With the decline of Detroit and the American automobile industry, it’ll be a sight to see what was once the high-octane gas that kept the American economy running in top gear: beautiful streamlined pieces of machinery from a time when the colors, fins and shining chrome proved that American-made autos were art on wheels. Ahhh, there’s nothing like the smell of carburetor napalm in the morning…

That’ll be the case when the Syracuse Nationals kick off their 11th year, beginning on Friday, July 16, 7 a.m. to 9 p.m., continuing on Saturday, July 17, from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m., and concluding on Sunday, July 18, 7 a.m. to 3 p.m., all taking place at the New York State Fairgrounds. Three days of classic, custom and muscle car revelry mean there is something for everyone to appreciate and behold among the thousands of relics the likes of which will most likely never be seen again. We were once truly independent.

Last year’s Syracuse Nationals broke attendance records across the board, with 7,140 vintage cars registered for display within the Fairgrounds’ 375 acres, and more than 80,000 spectators spinning the turnstiles to witness the blacktop museum. Those records are expected to be left in the dust this go-around. 

“We’re up over 200 cars registered this year {two weeks before the start of the event} from the same time last year,” said Rob O’Connor, event director of Right Coast Inc., the company that organizes the Nationals as well as several other similar car shows across the Northeast. “We’ve been sold out of camping space for over a month now and we’re in line for record attendance this year.” 

Space is at a premium, yet O’Connor said any plans to turn the Nationals into a four-day event are just talk. Recent chatter had it that the ongoing building renovations and additions would take away some of the parking available to showcase cars. But that talk ultimately turned out to be a waste of breath and print space to those—not The New Times, of course—who “reported” on the matter. 

“No big deal,” according to O’Connor. “They should have everything wrapped up for the event. We did lose some vendor spacing because of the renovation to the Pepsi International Building, which we used for vending, but there’s no issue with car parking. They worked with us because they understand that, next to the State Fair, {the Syracuse Nationals} is the second largest event in this city.” 

According to O’Connor, the event is expected to pump $12 million into the Syracuse economy, all without assistance from Albany trying to raise taxes on cigarettes or Fatty McGhee soda pop. “There are cars registered in the show from 30 different states—including Hawaii—and we’ll fill 6,000 hotel rooms during the weekend of the event,” he noted. “This is one of the top five largest car shows in the country and the largest one in the Northeast, and a lot of locals don’t realize that it’s right in their back yard.

“Campers start arriving the Sunday before the event and fill up more every day,” he continued. “We’re expecting more than 600 campers on-site by the time of the event and the out-of-towners I’ve talked to love this place. They’ll drop their trailer or motor home and take day trips to the Thousand Islands or any one of the wine countries, or just stay here locally and shop. So that’s why that $12 million number is so big—baby boomers have expendable income, go to nice restaurants. People from all over the country know about Syracuse because of this event. Just recently we were in Las Vegas for an automobile convention and many people were asking us what was going on with {the Nationals} this year.”

While it might take you more than one day to see all of the 7,500-plus cars on display, don’t be surprised if you get sidetracked with all of the other supplementary events taking place at the event. A new one this year is the Winfield Award, named after Gene Winfield, an 83-year-old who still works every day and, along with George Barris and Ed “Big Daddy” Roth, was one of the original car “kustomizers” to gain notoriety in the 1950s and 1960s. Of more than 100 cars entered for the award, Winfield personally chose six, and all of them, gauged in the seven-figure price range, will be on display in the Horticulture Building, with the winner to be announced during Saturday’s dinner dance that starts at 7 p.m. in the Empire Room.

“There will be more than $7 million worth of cars in one building alone,” noted O’Connor. “We asked people to submit pictures and descriptions of their cars and Gene chose the ones he thought best held true to the custom spirit. There’s a good mix of street rods and muscle and classic cars—some of the best in the country. The six cars chosen were from Canada, Montana, California, Pennsylvania, Long Island and Illinois, and they’re all metal—no fiberglass—they’re chopped, slimmed, channeled and designed with prestige.” 

Another item of interest is “Artie’s Party,” a pinstriper project named after its conceiver, pinstriper Art Schilling, taking place all weekend in the Horticulture Building. Some of the best pinstripers in the world, according to O’Connor—including Art Alvarez, one of the top artists for the Walt Disney Company—are flying in on their own dime to work on projects and give demonstrations on several one-of-a-kind projects, which will all be auctioned off with the proceeds donated to the local McMahon/Ryan Child Advocacy charity. Last year, the pinstripers raised more than $38,000.

While the original Batman (Adam West) and Batgirl (Julie Newmar) from the campy 1960s Batman TV series were on hand last year to sign autographs—as Happy Days’ Henry “Arthur Fonzerelli” Winkler and many others were in the past—this year, Paul Le Mat, who played John Milner and rocked the town in a 1955 Chevy in director George Lucas’ 1973 cruising-culture flick American Graffiti, will be on hand. He will be signing autographs alongside his co-star, Candy Clark, who played typical blonde Debbie. Both will be on hand each day at various times in the Verizon Center of Progress Building, which will also house several vendors hawking many automobile-related parts, clothing and media-related merchandise.

Another new venture this year is the “Old-School Round-Up,” to be found in the Cattle Barn. “That building will house only cars painted in primer and semi-gloss paint like the original hot-rods of the 1940s and 1950s,” said O‘Connor, “and we’ll have a stage with rockabilly music, as well as Syracuse’s own Assault City Roller Girls skating around and a guy who’ll be building a custom bike all weekend.”

As for the after-hours cruising that has been severely curtailed around Seventh North Street in Liverpool and along Erie Boulevard East—much to the chagrin of the drivers stuck in overheated, non-air conditioned cars in road-blocked traffic—there should be nothing to worry about if you run through the gears at normal RPMs. “As long as everybody abides by the law there’s no problem,” said O’Connor. “The {police} are not out looking to harass anyone; they’re just out there to keep people safe.”

Advance sale tickets cost $12 and can be purchased at participating area Nice N Easy mini-marts; tickets at the gate will run you $17; for children ages 6 through 12, tickets cost $6/advance and $8/door (free for ages 5 and younger). For more information about the event and for a complete schedule of events, call 668-9703 or visit www.rightcoastcars.com.