The very first truck we spotted...
The very first truck we spotted on Friday was this mellow-yellow '58 Chevy owned by Paul Remington from Springhill, Florida. There's a 327ci V-8 hooked to a Turbo 400 trans under the hood.
The 4th Del Mar Rod & Custom Nationals, held on April 2-4, 2004, delighted an even greater number of attendees than in 2003, especially because most of the participants dodged the springtime thundershowers that soaked Thursday afternoon travelers. The event, now open to all vehicles up to 1972, allowed even more custom classics from the '60s and '70s than in the past, and that pleased most everyone involved, since there was an excellent turnout of vendors, participants, and spectators over the three-day event.
There are few venues as hospitable (or pricey) as Del Mar. The many beach town restaurants, both north and south of Del Mar, offer plenty of fine dining to supplement the over-priced fairground concessions. It's our opinion that someone should follow the lead of the new California Angels' baseball team owner (a 16-ounce draft beer was $6.75) and lower the price of the concessions a tad. Everything else was accommodating and congenial, as more than 1,500 vehicles converged on the spacious fairgrounds.
We met plenty of old friends during the three-day event and possibly made a few new ones as we selected several trucks to be captured on film. Check out the vintage vehicles that filled our viewfinder - perhaps yours was one of them.