Street Machine Nationals

[michael6372]

Hello everyone, I wasn't real sure where to put this but I thought off topic would be the best. If it's in the wrong place, I apologize.

Just thought I'd ask if anyone here used to go to the Street Machine Nationals during the 80s & 90s in Duquoin, Springfield etc., etc. Do you have any photos or experiences you'd like to share from those days? I was never able to go to any of the shows back then but I love the cars from those days(just as much as the cars of today). I have a website dedicated to street machines and am looking for photos, stories etc. to give people an idea of what it was like back then and to show how street machines have evolved into what they are today. Any help would be GREATLY appreciated!

Thank you

Michael.

[michael6372]

Anyone??

[Wrecked Em]

I was there in 88, 89, and 90. I had a great time each year.

[DIGI-TAILS]

I appreciate your effort to reconstruct the evolution. I hope members here would be willing to share the photos they have. Good luck to your endeavor!!!! :cheers:

[NotStock Photo]

Man if it wasnt for Duquoin when I lived in Southern Illinois I might have thought prius's where cool

[kochevy67]

I also was there in 88-90 and thought it was great. I have photos but obviously they are not digital they are stuck in an album somewhere.

By the way Escanaba is a cool town I pass through there on my way to our sled trips when the white stuff falls.

[michael6372]

CamaroBeau- Thanks for the kind words! I'm hoping someone will want to share some photos...



NotStock Photo-Love your work! Duquoin was the place for sure. alot of history there. Makes me wonder what the cars built today would be like if it weren't for those times...



kochevy67- It snowin' here tonight. Just flurries though, so far...

I know there were no digital photos back then. I also know it can be a real P.I.T.A. to scan and send photos. If you want to share some photos anyway, I might have a solution to the problem.

THANK YOU!!

Michael.

[Shmoov69]

Well, I live in Springfield and always have......so I've been to bout all of the ones here. They used to be awesome, but Special Events or whoever it was pretty much ruined it. Raising prices to where it was $65 or so to put the car in and got nothing really. And the gate price was like $15 a head for spectators. Just too much IMO. The local police did not help matters too much also.
Wow, stories.....LOTS of "after show" festivities in the beginning needless to say!! I am still amazed that nobody was ever hurt! The local dragstrip has had their big event of the year that weekend for the last 20 or so years also. But if you didn't want to go there, you could stay in town and see plenty of racing on the streets!
Pictures? That will be hard to find some good ones, but I'll try. I heard that it is coming back here next year, truth??

[kochevy67]

I have to see if I can dig any of them up.

[DIGI-TAILS]

I also was there in 88-90 and thought it was great. I have photos but obviously they are not digital they are stuck in an album somewhere.

By the way Escanaba is a cool town I pass through there on my way to our sled trips when the white stuff falls.

you can scan those pics and share it here... :)

[michael6372]

Well, I live in Springfield and always have......so I've been to bout all of the ones here. They used to be awesome, but Special Events or whoever it was pretty much ruined it. Raising prices to where it was $65 or so to put the car in and got nothing really. And the gate price was like $15 a head for spectators. Just too much IMO. The local police did not help matters too much also.
Wow, stories.....LOTS of "after show" festivities in the beginning needless to say!! I am still amazed that nobody was ever hurt! The local dragstrip has had their big event of the year that weekend for the last 20 or so years also. But if you didn't want to go there, you could stay in town and see plenty of racing on the streets!
Pictures? That will be hard to find some good ones, but I'll try. I heard that it is coming back here next year, truth??



Wow!! Those prices are CRAZY!! I believe it was Special Events(now Family Events) that ran it. It would be cool if you found some pics you wanted to share.

I know there have been some people talking about bringing back the Street Machine Nationals show. I have been working on it as well(by myself though not with anyone else so far). I know the city of Duquoin wasn't too thrilled about bringing it back. As far as it being next year, I have not heard anything concrete about dates, places etc yet.

[michael6372]

I have to see if I can dig any of them up.

you can scan those pics and share it here... :)



kochevy67- Cool! I'd really appreciate it!


If anyone posts some pics here, would they mind if I used them for the website? I am not the type to take any photos without permission so, if you post any, please let me know if I can use them.

Also, if anyone doesn't have a scanner (and they feel comfortable doing so), they could mail their photos to me, I could scan them and send them back. I would be willing to reimburse any shipping costs and pay to ship the photos back to you.

Thanks!

Michael.

[RECOVERY ROOM]

Man if it wasnt for Duquoin when I lived in Southern Illinois I might have thought prius's where cool

Thats funny,..... I went a couple years. I saw some stupid and funny stuff go on after the show when everyone was cruising, They were good times!! Only a handful of guys were building the high end cars then. Mark Grimes has the blue 65 Malibu still, Wonder where some of the other cars are.

[michael6372]

I wonder the same thing. I know Scott Sullivan still has his 55 Chevy. Rick Dobbertin's J2000 is in a museum somewhere, I think he still has his Nova. Rocky Robertson still has his Buick. Mark Grimes still has the Malibu. Other than those cars, I have no idea where the great cars from back then are. I sure wish I knew!!

Michael.

[MarkM66]

Here's some;

http://www.hubgarage.com/mygarage/falconrdstr/vehicles/21132

Here's some more.

http://www.hubgarage.com/mygarage/lakesideair/vehicles/16907

I was there for few years right out of around '94, right out of high school, barely remember most of it, :cheers: The Springfield nats wasn't even in the same ballpark as Duquoin. This sounds like something an old man would say, but that was a different era. :hail:

[JKnight]

My current car was there at some point during the 80's, it had the green windshield sticker from the event up until a few years ago.

If anyone finds a picture of a black 69 Camaro with tilt front and 3 piece second gen style spoiler, it's mine now! Goofy looking by today's standards, but was probably cool back then.

[Bow Tie 67]

I was there is 83' holy crap what a blast. Slept in the ditch along the fence. Watched cars drag race along the north side two lane. We were at the top end standing on the edge of the road as cars roared past at 2am.

Watched an AutoBuff photo shoot. ( They had two guys holding a giant sheet to try and block the nude model ) Drugs out in the open along with booze. A cop told us we could get away with anything that weekend except murder.

Sorry no pics just burnt out memories.

Does anyone know how many years they made all lanes one way around the fairgrounds for this event?

[rocketman]

That was the 1st show I ever did by myself as a teen. took my pink pro street 69 camaro I was 19. was a blast me and buddies went. the cruising the burnouts, street racing oh yea

[michael6372]

Any pics??

[rocketman]

IMO, thats pro street race car look is still bad ass.

[RECOVERY ROOM]

I agree, I really like the 20x15 Mickys....Low and wide

[Derek69SS]

I was never there, but I had posters of several of those cars hanging in my room as a kid... it's funny to see them now and remember how cool I thought they were at the time. :hail:

:lol:

[cheapta]

I took my 69 Z/28 to the Nats in Indy in 1978.it was a great time...except for the thousand miles each way with 3.73's and no OD! We had our son with us who was 4 at the time,stayed in a campground not far from the fairgrounds.Because we had the little guy with us we didn't participate in or witness any of the after hours shenanigans but there were some very cool cars in the same campground we were in. We met some nice folks from Waterloo,Iowa as I recall that had a Pro Street Pinto they towed in.
We got to take 2 laps around the Speedway-yes,THAT Speedway in Indiana! I have some pictures but after all these years and about 4 moves since then I couldn't begin to find them.Sorry,I know you're looking for pics.
I still have the Z/28 and it still has the window stickers and dash plaque on it,I'm real proud of those. As an aside,I built a fresh motor for the car for that trip and it's still in the car,too. It's pretty whipped these days,those rear gears are fun but they take a toll over time.
Thanks for asking about this,it brought back some cool memories-

Pete

[Musclecar]

I was at the SMN in Springfield during the 2004-2006 seasons with the Oklahoma Outlaw Racing Association..Of course the guys in our club won the dyno challenge every year.. For some reason the guys from MO just couldn't produce any HP at the rear wheels... I do have some pics... I will try and post some.

[Musclecar]

A few of the pics I have from 2004 in Springfield

[RECOVERY ROOM]

Things have changed alot in 6yrs.

[Musclecar]

yeah, the oklahoma boys have even MORE HP now!

[Shmoov69]

For some reason the guys from MO just couldn't produce any HP at the rear wheels...
I wouldn't go to quite that extreme, there were several local STREET cars in the 800-900 range.....but they couldn't hang with your "street" cars for sure. The REAL local cars were at the track on those weekends. And the black Camaro that you guys had was freaking awesome without a doubt!! The black 67 or 68 Camaro that someone from there has now is amazing, isn't it a super low miles car? I saw it at the track last summer.

[Musclecar]

the black 68 camaro belonged to a guy we called fatcat.. I believe he has sold the car but not sure where it went...a lot of the faster cars are running the mako 10.5 class right now.. guy has a mustang with a bb chevy in it for his powerplant and it's probably the fastest thing around.. running high 7's. that car is just amazing..I know all of us okies are hoping the SMN come back to Springfield.. None of us have been to littlerock and probably won't. we had a ton of fun in the show me state...