[PICS] The Corvettes on Display at the 2024 Muscle Car and Corvette Nationals

Photo Credit: Steve Burns

Year after year the Muscle Car and Corvette Nationals (MCACN) brings together the absolute best of the best Corvettes and Muscle Cars on the planet. Rotating themes with nearly 600 hand-picked cars provide a new and different show each year. There’s a reason it’s often referred to as “the Pebble Beach of muscle cars”.

Just entering the lobby of the Donald E. Stephens convention center signals the type of show inside. Patrons were immediately greeted by Horsepower Depot’s wicked 9-second 1967 L88 clone. A wild 6-wheel custom sits just beyond that. Closer to the show entrance sat a pair of Penske Racing Camaros resting opposite a barn find COPO Camaro. Throw in a 1930’s Auburn Speedster modded with a Duesenberg powertrain, a couple of old Chicago police cars, and you’ve got the Cliff’s Notes version of MCACN before you even enter the show itself.

The Corvettes on Display at the 2024 Muscle Car and Corvette Nationals

Once inside, patrons were welcomed by the red carpet display featuring a celebration of the Pontiac GTO. This included some of the rarest Goats out there, including a collection of Ram Air IV convertibles. The high school reunion display featured cars still owned by those who drove them way back in the day. We loved the factory lightweight racers, the black and white Mopar display, and the performance engine display. This year’s show had a record 22 Premier Unveilings which included the rare 1971 ZR2 Corvette and the black 1959 fuelie we showed you earlier. Some of the other invitational displays included Pontiac 2+2’s, A12 Mopars, Buick GNX’s and more. Other show options included seminars, muscle bikes, mini bikes, custom go karts, kids activities, vendors, book signings, autograph sessions, and more. They even had a cool guitar display courtesy of the Chicago Music Exchange.

Corvette Central’s Triple Diamond display and competition carries the Corvette flag each year. It’s strictly for Corvettes that have already won Bloomington Gold Certification and NCRS Top Flight awards. This year we saw a record of 55 cars in attendance. The cars ranged from 1954 to 1972 with the vast majority coming from the C2 era. You saw many of them on Midyear Monday last week. The Corvettes at MCACN were some of the most desirable rides out there. Start with several C2 big tank cars including a 1963 Z06. Another big tank Z06 was displayed in the Barn Finds portion of the show. The former racer was recently acquired from the original, military veteran owner. Also in the mix was Corvette Mike’s 1-of-16 1967 L89, multiple C3 L88’s, a 1971 LS6, several LT1’s, and the usual mix of big blocks and fuelies. Cars were presented in restored and original form. Many were NCRS Duntov and/or Bowtie winners demonstrating the quality of the vehicles there.

Our prestigious CorvetteBlogger Pick award went to Dave Hadley and his phenomenal, unrestored 1972 coupe. The Pewter C3 is already an NCRS Bowtie and Bloomington Benchmark award winner, and he can now add MCACN Triple Diamond winner to his trophy case. Keep an eye out for Dave’s Stingray in 2025 as he chases the NCRS Duntov award. Congrats Dave!

More Corvettes were found elsewhere in the show as well. Some of our favorites included an old school custom 1956, a red big block C2 convertible in the high school reunion, and a clever C4 Grand Sport-themed midyear.

Our friends at Mid America Motorworks showed off their C4/C5 CERV IVb prototype and held walkarounds both days of the show while the Bloomington Gold booth showed off a 1969 L88 that was recently reunited with its original engine.

The MCACN show is consistently one of the best out there and includes something for everyone. There’s so much activity shoe horned into 2 days, that it’s virtually impossible to talk about it all here. Each year Bob Ashton and his put together a fresh, new show. Honestly, we’re not sure how they do it. They consistently bring out 1-of-1 cars you’ve never heard of. This year was no exception, and we can’t wait to see what’s up their sleeve for 2025.

If you’ve never been, we strongly suggest marking your calendar now for November 22 and 23, 2025 then enjoy our gallery of the 2024 Muscle Car and Corvette Nationals below.

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Photos by Steve Burns

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