"We got there Friday and just after we got set up, a monsoon hit," said Bickle (left), who was debuting his new Muscle Up Performance and Hot Rod Shop business at the annual Madison Classics spring event.  "Man, we got soaked. The water was over the bottom of the wheels of our display vehicles. I bet there was nearly a foot of standing water where we were set up. It was a muddy mess."

Friday's wet weather all but made Bickle's display space unusable and it was just a taste of what was to come when he and his Muscle Up Performance team returned to the outdoor show and swap meet Saturday.

"Fortunately, I had some friends that had some extra exhibit space up on the dry asphalt part of the show, so we took our entire display and moved it up by them Saturday morning," said Bickle. "The weather was still pretty miserable Saturday because the temperature was in the 40s and the winds blew all day long with gusts up to 40 miles per hour. Late in the day when the wind quickly dried all the mud from the previous day, we wound up having a dust storm. We went from a monsoon to freezing to a dust storm all in the span of 24 hours. At least on Sunday we had some good weather and the show wasn't a total loss."

In fact, despite the inclement weather, Bickle indicated Sunday's show crowd was keenly interested in the new, full-frame chassis replacements Muscle Up Performance is constructing in its 11,000 square-foot facility located in Janesville, WI.

"We had some really good traffic Sunday," said Bickle. "We talked to quite a few people. This is a different market. There were a lot of people who were surprised at what we are doing. I think we sold some products, especially quite a bit of what I would call 'one-off work.' People wanted full frame replacements made for different vehicles - one was a Model A frame, another a frame for an old Lafayette and another a 1947 Dodge pick-up truck frame. I think people were surprised we could do that kind of stuff, not just the replacement frames for first and second generation Camaros and Corvettes like we had displayed at the show."

Muscle Up Performance full-frame chassis (right) are a simple bolt-in replacement for a wide variety of cars and trucks. The frame - a full replacement, not a clip or stub - allows for the upfitting of race-inspired suspension and brake components. Additional strength and safety features advantages make the frame a winner on all fronts.

"Our full frame replacements allow owners of first and second generation Camaros, 1964-72 GM A-Bodies, 1953-62 Corvettes, 1965-70 Mustangs, and just about any other classic, muscle car, trucks and hot rods the ability to get rid of the slow steering, poor handling and unsafe braking these vehicles all possessed when they were new," Bickle stated. "There's just no comparison between their original handling characteristics and those that have been upgraded with a Muscle Up Performance frame and suspension package."

According the Bickle - who knows a little bit about race-inspired suspension and vehicle handling characteristics after making 216 career NASCAR Sprint Cup, Nationwide and Craftsman Truck Series starts from 1989-2005 - the new Muscle Up Products drew plenty of attention at the show once the weather cooperated.

"We had a 1969 Camaro body (right) from the firewall on back sitting on one of our chassis," said Bickle. "It was pretty interesting to see the look on people's faces when they looked underneath the car and realized it wasn't just a front clip, that it was a full frame. People would get right down on the ground and lay under the car and look at it. There was a lot of interest in what we are doing because basically, we're the only ones in the country that are building these for as many different cars as we are."

While the elements may have proven to be a challenge for Muscle Up Performance's first-ever trade show, Bickle is confident the event was a positive first step in the growth of the new muscle car/hot rod upfitting and restoration business.

"It's going to take some time to get the word out about what we are doing and you have to start somewhere," said Bickle. "Unfortunately, we got hit with some bad Wisconsin spring weather but we survived, talked to a lot of people, and generated a bunch of interest in our products and services. I'm thinking we'll look back and laugh about what it took to get this off the ground. Any trade show we do after this has to have better weather than this one did."