Ed Capen, Sponsorship Sales Director for Goodguys Rod & Custom Association, says that he has been into cool cars for years, long before he found himself working for the world’s largest rodding association.  But, through his involvement with Goodguys, his interest and level of participation in the hobby continues to grow.

The Goodguys Rod & Custom Association, with more than 72,000 members, provides some of the world’s best rod and custom events across the country and offers a 200+ page monthly magazine.  According to the Goodguys’ Web site, the association started in 1983; over the years, their events have “featured thousands of candy colored hot rods and custom cars sprawled throughout venues such as lush fairgrounds, super speedways and large indoor stadiums.”

For the 2008 season, the association has scheduled more than 20 events across the country from New York to Florida, from San Diego to Seattle… and all points in between. Some of the events bring anywhere from 30,000 to 40,000 spectators, but some of the larger events, such as next week’s Goodguys Nationals in Columbus, Ohio, bring in over 100,000 visitors.

Ed mentions that the Columbus show is his all-around favorite car show; but adds that this weekend’s Heartland Nationals in Des Moines, Iowa is another favorite because of “the beauty of the fairgrounds.”

As the Sponsorship Sales Director for Goodguys, Ed attends most of the shows. Last year, he was on the road for 42 weeks out of the year; he plans on traveling to shows for a total of 36 weeks throughout 2008.

Ed has had various responsibilities in the advertising and sponsorship departments of Goodguys over the last eight years—from working on the monthly Gazette to making deals with sponsors, such as Grundy Worldwide, the Official Insurance Sponsor. (Ed mentions that he was a Grundy customer before ever working with Goodguys, let alone bringing the company on board as a sponsor.)

When Ed started his work at the company, he says there were less than 10 sponsors. Today, there are 64.  And while he has his hands right in the middle of the collector car mix, when working with all of these companies, Ed says his love for cool cars goes back to when he was a teenager.

He says that his father was into racing cars, and that the passion for specialty vehicles was handed down to him through his father. By the time he was 15-years-old, he had a 1970 Mustang of his own. But, it wasn’t until he was about 25-years-old that he began collecting cars, when he purchased two 1969 Camaros.

“And, it started from there,” says Ed. “I began restoring the cars, doing mechanical work, collecting cars and getting involved in the hobby.”

Since then, Ed says he has owned hundreds of collector cars.

In January of 2008, he had 42 cars in his collection; however, he says that he had too many cars and not enough storage space. So, he began selling some of them.

Today, 27 vehicles remain in his collection.  Some of his favorites, or what he says are “the nicest of them all,” are a ’66 Ford Mustang, ’70 Camaro,’64 Impala and two ’69 Camaros.

“I’m kind of a Camaro guy,” says Ed. 

But, then he adds that his orange and gold Impala might be his best-known car, as it was featured at the 2004 SEMA Show. He says that he purchased that car from a Goodguys show in Washington about 5 years ago; and, it amazingly only took him two years to have it ready for SEMA.

Members of the Grundy staff have always enjoyed working with Ed and seeing all of his cars throughout the years, whether photos are submitted when policy updates are made or our travel team sees the cars at Goodguys events.

Ed adds that he has always enjoyed working with the insurance company, as well, and especially enjoys the flexibility offered when changing from one vehicle to the next on his policy. He says hobbyists need to enjoy their collector cars, and adds that the right insurance helps him do just that.

“I don’t let them collect dust,” he says.

Grundy Worldwide attends all Goodguys shows, each year. A schedule of the shows can be found on Grundy’s online calendar of events.

Story by: Becky McLaughlin