Minnesota Motorhead

Whether it’s 4th of July fireworks, a weekend at the family cabin, or that first summer cruise with the windows down, every Minnesotan has a summer highlight – something to look forward to when the grass turns green and the days get hot.

For me, the highlight of the past seven years has always been the Car Craft Summer Nationals at the Minnesota State Fairgrounds in St. Paul, a three-day celebration of ground-thumping street machines from every era.

I had just purchased my ‘84 Monte Carlo SS and sold an ‘86 Monte to a friend before my first Summer Nationals experience in 2002. That friend and I joined up with a couple other buddies – one with a ‘62 Impala and another who later bought an ‘89 Trans Am GTA – and the Car Craft crew was born.

During the first several years, even though none of us ever lived more than a half-hour away from the fairgrounds, we always stayed in hotels to be close to the action. We got up at the break of dawn, but never early enough, it seemed (do people camp out in their cars in front of the fair entrance? Seriously, they must).

For years we tried to get prime spots on the street, but always failed and ended up on a grassy area near the event’s old main stage. It took a while to realize that the spot was great. We eventually made it our own.

We grilled all weekend on a homemade grill made in one of the guys’ shop class, which we placed on a spare tire since it didn’t have legs. We never once remembered a spatula, so we learned to flip burgers with wrenches.

That grill was still in use this year and I parked in the same spot I always do. But, for the first time, my car was without any of its regular Car Craft companions.

The friend with the GTA recently moved to Colorado and the one with the Impala has been slowly dissecting the car with plans to restore it. The ‘86 Monte hasn’t even started this year.

But a couple of the guys were there and the show was as fun as ever, with a couple new features this year in the autocross and 60 mph-0 mph braking challenge (which probably won’t return because of an accident involving an out-of-control Mustang).

For guys and gals who can’t get their cars into Back to the ‘50s because of the ‘64-and-older age cap, this is the big local event of the summer, attracting around 4,000 street machines annually.

And of all the places a national magazine like Car Craft could go, they keep coming back to St. Paul. I hope they do for years to come.

Enjoy the photos from this year’s July 25-27 show.

July 29th, 2008 | Articles, Event Articles