The lights went out in Georgia, it was a rainy night in Georgia, and through it all we had Georgia on our mind (not the old girlfriend either). How's that for music that we thought of while claps of thunder, sounding as if they were 10 feet over our heads, rumbled though the sky? Had it not been for some late afternoon dramatics from awesome lightning strikes, Dan Nickelson could have won two Nitro Coupe finals in one weekend.
On Saturday, the Nickelson crew finished up what we started in Epping, New Hampshire, the week before. They cranked up a 6.873 e.t. during a 205.51-mph run in their '94 Beretta to win out over final round competitor John Reynolds, who kept his '91 Corvette close with a 6.990 e.t. at 198.26 mph. As it was, even with a little bit of rain we could have gone back to racing except Mother Nature put about a billion volts of electricity into the power grid, blowing out all the computers on the dragstrip. Can't race without computers, you know, so we'll have to settle Atlanta at Bristol on June 23. Come to think of it, one of the Nitro Coupes could still win two final rounds in one weekend. Wouldn't that be cool?
Shining in the Saturday sun,...
Shining in the Saturday sun, Erwin Aderhold's Woodstock, GA, '38 Chevy coupe looked like a winner. That's why we named it one of the Editor's Choice Top Ten Show Cars.
Car show enthusiasts once again showed their mettle, as they hung in there for the trophy presentation and photos even while the wind whipped up and the rain started. Dennis and Anita Parham from Seneca, South Carolina, even sat in their car until the rain ended so we could finish up some photos on a feature shoot of their '55 two-door that we couldn't get to the day before. When the rain stopped, Dennis quickly dried his car, we shot the remaining pictures, and he and Anita drove out in the cleanest car at the show. A little rain never hurt a Chevy.
Atlanta Super Chevy Show had it all. Mostly sun, a little rain, a little thunder and lightning, spectacular cars, and furious drag racing. Now we're heading to Bristol to finish up the Atlanta Nitro Coupe finals and maybe see if the kids in Bristol are hot as a pistol.
AutoStar Productions would like to thank all participants & spectators at Atlanta for enduring the weather with us!!!
 For those of you who actually...  For those of you who actually cruised drive-ins, the cool guys with Corvettes used to prop their tops up like this while enjoying a cherry soda, burger, and fries. They just had to remember to latch it down when it was time to leave. |  We just loved this straight-six...  We just loved this straight-six in Watkinsville, Georgia's Darcy Lapointe's '63 Nova. Then we heard it run which convinced us that this was an Editor's Choice Top Ten Show Car. |  Some of those early Studebaker...  Some of those early Studebaker engines, such as this one in Ron Tollison's '53 Starlite coupe from Piedmont, SC, look very much like the later small-block Chevrolet. Maybe there's a story here. |