The 16th annual Pistons and Paint show was huge this year!! There were so many cars and trucks at the show and so many new rides that I’d never seen. Troy and I met up at Whataburger for breakfast and then headed down to the street to the North Texas State Fair Grounds where the show has been held for years. We arrive about 10:30 am and the visitor parking lot is already pretty full so we know it’s going to be a great show. Walk up to the gates and get our tickets and stop to admire how many cars are there. Usually, there are just enough cars there to where you can look at both sides of the aisle but this year there is way too much to look at.
There were so many great looks cars this year, so many finished cars. In the past, there were a lot of Rat Rods and Hot Rods but this show had it all. The Nomads had a huge showing and so did the C10 Chevy pickups. Troy and I made our way through the cars and telling stories about cars we’d seen or had had in the past. We talked to several owners and loved hearing their stories about their car and how they built them. That is one of the greatest parts of a show like this, the community. Everyone is there because they love cars, they love talking about them, building them and photographing them.
We made it about halfway through and were close to the vendors so I had to stop by and say hi to Brian Bass. I’ve been wanting to meet him for quite a while and wasn’t sure if I’d be able to with the GMG show just releasing only a few days before. But he was there and ready to greet anyone that came up. I chatted with him for a bit and finally got me a Bass Kustom shirt. At this point, we started getting stopped by several people and being asked who we were shooting for and a few people I couldn’t wait to meet. I finally got to meet Jeff Sharer of Copperhead Kustoms in Van Alstyne TX. We’ve been trying to get a photo shoot of his rides for years now and we may have finally done so. It’s great to meet new people at shows and talk with old friends as well. So many great people out there in the Hot Rod community. I even got to meet the creators of Rust Bucket Resurrections magazine, Timm and Tammy Lucher.
So I have (in pieces) a 60s era Chevy Pickup and this year at the show I think all of them showed up at once. There were so many of them out there and in all sorts of shapes. There were fully built and polished ones, even a 4×4 version which I’d never seen. There was also one that someone slammed and shoved a diesel engine under the hood. Then there was David Gallardo’s gorgeous 1964 Chevy short bed. We talked to David for a bit and got some details on it. He said he completed the build in about 4 months and did most of the work himself. I joking said I’ll give him mine and let him finish it for me. We talked about getting some photos done, so you should see more of his here in the near future.
There were a lot of out of towners too! It’s great to see the show reaching further and further out each year. This is the 6th year that I’ve gone to the show and the green 32 above is one of the first cars I photographed at the 2011 show. It’s nice to see so many local cars return year after year and to see them evolve or even be completed over the years. I really liked seeing a lot of custom cars this year. It’s nice to see the show grow and receive more local support. And as always, we’re all ready for next year’s show. Can’t wait to see how many cars show up next year.
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