Final Thoughts and Photographs from Wilbur Wright Car and Truck Show

Just a few final thoughts and miscelaneous photographs taken at the 2008 Wilbur Wright Car and Truck Show on June 21st in Millville, Indiana.

Another look at S. Hill's Chevellle. It was a Top Ten award winner.

The show broke up shortly after the awards were handed out at 2:30. A HUGE black cloud threatened to end the show early. By the time I helped get everything cleaned up and headed home, I got caught in a heavy thunderstom. Luckily however, I got home and got Ol' Blue in the garage before the hail started! I'm hoping others were able to do the same.

Just a few more pictures of a few of my personal favorites at the show...this 1954 Mercury was very cool.

A couple more pictures of my friends 1949 Chevrolet pickup. I've been thinking...I've got several friends and family that own classic cars...Maybe we could start our own car club...I'll have to think of a good club name.

Hey...the cool thing about car shows is that anyone can bring there car! This Ford Station Wagon is all original with just over 30,000 original miles.

Wilbur Wright part IV

This Chevelle was one of the first cars to register.
This 1970 GTO not only received a Top Ten award, it also took home the trophy for farthest traveled, as it's owner M. Cupp drove over 120 miles from Hamilton, Ohio to be at the show.












Here is the owner of the Dodge that was parked beside Ol' Blue. She seemed to be enjoying the sun and her book more than the show itself.














Like I said in an earlier post, there was a real variety in vehicles that were registered. This late model Ford pickup belonged to the father-in-law of my buddy who owns the '72 Chevelle.


This was probably my favorite car at the show. Not because it's a Chrysler, or a convertible, but because it is a fairly rare car and was very well restored. This 1949 Chrysler Town and Country is owned by P. Niles from New Castle, Indiana. It took home a Top Ten award.


















What happened to the creative "art deco" designs of the American automobile? You don't see this kind of craftsmanship and beauty in today's automobiles!


This GTO was one of the last to register. Although I'm not a fan of the color purple, this car was very nicely restored.

Still More from Wilbur Wright Birthplace Car and Truck Show

Well, there is Ol' Blue, hangin' out with a cute little Metropolitan! The lady who owns the car came with her husband who entered the Dolorean. You can see one of my buddy's cars in the background (red Chevelle). It took a Top Ten.
This 1931 Buick was ABSOLUTELY gorgeous! The owner brought it down from Markle, Indiana. It also won a Top Ten award.

This Chevy coupe came toward the end of the show. I believe it's a '40 or '41. The car was "all business" under the hood.

The owner of this Shay A (a reproduction Model A sold through Ford dealerships in the late 1970's and early '80s) told me he bought it new off of the showroom floor. The funny thing is, he didn't even know there was a car show! He said he drove up from Indianapolis to see the RC airplane and helicopter show. He was surprised when he pulled in and saw the show.
This 1955 Chevrolet was in great shape. However, it was not a 10 Ten award winner. Just goes to show how many of the entries were VERY nice.

This 1939 Plymouth also came toward the end of registration. The '39 Plymouth had some very unique headlights that I believe only lasted one model year. If you look at some VERY early posts in this blog (say some from 2005) you may run across some pictures of a 4-door 1939 Plymouth that sat in my wife's aunt and uncle's garage for years. When my wife's uncle passed away, I tried to work a deal for the car with her aunt. She wanted too much for the car and the deal was never made. She told me recently that she finally sold the car a year or so ago.

Although not a "flashy" color, this Dodge Challenger was in great original shape. Although I'm not a big VW fan, the Super Beetle in the background had an amazingly deep paint job.

More from Wilbur Wright Birthplace Car and Truck Show

This 1954 Mercury was absolutely beautiful. It is owned by D. Pierce from Winchester, Indiana. It took home a Top Ten.


The 1974 Roadrunner pictured above is owned by C. Glenn from
Winchester, Indiana, and the Chevelle pictured below is owned by S. Hill from Centerville, Indiana. Both cars took home a Top Ten.
This Ford is all original...right down to the Mohair seats. I thought I'd bought this car a couple of years ago, only to learn someone else had offered the owner a higher price after we had agreed on the sell. It's a long story, but somehow my wife ended up getting a Longenbarger Basket from the owner's wife because of the deal gone bad.

O. Denney from New Castle, Indiana owns this 1928 Ford A pickup that won Best Truck.

My buddy D. Gleason (who I've blogged about a lot), brought his 1949 1/2 Chevrolet Pickup. It took home a Top Ten Award.
Thought I'd try to post some more pictures taken at the 2008 Wilbur Wright Birthplace Car and Truck Show that was held last Saturday, June 21st in Millville, Indiana.

Wilbur Wright Birthplace Car and Truck Show

This Dodge was all original. It appeared to belong to a little old lady. (I think I have a picture of her that I'll post later.)

Hey! Ol' Blue made the show! (I only had to buy a new battery to get her there!)

This little Nash Metropolitan got a lot of attention. I was surprised it didn't win Ladies' Choice.

Well, my Saturday had quite a different atmosphere than my Friday in Indianapolis. Saturday, I spent the day helping a buddy put on a car show in Millville, Indiana at the Wilbur Wright Birthplace Museum.


Gone were the pinstripes, the suede paint, the patina, the mexican blanket interiors, and the rockabilly music. These were replaced with a generally older group of owners with a real variety of automobiles.


My Chevy was the only car at the show with Mexican blankets on the seats. I was also probably one of the few guys who didn't spend a lot of time polishing and rubbing on my car..."HEY! It's a driver! A few spots of bug juice on the grille isn't going to hurt anyone!"


At any rate, I'm told that the last time they tried to put on a car show in conjunction with the Wilbur Wright Memorial Event they had about 5 or 6 cars show up. My buddy and I had been spreading the word by taking event flyers to every show in the area. I also gave a stack of flyers to CWB ("The Crazy White Boy") a local DJ that does A LOT of area car shows.


By days end, we had 31 cars at the show....and the quality and variety was interesting. Everything from a couple with a Dolorean and a Nash Metropolitan, to a pristine Super Beetle, several Muscle Cars, a couple of 4x4 pickups, and several vintage Fords. Heck...one local even pulled in in an all original early 70's Ford station wagon with only 30,000 miles. (Ha!)


The event committee was pleased with the number of cars as well as the quality of cars. We gave away tee-shirts (designed by "Scruffy" himself) to the Top 10 participates (Top 10 was decided by letting each owner vote for his top 5, then a panel of 5 committee members (including myself) voted on our top 5). We also gave trophies to: Kid's Choice, Ladies' Choice, Farthest Driven, Best Truck, and Oldest Vehicle.

The trophies were pretty slick...Porcelain vintage gas pumps with the event logo on the globes.

Congratulations to all the Winners:

Top 10 (in no particular order)

B. Shamy - 1972 Chevelle SS - Losantville, Indiana

O. Denney - 1928 Ford A Roadster - New Castle, Indiana

C. Pierce - 1971 El Camino - Richmond, Indiana

D. Pierce - 1954 Mercury - Richmond, Indiana

C. Glenn - 1974 Roadrunner - Winchester, Indiana

D. Gleason - 1949 Chevrolet Truck - Parker City, Indiana

S. Hill - 1967 Chevelle - Centerville, Indiana

J. Bligh - 1931 Buick - Markle, Indiana

P. Niles - 1949 Chrysler Town/Country - New Castle, Indiana

M. Cupp - 1970 GTO Convertible - Hamilton, Ohio

Kid's Choice - C. Glenn - 1974 Roadrunner

Ladies' Choice - J. Bligh - 1931 Buick

Farthest Driven - 120 miles - M. Cupp - 1970 GTO

Best Truck - O. Denney - 1928 Ford A Roadster

Oldest Vehicle - 1928 Ford Model A

I took pictures of many of the vehicles, including most of the Top Ten. I'll start posting more from this event tomorrow.

Final Thoughts and Pictures from the 2008 Indy Road Rocket Rumble

Well, I've managed to find the time to get nearly 100 pictures from the Indy Road Rocket Rumble posted in a matter of days. Once again, I'd like to thank the Road Rockets for putting on a heck of a show. I've been wanting to get to this event for several years and was finally able to get down to Indy this year (the only negative was that I could only go on Friday and it appears that Saturday is an even BIGGER event.) I will definitely plan on attending next year, and plan on getting Ol' Blue to the show.

My son is still saying that this is the best event he has ever attended...and keep in mind he has attended the Goodguy Nationals, James Dean Festival, Ducktail Run, etc. I think his comment speaks highly of the quality of the "Rumble".

Of all the events I've attended this year, I'd have to say that the quality and friendliness of those in attendance at the Rumble was far superior to any other. I really enjoyed talking to several guys about their cars!

Finally, it's a real shame that I live near Muncie. As far as I know (please correct me if I'm wrong), there is no club of traditional hot rod guys in the area. Now that I finally have a cruiser of my own, I'm wishing that Muncie had a group of folks like the Indy Road Rockets.

Road Rocket Rumble 2008 Continued....

This guy was laying some mean stripes on this 4-door Impala. It was making me wish I'd driven Ol' Blue to the show, as I am wanting to get a few "lines" down on the Chevy.

This '56 Chevy rolled in afternoon on Friday. I thought the scallops were unique enough to make it "picture worthy".

This was the ONLY bike at the show on Friday. Once they pulled in, the owner got it off the trailer.

I'm always impressed with the level of creativity (and humor) of some car owners. I thought this "glove box" was pretty hilarious.

This sweet Chevy truck belongs to a Taz, Voodoo King member. Check out the louvers in the fenders....Very nice Taz!

If I was giving awards, this one would get the "Best Flame Job".

This Suburban and 1947 Chevy 2-door sedan pulled in together toward the early afternoon. Who says you need any stinkin' paint to be cool?!?!?

Well, I surfed the 'net a bit yesterday looking for pictures that others have posted from the Rumble. From the looks of it, Friday didn't even compare to the turn out for Saturday.


Check out Beetlejuice55's Garage at: http://www.motortopia.com/album/view/p/cars/t/garage/a/14483/i/road_rocket_rumble_2008

Beetlejuice55 is from Bloomington, IN and took his sweet 55 Pontiac to the show on Saturday. From the looks of his photo album, I'm guess there were 2 or 3x the cars there on Saturday!