Friday's showers, which cancelled most of the events scheduled for the evening, gave way to almost perfect weather on Saturday. With Seven car and motorcycle shows on tap for the central Ohio area, classic car owners had lots of choices where to spend their Saturday afternoon.
I chose to attend the Hilliard Historic Village Car show hosted by the Empty Pocket Cruisers. The show was held at Weaver Park on the Franklin County Fairgrounds.
The show offered the traditional door prizes and 50/50 raffle. It also offered a unique "Participation Raffle". Every car owner that registered for the show was automatically entered in a raffle to win a dollar amount equal to the number of registered vehicles. With the show registering 111 cars, trucks, and bikes, one lucky owner went home $111 richer.
With three other big shows going on at the same time, the Historical Village show still attracted a lot of great looking vehicles. Here are some examples.
This C6 Corvette owned by Bobbi Meeks was a stand out.
Now this is a cowl hood!
You don't see many front engine, high performance Volkswagen Super Beetles out there.
This 1967 Dodge Charger of Janice and Neal Thomas was featured on the May 2010 cover of Mopar Enthusiast Magazine.
I was harkened back to my high school days in the late '60's by this Volkswagen camper.
A swivel driver's seat like the one in this 1960 Chrysler 300 F would definitely make getting in and out of my Camaro a whole lot easier.
Nothing is classier looking than a 1937 Rolls Royce.
Owner Jay Benedict and I spent a few minutes discussing how the Studebaker designs made for some very unique cars for their time.
If I were ever to own a "classic" car, I always said it would be a 1959-60 Chevy Bel Air. I just love those wing-like fins in the back!
THE AWARDS
This was a judged show based on points. The Empty Pocket Cruisers presented 40 "Favorite" plaques and 10 special awards.
The "Hilliard Historical Societies Choice" award went to Henry Brown and his 1954 Ford Crestline convertible.
Shannon Mullins with his 1972 Oldsmobile 442 received the "DJ's Choice" award.
This All original, unrestored 1959 Pontiac Bonneville Safari of Chris Conklin won the "Sponsor's Choice" award.
The "Oldest Vehicle" award went to the 1932 Ford "West Coast Style" roadster of Ted Wierzbicki. Except for the tires and top, the car is all steel.
"Best wheels" went to this 1969 Dodge Charger R/T replica of the General Lee owned by Josh Wilkerson.
Kevin Martin and his 1962 Chevy Pickup received "Best Interior".
The "Best Paint" award went to the 1938 Packard Coupe of Terry Treneff.
Sorry, I didn't get photos for the "Best Engine" and "Best Body" awards. Matt Reed with his 1968 Olds 442 received the "Best Body" award, and Andrew Vanert with a 1968 Chevy Chevelle won "Best Engine".
And finally, "Best of Show" went to Tony Rucci and his 1953 Jaguar XK 120. Just a gorgeous car!
The Empty Pocket Cruisers once again put on a well-organized show. The nice weather and great collection of cars made for an enjoyable Saturday afternoon.
I will be posting the list of show's for next week through the July 4th holiday on Tuesday. Until then, I hope to see everyone out there cruising.
I'd love to do some of these Hilliard events but the place has become a double threat nightmare. The HPD are overzealous psychopaths who will angrily slap ice cream out of a childs hand for giggling after an arbitrary 'safety stop' leaving Whit's (actually happened to us - no tickets, just a good bullying) and of course there's the occupation of the town by Salah Sultan, his family and his followers. Salah is on death row for terrorism in Egypt now but his Sunrise madrasas, his Mosque and his teachings are still in full swing. I grew up there but I hate to say it, I've seen the last of Hilliard. Won't even drive through it. Its the new New Rome with a side of Syrian hell. Goodbye to a once wonderful town.
Wow! Doesn't sound like your recent visits to Hilliard have been very positive. I've been to two shows in the city this year and so far I haven't encountered any issues other than almost getting into a wreck in one of the roundabouts on main street.