The Syracuse Nationals Week Road Tour
The Syracuse Nationals celebrates its 20th anniversary this July. In two decades the show has grown to become the largest special-interest auto event in the northeast and one of the largest in the United States. More than 8,000 1985-and-earlier vehicles and almost 100,000 spectators cover the huge New York State Fairgrounds. The Syracuse Nationals Week Road Tour will be there all week to join in the celebration.
The story of the beginning of the Syracuse Nationals is both interesting and unique. Way back in 1995 the National Street Rod Association held their annual Nationals event in Syracuse, New York, for the first and only time. The NSRA soon moved their Nationals to its permanent home in Louisville. Many of the folks who attended that event in 1995 were northeastern hot rodders who liked the idea of having a major car event in their backyard. Two of those hot rodders were Syracuse residents Bob O’Connor and Fred Fiebiger. Over the next few years when they traveled to car shows, folks would ask them if the Nationals were coming back to Syracuse. When it became apparent that the NSRA Nationals was not coming back, Bob and Fred decided to look into promoting an event on their own. In 2000, with the help of the Central New York Car Club Association, the first Syracuse Nationals was held at the New York State Fairgrounds. Amazingly 4,300 vehicles attended that inaugural event. That is an incredible number of cars for a first-time event. In a few years, Bob went on to form the Right Coast Association. Son Rob O’Connor has taken over the formidable task of presiding over the entire Syracuse Nationals event along with the help of the Central New York Car Club Association and the Right Coast team.
The show has grown and now features activities that have become “shows within the show.” The Ol’ Skool Rockabilly Roundup is a special building that features traditional-style hot rods, music, fashions, and collectibles. Artie’s Party is a three-day “panel jam” with pinstripers from around the country creating works of art that are auctioned off for charity. The swap meet and car corral portion of the Syracuse Nationals is always huge. The prestigious Winfield Award presented by Meguiar’s is highly contested each year and chosen by custom car legend Gene Winfield himself. The PFAFF Designers Dozen, Tucci Hot Rods Pros Pick, and the STREET RODDER/Painless Performance Products Top 100 awards ensure that there will be plenty of the nation’s best street rods, customs, and muscle cars in attendance. To commemorate the 20th anniversary, the Syracuse Nationals folks have commissioned the pros at Tucci Hot Rods to build a very cool 1932 Ford coupe to be given away to a participant at the show.
We have a great week planned for the days leading up to the Syracuse Nationals. We are going to make a return visit to the fantastic Northeast Car Museum in Norwich, New York. We will be stopping by Tucci Hot Rods to get a first look at that 1932 giveaway coupe. Folks on last year’s tour had so much fun lapping the Watkins Glen Race Course that we are making a return trip there. Of course we will be attending the participant’s kick-off party on Thursday. There are plenty of other activities scheduled and our Road Tour fun starts on Monday, July 15 and includes the celebration of the 20th Syracuse Nationals, which take place July 19-21.
Go to streetrodder.com to get signed up for the Syracuse Nationals Week and all the other ARP/STREET RODDER Road Tours we have scheduled for this summer. Call the Road Tour Hotline at (800) 664-1362 with any questions.
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