Over Veterans Day weekend on Nov. 8-9, The GoodGuys Rod and Custom Association held their 35th annual Fuel Curve Autumn Get-Together at the Alameda County Fair Grounds for a weekend of food, family, and of course, American muscle cars.

Ranging from ‘30s hot rods built by moonshiners during the prohibition era to brand new C8 Chevrolet Corvettes, the GoodGuys Autumn Get-Together displayed over 2500 domestic made or powered cars perfect for any red-blooded, petrol-headed, lover of roaring V8s and classic American style.

The GoodGuys Rod and Custom Association was founded in Northern California by Gary “Goodguy” Meadors in 1983. Since its inception, GoodGuys has spread out country-wide, spanning over 15 event weekends including three separate annual events at the Alameda County Fairgrounds.

When asked what made him attend the event, Greg from Tracy said, ”I love coming down and showing off the cars I put so much work into.” On the ‘66 Ford Mustang, he brought, “It’s probably the fifth or sixth car I’ve brought over the years, but this one’s special because she actually had an identical sister car that my daughter and I worked on and drove together that was unfortunately totaled.”

Along with the thousands of cars at the event, there are also vendors lined up all around the concourse and in the exhibition halls. From T-shirts to beef jerky to custom fire extinguishers, vendors sell pretty much anything you’d want to find at a fair or swap-meet. There were also countless food vendors, selling everything from empanadas to southern-style shrimp and grits.

On top of the vendors selling the regular accoutrements of a fair, you can also find a designated swap meet area specifically for car and motorcycle parts. Whether you find that cylinder head for the ‘70 Plymouth Barracuda you’ve been working on for 15 years tucked in your garage, or a new gauge cluster for your Ram 1500. The swap meet is a great place for shade-tree mechanics and enthusiasts to hang out and peruse the wide variety of miscellaneous parts.

If you’re looking for more than just parts or food, or like me just want to browse, there’s also a car corral selling a huge variety of domestic cars. I had my eye on a particularly clean ‘65 Ford Ranchero with a fully rebuilt 289 V8 and 5-speed manual showing just over 14k miles on the odometer.

As the event takes place over Veterans Day weekend, free admission is provided to all military veterans, along with special events like the “Vettes for Vets” cruise in which veterans get to pick and drive a wide variety of Chevrolet Corvettes from the original C1 generation introduced in 1953, to the modern 2025 C8.

In Exhibition Halls A and B the main displays are parked, featuring meticulously prepared candy-painted low-riders, gleaming muscle cars like the infamous Plymouth Road Runner, an assortment of Ford Falcons, and of course Chevrolet Camaros. Accompanying the low-riders were a wide variety of “Trick Trucks”, domestic trucks modified to be either lifted as tall as monster trucks, or so low their bodies almost scrape the ground when they drive.

Along with the static displays of countless cars, the weekend also includes multiple driving events including the autocross time shootout, where massive “Yank Tank” muscle cars participate in a timed obstacle course set off by orange cones. While the mighty bellow of an American V8 paired with the screeching of tires pleading for their lives while trying to keep the two-ton monsters they sit under upright is quite the spectacle, it pales in comparison to the premiere event of the weekend, the demolition derby.

Put on by Hayward Fire Department Local 1909, the “Smash for Cash Demolition Derby” pits multiple firefighting stations across the Bay Area in a last-man-standing bout of pure metal-crunching action. All ticket purchases benefit the Hayward Fire department charity fund, and as an added bonus for the gift of charity, you get to see some hoopties being held together by nothing but hopes and duct tape battle to the end in a dirt ring.

Whether you love the smell of rich leaded gasoline and the roar of a naturally aspirated American V8, or you’re just looking for some family fun with live music and food options, the annual GoodGuys Autumn Get-Together is a great way to spend a weekend.