till reeling from last year’s Keep On Truckin’ exhibit, I wasn’t sure what to expect at the 74th Grand National Roadster Show (GNRS) as far as classic trucks were concerned. But come Thursday following our three-day extravaganza at the MPMC Media Conference in Orange County, California, I was pleasantly surprised to see a pretty strong truck contingent vying for the Al Slonaker Memorial Award at the 2024 GNRS—not to mention a great variety of vintage haulers scattered around the remaining Fairplex buildings.

With the impending “doom” of a forecasted weeklong torrential storm possibly affecting the annual Grand Daddy Drive-In (outdoor) turnout, I didn’t get my hopes up for that. But Mother Nature always has her way—the rain held off for the majority of the weekend, and as such, the display of local classic truck talent was fairly strong—enough so that we were able to at least get our magazine/editor’s picks on Saturday!

Now, back to the 2024 Slonaker competition: While a stunning ’59 Chevy (Dale Rush’s Impala by Steve Cook Creations) would take the 2024 honors, making the judges’ job as difficult as possible were some of the most amazingly built trucks I’ve seen. Among the top contenders were the ’67 C10 from Hot Rods by Dean, John Lamb’s subtle yet stunning ’61 Ford Unibody by Tin Man’s Garage, and Ryan Vicklund’s super-slick ’67 C10 from NorCal Paint and Bodyworks (all of which you’ll be seeing much more of on the pages of CTP shortly!).

ailgate time! Let’s go back a bit and talk about the fabwork on the tailgate for Scott’s Hotrods ’N Customs’ Brian Schutte’s truck.

When we initially got around to making the tailgate, there wasn’t much that had been planned for. Ultimately, we just knew we needed a tailgate. I had the idea of trying to somehow incorporate a soft-open feature like newer model trucks have today and Justin Padfield was on board with the idea, so we did a little research and decided to call up one of the local GM dealerships and get our hands on the entire tailgate hinge assembly for an ’18 Silverado. These trucks use a torsion rod in the bottom of the tailgate that connects both hinges and applies resistance the more you open the tailgate. To keep the torsion rod from acting like a spring, a damper is put at one end, making the force on the torsion rod much more even, providing the “soft” opening motion. So, after getting all the parts and figuring out how they work, that determined to some extent how the hinge assembly and bottom of the tailgate would be built. 

e just learned of a special coating called ZyBar. A thin coating will reduce underhood temperatures by 40 percent. It actually increases the power output and fuel economy of the engine since it speeds the flow of the exhaust gases and it resists rust and corrosion. ZyBar is available in four colors—Bronze Satin, Midnight Black, cast (medium gray), and aluminum—and it can provide a nice accent in the engine compartment.

Some builders have been so enamored with this product that they use it for components that don’t need heat protection because it has a unique, satiny finish, and the colors available can harmonize with other colors or offer an interesting contrast. The truck pictured in this article was built by Vintage Fabrication, in Independence, Missouri. In addition to coating a number of underhood components with ZyBar, they used it as an accent color for the wheels, rearview mirrors, and some other components. As you can see, it provides a subtle but elegant contrast with polished metal or glossy paint.

hen it comes to car auctions, you will be hard-pressed to find any larger and more exciting than the Barrett-Jackson auctions held around the country. However, the Barrett-Jackson Auction, which is organized yearly in Scottsdale, Arizona, is clearly the pinnacle of car and truck auctions. Held in January, the numbers are staggering, and emerging trends are there to see.

Over 2,000 vehicles were sold with “no reserve,” meaning if it makes it to the block, it’s dealt with! It should be noted that this equates to over $200 million in sales. Throw in a few other numbers, such as $1 million-plus for charities, 190 world-record auctions, rock ’n’ roll concerts, and $6.7 million in automobilia, and you can see why upwards of 400,000 people attend.