50TH NSRA STREET ROD NATIONALS

A GREAT DEAL OF HISTORY WAS ON VIEW FOR ALL TO SEE … AND REFLECT

There are a good number of us who have been around since the first Street Rod Nationals in 1970, held in Peoria, Illinois, with its 600 hot rods. And there are many, many more who weren’t but realize the Nats has history unlike any other hot rod event in the country. (Although if you count indoor car shows you have the likes of the Grand National Roadster Show and the Detroit Autorama, which have longer histories but not nearly the number of entrants.) It was mind-boggling in 1970 to see that many street rods in one location. There was nothing like that ever before—and it was just the beginning.

Back in the day it wasn’t the National Street Rod Association (NSRA) Nationals but rather it started out as the Rod & Custom Street Rod Nationals; by the third go-around it was the Hot Rod Street Rod Nationals and come the fourth year (1973) it was now the NSRA’s Street Rod Nationals … and they have never looked back!