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Goodguys show opens Aug. 24 for 3-day run
Hand-crafted, scale model engines a highlight of 26th annual event at Fairgrounds

by Jeb Bing

Mind boggling engineering and meticulous craftsmanship-by-hand will be on display next weekend -- Aug. 24-26 -- at the Alameda County Fairgrounds.

The Western Engine and Model Exhibition, hosted by the Bay Area Engine Modelers, will 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 will be one of several featured attractions at the Goodguys 26th Flowmaster West Coast Nationals, an annual Bay Area event that 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 will be 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 will display a helicopter and a one-off 4-engine machine; Dwight Giles and Ken Hurst with new supercharged V-8s; and Bob Kradjian of Hillsborough, who has a quantity of teaching exhibits that keep the kids fascinated, and more.

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

One such model is sure to boggle minds. Modeler John Garris will display his radio controlled boat and tow truck rig. Garris can, with radio control, drive the truck and boat on a trailer to a launch ramp, back the boat into the water, release it, remotely start the 4-cyclinder engine in the boat, run the boat around and then bring it back and load it onto the trailer never touching the rig from start to finish. It is all completely remote controlled and all hand-built.

The Western Engine Model Exhibit will be located in the agricultural building of the Pleasanton Fairgrounds near the Court of Four Seasons Plaza and will be open all weekend. There is no separate fee for the model engine show. It is included in the price of admission to the Goodguys West Coast Nationals.

The show will be open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday and Saturday; and from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m., Sunday, Aug. 26. General admission is $18 and for children from 7-12, $6. Fairgrounds parking is $8. Visit www.good-guys.com or call 838-9876.