that even out in the lobby there are fascinating cars waiting to be seen. The 1950 Studebaker Ice Princess is a part of the Klairmont Kollections Automotive Museum which is the only car museum in Chicago and is not far from Wrigley Field. Ana Mercado is the curator at the museum since day one, seven years ago. Larry Klairmont had a vast collection of cars he amassed over the years and he wanted to change it over to a public and Ana helped in this transition. They also borrow cars from other collections and loan out some vehicles to other collections so the displays change around to keep things fresh. One of the cars that is out on tour is the 1956 Golden Sahara II, built by Barris, that features lighted Goodyear tires. It recently went through a complete restoration to better than new status including one off new tires. The museum is very community active as well and offers classes and camps for the kids and educational seminars for the adults. Check them out at KlairmontKollections.com.

Magnum Auto Restoration – Hurricane Superbird: Hurricane Ian hit the coast of Florida in September of 2022 and did massive damage to houses and businesses. One of the images from that event that was heartbreaking for auto enthusiasts was the upside down Superbird now lovingly known as the Hurricane Superbird. The car was sold directly from the hurricane to a new owner who hauled it directly to Illinois to Mark Sekula at Magnum Restorations. Mark has finished 19 previous Superbirds before this in the 21 years he has been working on restorations. The salt damage was extensive and every nut and bolt had to be replaced. Many panels had to be replaced and a lot of parts were dipped in evaporust and then picked just to stop the damage from moving forward. The sea salt was very aggressive and it was a race against time to stop the progression of rot. Mark and his team did an amazing job and looking at the car you cannot tell anything happened. They did bring some salt damage parts to the show just to prove how bad it really was. If you would like to know more about Magnum Restorations you can go to Facebook.com/MagnumAutoRestoration or on the web at Magnumautoresto.com. If you would like to know more about the Hurricane Superbird, Ryan has a series on his YouTube channel at Hurricane Superbird Restoration Playlist.

Ryan Brutt – The Automotive Archaeologist – Barn Finds: Ryan took a few minutes out of his busy time at the MCACN Barn find section to give an update of what showed up for 2024. There were some crazy cars and some that did not look so crazy until you start digging into the history. One car that stuck out was an Excalibur, not really a car that muscle car or collectors seek out but the fact that it used to belong to Priscilla Presley makes it very special indeed. There was also a Heavy Chevy that was in a accident at less than 10,000 miles fourty years ago and it was just parked and not fixed. It was at the show this year all crumpled but with owners drawing the line in the sand saying it ends here and the car will be restored. For most the Barn Find section of MCACN is the starting point. It is the coming out and saying, this car has been rescued and will be restored. It definitely makes sure that people will be looking for it in the future to see more of the story.

One of the cars that Ryan helped uncover and hooked up the owners with the right people was a Yenko Camaro owned by the same family for forty years. It was revealed at the Nickey Performance booth at MCACN 2024. You can get more information about that at Ryans you tube video 427 Yenko Camaro uncovered after 30 years!.

This interview sponsored by our pals at National Parts Depot – your premier source for muscle car restoration parts!