Car aficionados eager to show off vehicles at Goodguys 24th Summit Racing Nationals

When Phillip Schaeffer left Chillicothe with his brother on Friday morning, he was a nervous wreck.

It was the first day of the Goodguys 24th Summit Racing Nationals in Columbus, and Schaeffer and his younger brother, 54-year-old Jeff Schaeffer, were in town showing off the 1969 Camaro they spent the last four years rebuilding.

Together, with the help of their eldest brother, 64-year-old John Schaeffer Jr., they were able to put together a car good enough to be shown as part of the "street car of the year competition."

After four years of bonding with one another, long days and nights working on the car, it was finally time for somebody else to judge the car. That was what made Phillip, 59,  nervous.

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"You know what you think of a car but you are going to find out what others think of it, and all these cars are awesome, and it’s to your personal taste how you build a car," Phillip said. "So people, are we like-minded or is it not what they liked?"

The Schaeffer brothers aren't the only ones hoping that visitors to Goodguys will find their vehicles interesting. Justin Miller, 36, was in town with Revolution Rod and Custom, a company from Lansdale, Pennsylvania near Philadelphia, showing off a 1935 Ford pickup truck.

The hope is that people will like what they did to the old-school truck.

"It's not about how much money you have into it, it's the quality of work and the job of seeing everybody come out and show off their pride and joy," Miller said.

Building the car is the hard part, showing the car gets the nerves going, but being at the event on Friday, the first of the three-day car-showing competition, is just a fun experience for everyone involved.

"This is awesome," Jeff Schaeffer said. "There's some big names here and you're just like, 'Wow.'"

Lifelong passion for cars brings brothers to Goodguys

The Schaeffer brothers grew up around cars. Their father, John Sr., always took good care of his cars, and so did their mother, Margie Schaeffer.

Jeff learned everything he knows about cars from his older brothers, so when Phillip called him one day and asked him to drive to Indiana after work to pick up a car, he didn't hesitate. He got in his car, grabbed the trailer and went to pick up what, at the time, was a gold Camaro.

Phillip bought the car for $6,500, but joked that he didn't want to say how much work they did on the car so his wife wouldn't get upset. But it was a lot of time and money. Together the brothers stripped the entire car down, gave it an all-black coat of paint,  and four years later, there isn't a used part in it.

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Their love of cars is what drew them to the work, but their bond kept them working together. Phillip said they've always worked well together so there was never a problem, and they knew early on in the process they wanted to show the car at the  24th Summit Racing Nationals.

"From the start that was the vision," Phillip said.

Friday was their first trip to the show as contestants. They've been before as spectators, but Friday was different.

Showing a car is a special feeling.

"We had goosebumps pulling in today," Jeff said. "It's the excitement for a show of this caliber. It's an honor just to be sitting here."

Throughout the weekend, cars will be eliminated from competition bit by bit until the winners are announced on Sunday during the awards program. Awards will be given out to more than 100 recipients in various contests such as street car of the year, street rod of the year and builder's choice.

Win or lose, though, the experience of building the Camaro as brothers is something that the Schaeffers will always remember. For them, the car is perfect.

"That’s the funny thing. All the cars here are just top-notch and I say don’t get your feelings hurt if you don’t win because it’s one man’s opinion versus what you like in a car versus what the judge sees in a car," Phillip said.

Many people, like the Schaeffer brothers, drove through the rain to show their cars on Friday and will be at the Ohio Expo Center through the weekend.

Cameron Teague Robinson CTeagueRob@gannett.com; Twitter: @cj_teague 

At a glance

The Goodguys 24th Summit Racing Nationals will take place Friday through Sunday at  the Ohio Expo Center, Interstate 71 and East 17th Avenue. Admission to the event is $25 per person if older than 13 and $10 for those younger than 13. For more information visit www.good-guys.com

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Goodguys 24th Summit Racing Nationals kicks off in Columbus