History 1977 Street Rod Nationals St Paul

The 1974 nationals thread sent me on a search of Youtube for other gems of that bygone era. I found this great (but long) video from 1977. I haven't watched the whole thing yet, but scrub to the 5 minute mark and you can see some neat footage of a Street Rod Rodeo, or something of the like. These cars are doing a U-Turn hazing the tires with the passenger hanging out the window with a pool cue. So, instead of watching the depressing news tonight, sit back and enjoy some 70's pre-48 awesomeness. There are several cars I recognize, as my family was NSRA regulars through the 70's and 80's. Enjoy.

 

At 8:53 there is just a few second clip of THE Tom McMullen 32 Roadster driving down the street.

 

The '77 Nationals was my first. I can't remember what I had for breakfast, but I can remember a whole lot of this event from 42 years ago. Looking forward to sitting down and rememberating this evening.

 

Is it just me or do the street rods not seem so street roddy?

 

Saint Paul 77 was the first street Nationals for us. Have been to everyone since .

 

^^^^^^Pre-billet

 

I saw Lil' John Buttera driving his Model A roadster. Also, I think I caught a quick glimpse of my grandpa's green 37 Chevy coupe in there too.

I was a wee lad of 6 Months old during the Nationals in 77. But I'm sure I was there somewhere. My parents went every year.

 

My brothers and I were there. There are some quick glimpes of my brothers 27 in the campground. We stayed there 2 weeks. Back then, NSRA also had a Street Machine Division and the Nationals were held on back to back weeks.

 

At minute 55 there is a shot of the famous "Tweedy" 32 Roadster from Texas.

 

Sure liked it a lot more before they swithcd to the "rolling 30 year" limit. Much better when it was all pre-48.

THanks for posting the video.

.bjb

 

I was there also, but on the foot mobile.

 

We took the shortcut from Lower Michigan to Wisconsin to get there.

 

'77 was my first year for attending a Nats. Maybe I'm in there somewhere.
What gets me is the lack of spectators and how easy it is to cruise around the fairgrounds. Nowadays at BTTF's you can barely walk down the sidewalks let alone drive around.

 

I get a kick out of the big trucks all the sudden then a train then more big trucks. Lol.
Great video! Thanks

 

Amazing how many vehicles had the big whip antennas , I would assume for CB radios for communication between the participants.

 

We convoyed from California and we all had CBs to keep in contact on the road. Gas stops, pee stops, food stops and time to check out the scenery.


Sent from my iPhone using H.A.M.B.

 

CB's were all the rage in the 70's, but I suspect the tall, white, bumper mount whip antenna was also something of a fashion statement.

 

I drove my chopped 40 Merc that year. There were maybe 5 or 6 early style customs there.
I was a NSRA rep then so had to work but still had a great time.
Will try to scan some photos.

Mick

 

The 1977 Nats in St Paul were my first Nats too. We caravanned a group of cars the 5 hours north from Iowa. One pick up was just put together and did not have a gas tank installed yet so he rigged a 5-gallon gas can in the truck bed. With all of his gas stops the 5-hour drive was much longer than 5-hours!

 

1977 I was in 9th grade , that's also when I started buying car magazines, I would go to class and have one pee-chee filled with Rod magazine's and a second with my class papers.
Still have most of my old magazines and one just happened to be one that covered the '77 Nats.

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As a long time Twin Cities resident it's fun to look at the fairgrounds in the background..some of it looks just the same today, but a lot has changed since then. What was that pumpkin mobile thing that shows up in the first few minutes? Pretty wild.

T-Buckets and stroker caps were pretty popular. As for the tall whip CB antennas, during the summer of '77 I was working in the fiberglass plant that made those things and I unfortunately didn't have time to attend the Nats. They didn't do much for crowd protection during the gymkhana - a couple loose hay bales were all that separated the people sitting on the curb from the cars.

 

I grew up in Roseville, not too far from the Fairgrounds so we’d hitch a ride and spend the day looking at cars. I don’t recall the exact year but it must have been the early 70’s because I wasn’t driving yet. The show and after hours cruising scene was off the hook for a car crazed kid. Those were the days...

 

We were there also, I was an NSRA rep for the Street Machine division. The flamed deuce Roadster in the photo that “36cab” posted belonged to Jerry Killberg it had a nailhead at one time. He now has a Deuce tub, full fenderd with another nailhead.

 

That's my Merc pictured just above Jerry's deuce.

Mick

 

The brown '34 3-window highboy was probably my favorite car at that nationals, but a close second favorite was the flamed Koolaid Kid '33 5-window pictured on page 70 of Rod Action in the B/W pics.

 

Looks like a lot f these cars would fit in nicely here on the hamb today. HRP

 

Around the 5 min. mark is footage of me and a friend of mine in my '27 Ford roadster doing some competition game.
I think you had to spear a ring hanging off a pole with the pool cue.
Later on there are clips of people handing in the cue, but at that point you had to stop between two lines on the pavement or loose points.
Lynn and I were very good at these games and were the Mopar Natl Champion in '77, because they still considered my DeSoto Firedome as a Mopar.
Along with a big ole trophy (which we had to dissemble to get it home in the back seat of a friends '32 sedan) we won a new 360 Mopar engine and trans.
I had attended every Nats until about 2001, when I figured they were never going to leave Lville !!!

THANX RICH

 

Rich, if you still have the roadster post some current (or 1977 era) pics.

I watched the whole video and only saw one bit of local Central Iowa guy's cars. At 43:30 is a flamed silver 40 coupe. The car is still around Iowa, but has been completely rebuilt and looks different. I have the old vinyl and velvet seats in my garage though, saving for a 40 coupe project of my own.

 

@v860rich If I remember right at one of the Nats, you bent the front radius rods and at the next Nats, you had welded plates to them to reinforce them. You used to really tear up the course.

 

That happened in Tulsa. Very hot and the finish was stopping between 2 lines about a foot apart.
On one of the runs when I stopped the front wheels stuck in a soft spot on the lot, but the rest of the car wanted to keep going.
I took the car to the MSRA's repair shop and used some jacks and whatever to get them kinda straight, welded in some plates and kept on racing.
You probably seen them again that weekend with the plates welded in.
When I got home I welded up a new set and put my initials in the opening between the top and bottom tube.

THANX RICH