Jerry and Doris Johnson of St. Joseph, Minn., own this eye-searing red '61 Oldsmobile hardtop and proudly display a sign on the dashboard saying it's `Driven Everywhere!'
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Mike Berry / The Wichita Eagle
Fresh from the cover and a full-blown feature in Rod & Custom Magazine, the Mountain Pearl was resplendent in the bright Kansas sunlight. The iconic '53 Ford pickup, originally built by Otto Rhoades in Colorado, was recently restored by Tom Pagano of Sacramento, just in time for the 50th anniversary of its original debut.
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One of the trick new touches added to the Mountain Pearl is a plexiglass firewall window that lets the driver keep an eye on what's going on in the highly polished engine bay.
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Mike Berry / The Wichita Eagle
Troy Pate's `Switchblade' Merc, seen here at the drag strip venue, recaptures the original `lead sled' vibe with its chopped and dropped primered profile. The Wichitan added Buick side molding and a pair of frenched switchblade antennas as part of the theme.
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The drag racing portion of the Lead Sled festivities is billed as `Run What You Brung' and this pairing of a 6-cylinder powered Model T coupe and a hulking white Caddy prove that's just what it is.
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Mike Shea's '51 Ford bedazzled the crowd with its brilliant gold paint adorning its artfully customized lines and pavement-hugging stance. The interior features an old `square' Chrysler Imperial steering wheel.
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Dennis McPhail, Wichita tattoo artist and car builder, brought this intriguing '60 Ford `coupe' to the gathering of customs. The lilac-colored Galaxie had its roof shortened and moved well forward of the trunk, creating a more formal, refined look than Dearborn offered.
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Fellow legendary customizers Darryl Starbird, left, and Bill Hines greet each other at the Lead Sled Spectacular. Hines was supervising a coupe's chop top as part of the event.
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Young Jesse McPhail turned his talents loose on a '26 T 5-window coupe, keeping it a full-fendered ride powered by a smallblock Chevy. Red oxide primer and flames, along with wide whites, complete the old school look he was after.
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Spectators check out the `Atomic Punk,' a full-tilt bubbletop Hemi-powered show car displayed by Aaron Grote, who brought it all the way from Cerro Gordo, Ill. for the Lead Sled Spectacular.
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Lonney Bay of Basehor, Kan., relaxes alongside his take-no-prisoners 1930 Ford coupe. `BCKNBLK' can churn those steamroller tires, thanks to a 454 big block Chevy tucked between the frame rails.
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Another out-of-state visitor was John Krob, who brought this smooth, subtle '50 Merc coupe in flawless silver-gray metallic to Salina to be a part of things.
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Brian Everett's glorious golden 1940 Mercury coupe earned a World's Most Beautiful Custom Runner Up award at this year's Sacramento Autorama and has received a lot of attention in car magazines.
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Justin `Bondo' Fields of Hutchinson not only has one of the best-looking '55 Pontiacs around, he's got ZZ Top style to go along with his teal-and-white Chieftan.
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Young Roy Fields inherited the custom car gene from his dad, `Bondo' Fields, but turned his attention to this satin red custom '49 shoebox Ford, which continues to evolve as a show car.
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If Roy Fields' polished and pinstriped flathead V-8 engine compartment doesn't take your breath away, nothing will.
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Mike Berry / The Wichita Eagle
Leroy Critchlow of Tecumseh is a clockmaker by trade, but his mild custom '56 Buick in a factory paint scheme will take you back in time. The car features a wild set of tail lights and Critchlow figured if one lakes pipe on a side is good, two would be better, so he stacked a set of them and made them fully functional.
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Another legendary car, the `Golden Chariot,' a 1956 Chevy hardtop built by the Alexander Brothers, is now owned and shown by Lou Calasibetta of Stillwater, N.J. The car was a winner at the Detroit Autorama from 1962-'64 and is still brilliant today.
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Just a classic-looking hot rod, Steve Beckr's 1932 Ford roadster from Longmont, Colo., had all the right touches: V-8 power with an Olds/Caddy style air cleaner, Astro 5-spokes and wide whites and even a Moon tank perched in front of the radiator.
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Not every car on display was heavily modified, as Alvin Koenig's sweet '49 Chevy two-door showed. The classy fastback had all the appropriate add-ons that marked it as a throwback to the late '50s or early '60s.
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Fifty-eight Fords are starting to catch on with customizers and Gil and dottie Goetze's Fairlane from Edwards, Mo., was a head-turner with its plum paint and 3-dimensional gold flames rippling down its flanks.
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One of the most impressive coupes at the show was John Boyce's super-slick '38 Chevy in mile-deep black. Boyce brought it down from Omaha to join in the fun at the show grounds and the drag strip.
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Bob Larson's '38 Dodge coupe was just plain mean-looking, and the Rossville, Kan., car backed it up on the drag strip, showing several cars a receding view of its deck lid.
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Also representing the northeast corner of Kansas, G.W. Gillman's nifty '28 Ford pickup rolls on yellow artillery-style wheels with tall, skinny whitewalls.
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We weren't quite sure what to make of the `Student Driver' sign affixed to the back of this wickedly lowered coupe, or the dealer's license tag stuffed behind the sign, and we never caught up with the car owner to get the full story.
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Another example of just how much fun the `Run What You Brung' drag races could be: a full custom pickup and a bubble top show car square off for a run down the strip. Starter Rocky Burris keeps an eye on track cleanup after some parts were deposited by a car that had just made a pass.
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This little rumble seat cutie stopped more than a few folks dead in their tracks with her engagin smile in the push-back lane at the drag strip. Is this the face of the future of the car hobby?
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