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Published on Leave a comment on Central Ohio Car and Bike Events for July 20 – 26, 2026
1985 ASC McLaren Meet Capri - Owner: Rusty Gregg

Along with the usual weekday cruise-ins and bike nights, this weekend is absolutely packed with car shows, cruise-ins, and motorcycle events across Central Ohio. Highlights include the 46th Annual Poor Man’s Nationals on Sunday, along with Heels and Wheels, Battle of the Brands, and the Blackwing Summer Blast on Saturday, to name just a few. Whether you’re into classics, muscle cars, exotics, motorcycles, or modern performance vehicles, there are plenty of opportunities to get out and enjoy the hobby all week long.

Monday (July 20th):

Tuesday (July 21st):

Wednesday (July 22nd):

Thursday (July 23rd):

Friday (July 24th):

Saturday (July 25th):

Sunday (July 26th):

Be sure to check out the Save the Dates for 2026 page for the most comprehensive, best-organized list of upcoming Central Ohio car shows, cruise-ins, meet-ups, and bike events you’ll find anywhere online.

Don’t miss a single event — bookmark it and stay in the loop all season long.

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NEWS AND NOTES

The big news this week was the cancellation of ALL Friday activities at the Arthritis Foundation Charity Auto Show in Dublin due to an air quality alert from the Canadian wildfires, combined with a dangerously high heat index. I never imagined smoke from wildfires in Canada would be the reason a car show in Central Ohio had to be canceled. Unfortunately, the Arthritis Foundation Charity Auto Show wasn’t alone, as several other events across Central Ohio were also called off.

Der Dutchman Cruise-In:

It was hot Thursday evening. How hot was it, you ask? It was so hot that in the 14 years I’ve been attending the Der Dutchman Cruise-In, Thursday was the first time I’d ever seen Wayne trade his trademark jeans and boots for shorts and tennis shoes.

Still, 182 vehicles ignored the sweltering conditions to attend the cruise-in—a testament to just how popular the Thursday night event has become. Not surprisingly, the parking spots beneath the trees along SR-42 were some of the most coveted real estate of the evening.

Here are some of the HOT cars—literally—from Thursday’s cruise-in.

Columbus Cars & Coffee at 3 Easton Oval:

The corporate version of Columbus Cars & Coffee continued its Season 18 schedule on Saturday at 3 Easton Oval in Columbus.

The event drew more than 130 vehicles during the two-hour gathering, with attendance down slightly, likely due to the number of other automotive events taking place around Central Ohio that day. Despite the lower turnout, spectator attendance was as strong as ever.

A DJ kept the music playing while Good Cafe Easton was on hand serving coffee and breakfast pastries. As always, the event had a distinctly European flavor, with Porsches, Ferraris, Audis, and a host of Japanese manufacturers making up the bulk of the vehicles in attendance. Fewer than a handful of classic American cars were on display.

My favorite car was the blacked out McLaren equipped with a child safety seat—proof that even exotic car owners have family duties.

Here’s a video slideshow highlighting many of the cars from the morning.

Plumwood C.C.CU. Car Show:

The Plumwood C.C.C.U. (Church of Christ in Christian Union) hosted its 17th Annual Car Show in memory of Charles Brewer in London, Ohio, on Saturday. This year’s show drew 37 vehicles. Like pretty much every Central Ohio car show on Saturday, participants experienced at least a little rain.

Tom and Betty Lawrence were there with their 2008 Volkswagen Beetle and took home the People’s Choice Award.

Here are the photos Tom took at the show.

CONTINUE READING

Published on
1979 Pontiac Trans Am - Owner: Patrick Ellam

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NEWS AND NOTES

Starting with the August events, the Crossroads car, truck & bike shows will add a new category to the awards. The category will be called "Spotlight Car of the Week".

Here are the shows and the cars that will be in the "Spotlight":

  • 8/5 Vineyard Columbus East - Firebird/Trans Am.
  • 8/6 Eldorados Bar - Ford Mustang.
  • 8/13 Lewis Center Wings & Rings - Chevy Camaro.
  • 8/19 Texas Roadhouse Newark - Chevy Trucks.
  • 8/20 Polaris Quaker Steak & Lube - Dodge Viper
  • 9/3 Eldorados Bar - Dodge Challenger
  • 9/9 Deer Creek State Park - Jeep
  • 9/10 Lewis Center Wings & Rings - Pontiac
  • 9/16 Millersport Lions - Plymouth
  • 9/23 Chubby Hawaiian in Baltimore - Chevy Corvette

Der Dutchman Cruise-In:

The threat of severe weather once again kept attendance down at the weekly cruise-in in Plain City, Ohio. The turnout was only 119 cars. Lowest so far this season.

Despite the threat of severe weather, some really cool and unusual vehicles showed up on Thursday. The milk truck from Natural Choice Dairly garnered most of the attention.

River Pop-Up Meet:

More than 50 cars turned out for the River Pop-up Meet at Griggs Reservoir in Upper Arlington, Ohio on Friday evening.

Definitely a younger crowd. There were, however, a few "old geezers" like myself that stopped by.

Most of the cars were 2000 and newer. Mopars, Mustangs, and Corvettes made up the majority with a Tesla Plaid and McLaren mixed in. There were also some Hondas and Subarus that joined the meet-up.

It was a relaxed scene with everyone enjoying talking cars and taking in the nice weather on Friday evening.

Columbus Cars and Coffee Arena District Meet:

Once a year the corporate-sponsored Columbus Cars and Coffee holds one of its meets in the Arena District. It's a unique venue and one event I look forward to each year.

With the Arthritis show taking place at the same time, there weren't as many cars this year as last year. Still, the quality of the cars and the venue did not disappoint.

Here's a little slideshow from Saturday's Arena District meet.

Moose Lodge 2321 & Rippling Stream Campground Car, Truck & Bike Show:

With the help of the Big Dawg and the C-Town Cruisers, the Moose Lodge 2321 and the Rippling Stream Campground in Baltimore, Ohio held their first car, truck, and bike show on Saturday.

The show registered 104 cars. Awards were presented to the "Top 30" plus a Best of Show.

Jason and Deb Blankenship and their 1959 Chevy Apache pickup received the Best of Show Award.

River Valley Athletics Boosters Car Show:

The River Valley Athletics Boosters held its annual car show at the High School just outside Caledonia, Ohio on Sunday.

The show had a greater-than-expected turnout with 265 registered cars. The event raised $10,000 for the athletic teams at the high school.

Seventy sponsor-chosen awards were presented along with three memorial awards.

Our good friend, Dan Varner, received one of the sponsor awards for his unrestored 1968 Pontiac GTO.

There were two awards in memory of Ron Riser who passed away in October of 2022. One for a motorcycle and the other for a car.

The motorcycle award went to DJ Carter with a 2007 Harley Davidson Street Glide.

The car award went to the 1966 Chevy Corvette belonging to Buddy Glassburn.

The third memorial award was in honor of Doug Martin. The 1937 Wild Rod belonging to our good friends, Dave Bratton and Lou, took home the award. A photo of the Wild Rod will be on the front of the t-shirt for next year's show.

Auto Smarts Radio Cruise and Ride at Massey's Pizza:

Dan "Boots" Longenette and the Auto Smarts Radio team hosted its annual show at Massey's Pizza in the Indian Mound Mall in Heath, Ohio on Sunday.

The show set a record with 182 registered cars.

Our good friend, Dale Pearce, took home the Best Truck Award with his 1950 Chevy 3100 pickup.

The Best of Show award went to Sean Guyer and his 1960 Chevy Impala.

Arthritis Foundation Classic Car Show & Cruise-In:

The big event this week was the Arthritis Foundation 40th Annual Classic Car Show & Cruise-In at the Metro Center in Dublin, Ohio.

The Foundation couldn't have picked better weather for its event on Friday and Saturday.

I stopped by for a few hours on Saturday afternoon as a spectator. From the reports I received attendance was somewhere between 350 and 400 cars for Friday's Cruise-In and around 400 cars on Saturday. If anyone has exact numbers on attendance, please share them in the comments.

I'm going to finish this week's News and Notes with a little slideshow from the Arthritis Show. The slideshow is a combination of photos taken by Dave Bratton, Jeff Shankle, and myself on Friday and Saturday.

Here are the folks who helped put together this week's News and Notes:

  • Jeff Shankle
  • Dave Bratton
  • Dale Pearce

I hope everyone has a good week! I'll see you again next week with a new report.

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