Captivating Classics at the 2022 Goodguys Heartland Nationals

So much has changed in American culture over the past decade or so, but there’s at least one time-honored tradition that appears to be holding on just fine: the classic car show. From low-key summertime cruise nights to high-profile concours gatherings, people young and old love to get together and enjoy special-interest vehicles of all stripes. And some car shows, such as those produced by the Goodguys Rod and Custom Association, get big—really big. Goodguys bills itself as “America’s Favorite Car Show,” and every year the company produces an ambitious nationwide schedule of large-scale car shows that take over fairgrounds-sized venues. The events are two- or three-day extravaganzas that typically attract 3500 to 6500 vehicles and 35,000 to 100,000 spectators per show. Put on your walking shoes!

Starting with the 2022 show season, Goodguys has expanded its definition of a “vintage” vehicle—in place of the organization’s previous 1987-model-year-and-older cutoff line, a 25-year rolling eligibility requirement has been adopted. So, for this year’s shows, anything from 1997 and earlier is welcome (and Goodguys “Nationals” shows feature All-American Sundays, where all years of American-made or powered vehicles are eligible to join in).

It’s an annual tradition of ours to attend the Goodguys Heartland Nationals at the Iowa State Fairgrounds in Des Moines, IA. As its name makes clear, the Goodguys Rod and Custom Association caters primarily to modified-car enthusiasts, but Goodguys shows usually attract plenty of interesting factory-stock (or at least close to factory-stock) vehicles as well. Since we at Consumer Guide are under the same roof as Collectible Automobile magazine, we sought out unmodified (or close to unmodified) vehicles for this gallery. 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.

More car-show fun