Text and Photos by Steve Temple

For nine years now, Factory Five has been filling up the center of Huntington Beach with an enthusiastic gathering of Cobras, supercars and street rods, all powered by hot Detroit V8s. This year was no different, but with a few new twists.

On the celebrity side, Courtney Hansen and Jo Coddington graced the awards ceremony, and also unveiled a Hemi-powered ’33 Ford built to honor memory of the Josh Hespler’s father Scott, who lived long enough to see it completed. In a moving tribute, Josh related how the whole family pulled together to complete Dad’s dream. 

Another street rod that caught our eye was built by Greg Grant, who works on mining equipment by day in Tucson, Arizona, and then on his ’33 Ford in his spare time. We were so impressed by his efforts that we gave it our Editor’s Choice trophy. Another award-winner was Gene Bowling’s black GTM, both of which we’ll be featuring in a later issue.

Of course, Cobras dominate the occasion, and we always appreciate seeing the variety of variations on a classic muscle car, as shown in the photos. All told, that’s what makes this event so special, seeing just how many ways you can personalize your project car—and then show it off on Main Street, USA!