The NSRA Nationals East. |
 Mary and Craig Harrison of...  Mary and Craig Harrison of Brooklyn, Ohio, own this pristine two-tone 47 Chevy pickup. Theyre members of the Choppers Hot Rod Association. Notice the seriously chopped top. |
 This green with flames 35...  This green with flames 35 Ford sedan delivery is the pride and joy of owners George and Leah Dell Pries of Clemmons, North Carolina. Theres a custom grille insert and nifty nerf bars up front. |
 High, wide, and handsome is...  High, wide, and handsome is the 40 Chevy panel delivery owned by Steve Schmidt of Baltimore, Maryland. Steves a member of the Old Line Chasers car club. |
 We dont often publish...  We dont often publish photos of vehicles with For Sale signs in the window, because it appears as if the owner has lost interest in the cool car/truck community. But were making an exception for Ron Dellinger of Loppa, Maryland. His 39 Ford stakebed looked like 3/4 tons of fun. |
 The Last Chance Hose Co. fire...  The Last Chance Hose Co. fire truck, owned by Gayle and Ken Bessette of Williston, Vermont, was fun to look at. You dont see many vintage Ford fire trucks, especially one as neatly chopped and painted as this 36. The Bessettes are members of the Vermont Street Rodders car club. |
 Bob Biscoe of Newtown, Connecticut,...  Bob Biscoe of Newtown, Connecticut, owns this rare 32 International panel delivery. The matching paint on the wire wheels adds a neat color accent. |
 Larry Parrs purple 35...  Larry Parrs purple 35 Ford pickup is a Prime Time playera car club from Hanover, Pennsylvania. It appears the cab on Larrys pickup has been extended through the doors, and the rearend has been narrowed for wide pavement grabbers. |
 Hi ho silver,...  Hi ho silver, says Jay Smith from Herkimer, New York. His 47 Ford ramp truck is a big un. Check out the molded sunvisor and late-model bumper. |
 Parked in the camping area...  Parked in the camping area were some prime evils. Heres Slow Dogs member John Beckers whacked 48 GMC. John hails from Hanover, Pennsylvania. Check out the hooded headlight trim-rings and the leaned-back windshield. |
 Another prime evil (dressed...  Another prime evil (dressed to kill) was the rockin 48 Chevy pickup owned by none other than Norman Bates of Abbottstown, Pennsylvania. A member of the Purple Helmet Surfers (theres got to be a story here), Norman likes to go topless in his suede surfboard hauler that runs sans handles or hinges. |
 A primered Dodge roadster-pickup,...  A primered Dodge roadster-pickup, owned by Karen and Flick of Hanover, Pennsylvania, has the flames to start the fire. These Slow Dogs must have a thing for paintless pickups. |
 This sharp and well-detailed...  This sharp and well-detailed 34 Ford pickup is owned by Robert Beard of Owiwos, Maryland. |
 Studebakers are an often-overlooked...  Studebakers are an often-overlooked mark, especially the post-War trucks like Nick Raimos black 46 from Pennsylvania. The smoothie appears to be without bumpers and running boards, but has a good stance and excellent paint prep. The leaned-way-back windshield is stock in this truck. |
 Participant and exhibitor...  Participant and exhibitor Dennis OBrien of OBrien Truckers fame from North Grafton, Maine, came with his wife Sue. Their fine fully-ornamented 34 Ford panel truck is a regular at Nats East. |
 This concept roadster-pickup...  This concept roadster-pickup has been on the rod run circuit for a while but still looks fresh. Gary Schweikert of Allentown, Pennsylvania, owns it, and the 35 Chevy serves as a calling card for his hot rod shop. |
 The Vagabonds Car Club is...  The Vagabonds Car Club is one of those club names that caught on across America. This traditional two-tone 40 delivery is owned by member John Chico Eshleman of Columbia, Pennsylvania. Need a sign? Give Chico a call. |
Yes, we know the ground is still frozen in many parts of the country, and youre suffering from a serious case of cabin fever, but it wont be long before the rod run season is upon us once again. The NSRA Nationals East in York, Pennsylvania, is one of the first major events of the National Street Rod Associations 2001 season, and its a very popular run that nearly 5,000 owners and their families attendif last years attendance is an accurate barometer. The York Fairgrounds are deep in the heart of cool car and tough truck country, in spite of the pesky Pennsylvania DMV and its anti-modification laws. We continue to see a unique and interesting bunch of rides year after year. In May 2000 we were in the process of shifting gears from R&C to CCT. This meant we were a tad more serious about checking out the trucks and commercial vehicles in attendance, and there were plenty of honeys in the usual mix of fine street rods.
What got our attention rather quickly was a well-presented vehicle that obviously showed the owners pride; it could have been within a wide variety of makes and body styles and painted or primered. Of course pickups and panel trucks obviously caught our eye. Cabover trucks and larger-than-half-tons could be equally provocative.
The Nats East drew well from the Harrisburg/Hershey area. We also saw a wide variety of street rod and trucks from the surrounding states. This event has grown steadily to become the largest NSRA regional event. Besides the thousands of vintage vehicles on the fairgrounds, there are many historically significant sites to see in and around York. The exhibitors generally agree that York is a good indicator of how summer sales are going to stack up. They count on a few diehards picking up a project vehicle in the swap meet areaand purchasing a truckload of new parts to rebuild it. Regardless of what brings you to York, youll undoubtedly take home plenty of pleasant memories, perhaps some new friends, or possibly a new pickup. Hope to see you there this year.