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Weather Rallies Back for Maxton and the Ranch

The weather this week rallied back from an almost complete washout the week before to be just about as perfect as one can get.  Almost all events this weekend enjoyed dry skies and a little lower than normal temperatures and humidity.  The only exception was Der Dutchman where a threat of showers on Thursday evening kept a few cars away.  I'll talk more about that later.

JACK MAXTON FRIDAY NIGHT CRUISIN'

Despite being postponed a week, the Jack Maxton all Chevy show on Friday still managed to register 205 vehicles.  The strong attendance relieved owner Jeff Mauk's fear that word wouldn't get out about the show's postponement.

This month's live entertainment was provided by the Electric Super Friends band. The band sounded good and played lots of familiar songs.The featured Chevys this month were the Chevelle, Camaro, Nova, Monte Carlo and wagon. It seemed like two out of every three cars at the show were Camaros.

 

Here's a sampling of some of the Camaros that turned out for this month's show. I know it's hard to believe but there were some other Chevy models at Maxton's besides Camaro.

Homer Barrett, who received last month's Best of Show award with his 2016 Corvette Z06, brought his other Corvette this month. Homer also picked up his Best of Show plaque from last month.  Mike and Gretchen Simonski know how to make a car show feel like a paradise island with their 1953 Tin Woodie Wagon and camper. Donna and Terry Cross brought back some nostalgia with their 1931 Woody.The flames on the front of Jeff Tolley's 1959 Biscayne really set it off.

THE AWARDS

Along with 70 "Favorite" plaques, Maxton also presented featured awards for Maxton's Favorite Chevelle, Favorite Nova, Favorite Monte Carlo, Favorite Camaro, Favorite Wagon, DJ's Choice, and Best of Show.

  • Maxton's Favorite Chevelle went to Russ Annis with his 1967 Chevelle SS.
  • Dan Varner and his 1984 Monte Carlo SS with 5,500 original miles received Maxton's Favorite Monte Carlo.
  • Maxton's Favorite Wagon: Mike Baloof - 1960 Berkwood
  • Maxton's Favorite Camaro: Dave Roberts - 1969 Camaro
  • Maxton's Favorite Nova: Jim Johnson
  • DJ's Choice: Mike Jones - 1965 Chevelle

Best of Show

Jay Nutter's 1962 Bel Air two door coupe with supercharged LSA engine was selected Best of Show. Jay's car also took Best of Show at the Hilltop Bean Dinner Cars in the Park show back in June.

RALLY FOR THE RANCH

On Saturday, my Camaro was part of 120 exotic, historical and racing cars invited to participate in the Bobby Rahal Foundation's Rally for the Ranch Car Show on the streets of Easton Town Center in Columbus, Ohio.  The show is held every year to  benefit the Buckeye Ranch.

Participants in the show received a complimentary brunch at Smith & Wollensky sponsored by Esoteric Fine Auto Finishing of New Albany, Ohio. For those of you who may not know, Esoteric is the shop I used to do paint correction and paint protection film on my Camaro. I'm sure I helped contribute to a few sausage links and eggs. ?  Along with the complimentary brunch, participants also received a "goodie" bag that included glass cleaner, gift card, towel and cup.This was my first Rally for the Ranch.  The show really turns out to be nothing more than a big cruise-in.  There's no judging, no trophies, no best of show, and best of all no registration fee.  You submit your car several weeks before the event and hope the panel of judges select it to participate in the show.

I believe there's a misconception that this show is for half a million dollar foreign "exotic" cars.   But in reality, the show featured cars from the 30's to present.  There were plenty of American cars to go along with all the foreign exotics.  I personally thinks it's great fun to see a 1957 Ford Fairlane Sunliner along side a $300,000, 2018 McLaren 720S. With all that said, here are some of my favorite cars from the show.

2010 Tesla Roadster Sport - Owner: Beth Comet Love the carbon fiber top.2018 Porsche 911 Turbo S - Owner: Jason Dopoulos. You can't appreciate the color without seeing it in person. First time seeing a Challenger SRT Demon in person.1970 Plymouth Superbird - Owner: Allen Cherry Custom bodywork 2016 "Bumblebee" Camaro from the 2017 Transformers movie The Last Knight. The number 88 Nationwide NASCAR cup car.1949 Rolls Royce Silver Wrap - Owners: Jim & Susannah Sinard The Dodge Viper was well represented at the show. Cobras were also well represented.The blue color of this Acura NSX really jumped out at you.These three Lamborghinis received lots attention from the crowd. They received a golf cart escort coming into and going out of the show. Pay attention to the little girl crossing the street at the end of video holding her ears when the Lambos rev their engines.

If there was a best of show award, my pick would be this 2016 Ferrari 488 belonging to John Waldron.  The car was just stunning! If you're a car lover, the Rally for the Ranch was a fantastic way to spend a Saturday afternoon.  I'll definitely submit my Camaro again next year. Maybe I can talk of few of my buddies into joining me.

OTHER SHOWS AND CRUISE-INS

Der Dutchman - Plain City, Ohio:

I think the weatherman scared some people away on Thursday.  Der Dutchman only  registered 107 vehicles this week.  Fifteen were first-time participants.

One of those first-timers was this 1969 Camaro.Bill Remo brought his 1969 Camaro dragster. Motorcycles are always welcome at Der Dutchman.  This 1998 Honda Valkyrie is a real beauty.The fastback Corvette from the mid-sixties has always been one of my favorite cars.The color makes it hard to miss this 1996 Mustang GT convertible.Greg Nobis made a rare appearance with his 1930's PontiacAs I mentioned last week, the quality and uniqueness of the cars that show up each week to the cruise-in has really become outstanding.

Knights of Columbus Car Show - Urbana, Ohio

One of our good friends made the trip over to Urbana on Friday evening for the 16th Annual Knights of Columbus Car Show. The show was held at SVG Chevrolet-Buick-GMC there in Urbana.  Only comment I received about the show involved the judging. It was slanted toward the Chevy models.

Here are some of the cars from the show.

Living Smart Workshops Car & Bike Show - Columbus, Ohio:

Hosted by the C-Town Cruisers, this show took place on Saturday at the Mayme Moore Park in Columbus. The show registered 34 vehicles.

The Best Truck award went to Kevin Martin's 1962 Chevy pickup.This motorcycle received the Best Bike Award. This red coupe took Best of Show. Here are some more cars from the show.

39th Annual Poor Man's Nationals - Plain City, Ohio

The last show to report on this week is the 39th Annual Poor Man's Nationals in Plain City.  This year the event registered 221 vehicles.  That's down from last year's registration number of 272.

I'm not surprised by the lower attendance since the show had very little promotion this year.  I did not find it listed on any of the major car show web sites like Old Ride, OhioCarShows.com, and Car Show Finder.  I received the one and only flyer for the show at Jack Maxton's on Friday evening. The organizers say the show is always scheduled the last Sunday in July.  I guess you have to remember that from year to year.

I did not attend the show but did get a lot of photos sent to me thanks to Jeff and Pam Shankle, and Frank Sanborn. Here's a sampling of the vehicles from the show.

1957 Chevy belonging to Dan "Boots" Longenette's, host of Auto Smarts Radio.I saw this truck earlier in the year at Wholly Joe's.The tail fins on this Cadillac Eldorado are a killer This was the weekend for campers at car shows Frank Sanborn's 1965 Dodge Polaris and Tim Incho's 1968 Camaro.Of course it wouldn't be the Poor Man's Nationals without an assortment of rods and coupes.

UPDATE:

Marty Ruiz was kind enough to send me the link to the Facebook album he created from the 117 photos he took at the Poor Man's Nationals.


This concludes my report for this week. I believe it sets a record for being the longest one I've done in the two years of running this website.  I guess that's what happens when you have a perfect weekend of weather and lots of events.

If the weather cooperates again next week, expect another huge report as the season starts to reach its peak during the month of August.   Stay tuned....

2 thoughts on “Weather Rallies Back for Maxton and the Ranch

  1. Dj johnson

    Hello...As I recall, the Maxton's Fav Monte only had 5,500 original miles, not 55,000. The placard says 5,500 also.

    Thanks

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