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The Goodguys 26th Flowmaster West Coast Nationals ends its three-day run at the Alameda County Fairgrounds today.

The show features mind boggling engineering and meticulous craftsmanship-by-hand displays in its Western Engine and Model Exhibition. Hosted by the Bay Area Engine Modelers, the exhibits feature more than 50 exhibitors displaying their life's work: hand-crafted, scale model piston driven miniature engines that work and run just like those that power life-size cars, ships and motorcycles.

The exhibit is one of several featured attractions at the Goodguys show, an annual Bay Area event which draws more than 3,000 classic cars, hot rods, muscle cars and over 70,000 people to the Pleasanton fairgrounds.

The highlight of this year's exhibit is Jerry Kieffer's 1/8th scale 1947 Harley Davidson knucklehead motorcycle. Kieffer, a Wisconsin resident, is bringing the motorcycle to Pleasanton along with handmade miniature tools and a lathe he made from scratch to manufacture the bike's miniature parts.

Other highlights include Bay Area sculptor Michael Cooper, who is displaying a helicopter and a one-off 4-engine machine; Dwight Giles and Ken Hurst with his new supercharged V-8s, and Bob Kradjian of Hillsborough, who has a quantity of teaching exhibits that is keeping kids fascinated, and more.

Paul Knapp, who runs a Model Engineering museum located near Phoenix is showing 60 historical engine models, including some that stretch back to the 1930's when internal combustion engine modeling was starting to take off. John Gilmore and his all brass locomotive are another highlight of the exhibit.

One such model that's boggling minds is modeler John Garris' display of his radio controlled boat and tow truck rig. Garris, using a radio-control, drives the truck and boat on a trailer, then to a launch ramp, backs the boat into the water, releases it, remotely starts the 4-cyclinder engine in the boat, runs the boat around and then brings it back and loads it onto the trailer--never touching the rig from start to finish. It's all completely remote controlled and all hand-built.

The Western Engine Model Exhibit is located in the Agricultural building of the Pleasanton Fairgrounds near the Court of Four seasons plaza and is open all weekend.

The show is open today until 3 p.m. General admission is $18 and for children from 7-12, $6. Fairgrounds parking is $8. For more, visit www.good-guys.com or call (925) 838-9876.

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