1975 Chevrolet Caprice Estate wagon
After a year of cancelled car shows due to the COVID-19 pandemic, there’s lots of pent-up energy and interest around the 2021 car-event season—car lovers are anxious to get out of the garage and back to their favorite shows and cruise nights. One of our favorite summer “super shows” is the Goodguys Heartland Nationals at the Iowa State Fairgrounds in Des Moines, IA. One of the longest-running events on the Goodguys schedule (this year’s edition was the 30th annual), the Heartland Nats always takes place on the weekend closest to the 4th of July, and regularly draws more than 4000 vehicles. This year’s show enjoyed record-breaking participation: almost 5000 registered vehicles filled the spacious fairgrounds facility.
As its name makes clear, the Goodguys Rod and Custom Association caters primarily to modified-car enthusiasts, but Goodguys shows typically attract lots of interesting factory stock (or close to stock) vehicles as well. Since we at Consumer Guide share an office with Collectible Automobile magazine, our focus here is on those unmodified—or at least mostly unmodified—gems. Here, in no particular order, are a few of the vehicles we spotted at this year’s show… check ‘em out! And, you can peruse our classic-car galleries from previous Heartland Nationals shows here.
Clean Classics at the 2021 Goodguys Heartland Nationals
1934 Dodge pickup
1934 Dodge pickup