This is my personal opinion. First of all, I love old cars of any type. Last year the NSRA began allowing cars to attend the Street Rod Nationals up the year of 1981. I have always looked forward to attending the Street Rod Nationals. I have a 1929 Buick that I am building. It is, or will be, a Street Rod. To be classified as a Street Rod the car has to be 1948 or older. Anything newer is a hot rod or street car.
It was with great disappointment that last year when I went I saw some vehicles that had no business being there. I saw an old International scout 4 wheel drive, an old Lance candies delivery truck and a lot of other vehicles that looked seriously out of place. What WAS missing was a lot of the old street rods that I had been used to seeing. For those of you that have ever attended the Nationals in Louisville, KY and are familiar with it, normally, there is a pretty good size swap meet outside. Last year it was noticeably smaller. This year is was filled probably a bit over half the size of normal. The Kentucky State Fairgrounds is where is is held. Always before it was filled to capacity. This year it was freakishly sparse.
The NSRA is alienating the street rodder in an attempt to gain more profits. As I said before, I love old cars of any vintage. I own a 1957 Chevrolet but would never consider driving it to the Street Rod Nationals because it does not belong there. As a matter of fact, I am not sure if I will go back. This year I spent most of my time indoors looking to see what the vendors were offering. That is another thing! Normally, you would have to turn sideways to walk through the crowds. This year there was no difficulty moving around anywhere.
To me, I feel there are plenty other classic car shows for the 49 and newer, such as Good Guys. I really enjoy going there and expect to see the 49 and newer classic cars. For many years, I have built 1967-1969 Camaros and Chevelles. I have had several show winners, but then again, they don't belong at the Street Rod Nationals regardless of how good they are. Again, this is my personal opinion. I am hopeful that I haven't stepped on any toes saying this, but I feel the Street Rod is in it's own class and should stay there.