by Drew Hardin as republished from HotRod.com
High Quality Cars at the 7th annual Muscle Car & Corvette Nationals (MCACN)

Dateline 11.23.15:  The 7th annual Muscle Car & Corvette Nationals (MCACN) doesn’t officially get underway until Saturday November 21, but we showed up at the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center near Chicago’s O’Hare Airport a few days early to bring you a behind-the-scenes sneak peek at some of the incredible muscle cars that will be on display.

Several years ago we called this event the Pebble Beach of muscle car shows because of the quality of the cars that Bob Ashton and his crew gather each year. The 2015 edition will be no exception. The convention center will be filled with some of the most rare, desirable, and sometimes rarely seen muscle cars in the country. Here’s just a small sample of what you’ll find at MCACN this year.

Among the rarest muscle cars ever to come out of Detroit were the Hemi ’Cuda and Challenger convertibles from 1970 and ’71. Depending on which source you believe, the total production for these cars was about 34 over those two model years. The MCACN crew managed to round up more than 25 of the very special E-Bodies for what is sure to be a once-in-a-lifetime gathering.

Though not a convertible, this 1971 ’Cuda is still rare: a body-in-white originally ordered by drag racer Don Grotheer.

Another gathering of rare muscle convertibles at this year’s MCACN: Buick Stage 1 four-speed drop-tops. We counted eight in a display that wasn’t yet full.

George Edwards bought this Yenko Camaro new in June 1968, drove it on his honeymoon with his bride Carol (to the drag races—how romantic!) and enjoyed the heck out of it until selling it in 1971. But George kept his eye on the car, repurchased in 2005, and took it to Brian Henderson at the Super Car Workshop for a full resto. The car was finished the day before they brought it to MCACN. That’s Carol and George in the background on the left, with MCR correspondent Geoff Stunkard and Brian Henderson.