The National Street Rod Association, most often referred to as the NSRA, has been promoting the hot rod hobby for more than fifty years. In fact, its flagship event, the Street Rod Nationals is celebrating its 55thanniversary this year. Although the event moved a few times in its early years, it has settled into a wonderful home at the Kentucky Expo Center in Louisville, Kentucky. The facility offers plenty of room for cars and trucks to gather, and it also features a giant building, which houses hundreds of vendors and provides some air-conditioned relief to escape the hot summer weather. Altogether, nearly 10,000 hot rods, customs, muscle cars and classic trucks swarmed the grounds from Thursday through Sunday, making the Street Rod Nationals one of the largest car shows in the world.
For many years, the NSRA had a strict age cut-off, only allowing 1948 and earlier vehicles to participate. This cut-off was eventually changed to a 30-year sliding rule, so for the 2024 event, cars and trucks built in 1994 and earlier were allowed to participate. Even with the 1990’s age cut-off, most of the cars and trucks in attendance range from the 1920’s through the 1970’s. The variety of pre-World War II cars is outstanding, with a mixture of traditional hot rods and contemporary street rods. Moving into the 1950’s, there is always a strong contingent of Tri-Five Chevy and Ford offerings, from slammed customs and sky-high gassers to modest drivers and everything in between. Muscle cars are well represented, and classic trucks are showing great potential within the younger demographic.
In addition to the awesome display of vehicles positioned outside the Expo Center, there were more inside, as the NSRA assembled a great Builder’s Showcase in the lobby. Further inside the building, more cars were on display, often associated with one of the many vendors. If you walk out the back door of the Expo Center you’ll be greeted by a great Swap Meet, with thousands of used vintage parts that are searching for a new home. Additionally, the back side of the grounds includes the NSRA Autocross, where a variety of vehicles tackled the coned course.
Although a few thunderstorms spoiled some of the fun, we still had a great time at the 55th annual NSRA Street Rod Nationals. The cars, the people and the companies that come together for this event are the backbone of the hot rod industry, so we made a few laps around the event to bring you the highlights. For more information on future NSRA events, check out www.nsra-usa.com and make plans to join the fun at an upcoming event.
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