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Published on Leave a comment on Central Ohio Car Shows & Motorcycle Events | August 10 – 16, 2026
2026 "Welcome to the Jungle" Cincinnati Bengals decorated Chevy Corvette Stingray belonging to Gregory Johnson.
2026 "Welcome To The Jungle" Chevy Corvette - Owner: Gregory Johnson

As we move into the middle of August, the calendar remains packed with events, especially on Saturday and Sunday, in addition to the many weekly cruise-ins and bike nights throughout Central Ohio. Some of this week’s highlights include the Vance Outdoors Car Show in Obetz benefiting Honor Flight Columbus, the Reynoldsburg Tomato Festival Car Show, the Igniters Rod Run & Car Show in Chillicothe, and the Larry Coolidge Memorial Cruise-In, formerly known as the Powell Cruize-In & Pig Out.

Be sure to check out the complete schedule below, and as always, verify event details before heading out in case of weather-related changes or last-minute updates.

Monday (August 10th):

  • No Events Found

Tuesday (August 11th):

Wednesday (August 12th):

Thursday (August 13th):

Friday (August 14th):

Saturday (August 15th):

Sunday (August 16th):

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

Der Dutchman Cruise-In:

It’s amazing how just a few degrees can affect attendance. Last week, with temperatures in the low 80s, more than 500 vehicles filled the Der Dutchman Cruise-In. This week, with highs climbing into the mid to upper 80s, attendance dropped to 279 vehicles. Even so, that’s still a turnout most events would be thrilled to have.

The variety and quality of vehicles on hand were once again outstanding. Here are some of the evening’s highlights, captured through the combined photos of Jeff Shankle and yours truly.

Hosanna Church Car Show:

Thanks to pop-up rain showers that moved through the area Friday afternoon, the 13th Annual Hosanna Church Car Show in Pataskala was a shell of its former self compared to last year. In 2025, the parking lot was bulging with 135 vehicles. This year, thanks to the rain, attendance barely made into the 20s. But as they say in the entertainment business, “The show must go on,” and that it did.

Jeff Tolley’s 1965 Chevy C-10 pickup received the People’s Choice Award, while Dave O’Brien’s 1982 Chevy C-10 pickup was selected Best of Show.

Among the other award winners were Mark and Mary Lester, whose 1967 Chevy Camaro took home the Best of the ’60s award.

Here are some rain-soaked photos Jeff Tolley took at Friday’s show.

CONTINUE READING

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Published on 2 Comments on Central Ohio Cars Shows, Cruise-Ins, & Meet-Ups for September 16 – 22, 2024
1985 Chevy K5 Blazer - Owner: Madalynn Francis

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NEWS AND NOTES

Another dry hot week in Central Ohio. The heat didn’t seem to affect attendance too much. There were three events with more than 200 cars — two of which were over 300.

Der Dutchman Cruise-In:

It was another big Thursday evening at Der Dutchman. This week the cruise-in tallied 346 cars.

Dan Varner brought his recently acquired and very rare 1957 Chrysler 300C to the cruise-in.

There were a few other unique vehicles this week like a 1948 Chevy Cab Over Engine (COE) truck, Jeff Irwin's Superformance 1963 Corvette Grandsport, and the firepunk Diesel.

About 60 cars took part in the Annual Donuts and Coffee Cruise-In on Saturday Morning.

Nothing beats using your Corvette to hold your coffee and donut while you get your chair out!

Just a reminder that this Saturday (9/21) is the First Annual Outdoor Sing Along at the Der Dutchman Oak Grove. Wayne encourages cruise-in attendees to bring their cars and walk over to the event

Creative Auto Group/Advanced Auto Parts Car Show:

The September Creative Auto Group/Advanced Auto Parts Car Show took place Friday evening in Marysville, Ohio.

There were 19 cars in attendance. The show raised $113 for the Milford Center Food Pantry in the Trinity Church.

This month's top picks went to Mark Larison with a 1965 Ford Cobra.

Mike Bostick's 1969 Camaro.

And Carlie Bostic and his 1969 Camaro RS/SS Z11 Pace Car.

Ford vs Ferrari Car Show:

The Valley Ford of Columbus Dealership hosted the Ford vs Ferrari Car Show on Friday evening in Hilliard, Ohio.

There were more than 150 cars in attendance. Nine of them were old and new Ford GTs.

Valley Ford presented five awards at the end of the show. The awards were for Best Old Classic Car, Best Modern Classic Car, Judges Choice, Runner-up Best of Show, and Best of Show.

Fred Harrison received Best Old Classic Car for his 1934 Ford Roadster.

The Best Modern Classic Car Award went to Jim MCGruder's 2020 Corvette Stingray.

Frank Deering's 2000 Corvette was the Judge's Choice.

The Runner-Up Best of Show I think went to this Ferrari.

Charles Crites' 1965 Ford GT 40 took home the Best of Show Honors.

Here are more cars from the Ford vs Ferrari Show:

Motts Military Driving for Daisy:

The Auto Smarts Radio Cruise and Ride team hosted its annual car show at Motts Military Museum in Groveport, Ohio on Saturday.

This year the show registered 85 cars.

Dale Pearce received the Best Chevy Award for his 1950 Chevy 3600 pickup.

Steve Andrix's 1954 Chevy Bel Air was selected Best of Show.

READ THE REST OF NEWS AND NOTES

Published on
2004 Ford Mustang GT Convertible - Owner: Tony Oliver

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NEWS AND NOTES

Der Dutchman Cruise-In:

Attendance this past Thursday was 323.

Each week I've been highlighting a unique/unusual vehicle that shows up at the cruise-in. This week there are multiple unique and unusual vehicles to mention.

The first is the one-of-kind motorcycle of John Gochnauer built in 1961 and raced at Charlotte Speedway. The bike has a 750 cc Cushman engine and reached a top speed of 130 mph.

Next, we have something that resembles a golf cart. But in reality, it's Ford's Think Neighbor an all-electric, zero-emissions vehicle designed for use on golf courses, corporate campuses, and vacation resorts.

Introduced in 2002, the Think Neighbor has a top speed of 25 mph and can go approximately 30 miles on a single charge.

The next unique/unusual vehicle on the list is the Shadetree Choppers' Volkswagon Beetle. The car was part of Motor Trend's Hot Rot Power Tower and made the drive from Hebron over to Plain City just to attend the cruise-in.

The final entry in this week's unique/unusual category was not so much the car, but the sign on the side of the car.

The Cobras will be in town this week for the London Cobra Show. Expect to see a lot of Cobras at the cruise-in on Thursday.

Danbury Senior Living Classic & Exotic Car Lunchtime Cruise-In:

Danbury Senior Living on Snouffer Rd in Columbus, Ohio hosted a lunchtime cruise-in on Friday.

There were about fifteen cars in attendance. Anyone who brought a car received a goody bag plus was served lunch which included ribs. Yum!

Danbury has plans to do this again next year on a bigger scale.

2nd Friday NAPA Cruise-In:

Between 25 and 30 cars turned out for the 2nd Friday Cruise-in in front of the NAPA Auto Parts store in Hilliard, Ohio.

The evening got a little rowdy when two young boys decided to ride their bikes in and around the cars. The boys refused to stop and got belligerent with the car owners. Things escalated to the point that the Hilliard Police were called.

Folks have invested lots of money into their cars and a paint job these days is not cheap so you can't fault the car owners for being upset with these boys. They displayed an unbelievable level of disrespect for the car owners.

Despite the incident with the boys, it was a nice evening for a cruise-in. Here are some of the cars that stopped by.

Columbus Cars & Coffee at Polaris Fashion Mall:

The corporate version of Columbus, Cars, & Coffee held its third meet of the season at Polaris Fashion Place in Columbus, Ohio on Saturday. The nice weather attracted not only a large group of cars but also a big crowd of spectators.

Quite a few vendors were at this meet. They included Backroom Coffee, Shake Shake, Esoteric Fine Auto Finishing, DiLusso Realestate, iDrive Exotic Car Rental, Midwest Auto Group, and The Garage Door Guy. Shake Shack was there handing out free cups of frozen custard.

The two most interesting vehicles were the Austin-equipped rocket car and the Tesla Cybertruck. This was my first up-close look at a Cybertruck and it's a lot bigger in person than photos convey.

My Caddy was parked in excellent company with a Porsche on one side and a Ferrari on the other.

Here's a short montage of cars and bikes from Saturday's Cars & Coffee event.

London Church of the Nazarene Car & Motorcycle Show:

The London Church of the Nazarene hosted a car and motorcycle show on Saturday at the Madison County Fairgrounds in London, Ohio.

There was no registration fee but donations were accepted. All proceeds from the show went to benefit the "Christmas in Action" organization.

62 cars registered for Saturday's show. Trophy categories included Pastor's Choice, Kid's Choice, People's Choice, Best Motorcycle, Oldest Vehicle, Best Truck, Best Import, Top GM, Top Ford, Top Mopar, Top Rat Rod, and Best of Show.

Only one motorcycle registered so no surprise it received the Best Motorcycle Award.

Best of Show honors went to Kevin Foust and his 1941 Dodge WC 40 Military Weapons Carrier.

Read the rest of this week's News & Notes

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Published on 4 Comments on Central Ohio Car Shows, Cruise-Ins, and Meet-ups for September 12 – 18, 2022
2002 Chevy Corvette - Owner: Mick Proxmire

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NEWS AND NOTES

Wednesday Evening Cruise at Grace Chapel

Jeff and Pam Shankle and Dan "Boots" Longenette from Auto Smarts Radio stopped by the Grace Chapel Church in Westerville, Ohio on Wednesday evening for its weekly cruise-in. About 50 cars were in attendance this week. Boots drove his award-winning "burn out" machine.

The Pastor announced that the church will continue to host the Wednesday cruise-in until the end of October. A food truck is on-site most Wednesdays for anyone wanting food and refreshment. Times for the cruise-in are typically 6 - 9 PM.

Der Dutchman Thursday Cruise-In

Attendance is creeping up at the Thursday evening cruise-in at Der Dutchman Restaurant in Plain City, Ohio. Two weeks ago attendance was 302 cars. Last week it was 309 and this week it was 340. With any luck, the 400 mark will be broken before the cruise-in ends in three weeks.

This week's "Unique Vehicle" award goes to Jim R. and his Ultima RS. The car's power plant is GM's LT5 engine which was only available in the 2019 Corvette ZR1. Jim's car is making close to 800 HP to the rear wheels!

Creative Automotive/Advanced Auto Parts Car Show

The September Creative Automotive/Advanced Auto Parts Car Show in Marysville, Ohio on Friday evening featured 32 cars.

The event was the first car show for Carol and Steve Atwell's 1928 Ford Model A 2 Dr Sedan.

The show raised $210 for the Marysville and Milford Center food banks.

This month's picks were:

1969 Chevy Chevelle - Owner: Cliff Small
1928 Ford Model A 2 Dr Sedan - Owners: Carol & Steve Atwell
1957 Ford Thunderbird - Owner: Jimmy Carmean

Columbus Cars and Coffee Meet at Esoteric

Per usual, the Columbus Cars and Coffee meet at Esoteric Fine Auto Finishing in New Albany, Ohio had another great turnout of cars and spectators Saturday morning.

The meet had a nice mix of classic, muscle, and exotic cars. Just like the Toy Barn show two weeks ago, the arrival of the Lamborghinis attracted a crowd.

To see more from Saturday's Columbus Cars and Coffee meet, CLICK HERE.

Delaware Christian Church Car, Truck, & Motorcycle Show

The Delaware Christian Church in Delaware, Ohio hosted its second annual Car Show on Saturday. Last year the church registered a little over 50 cars. This year the number of registered cars reach 71 with another half-dozen or so attending but not registering. The registration fee was whatever you wanted to donate.

There were door prizes and a 50/50 raffle. Awards were presented to the Top 25 along with three special awards. The special awards were Pastor's Choice, Best of Show motorcycle, and Best of Show car/truck.

The Special Award winners included:

Pastor's Choice Award - 2021 Ford F150 - Owner: Joe Lyons
Best of Show Motorcycle - 2009 Harley Davidson - Owner: Tony Ford
Best of Show Car/Truck - 1964 Chevy Nova II SS - Owner: Diana Chalfant

CLICK HERE to see the rest of the automobiles from the Delaware Christian Church show.

Auto Smarts Radio Cruise and Ride At Columbus Auto Resale

Dan "Boots" Longenette and the Auto Smarts Radio Cruise and Ride crew were at Columbus Auto Resale on Saturday. The show registered 38 cars.

Our good friend Jeff Shankle took Best Interior with his 1950 Ford F1 pickup.

The Best of Show award went to the 1967 Chevy Chevelle of Craig Massie.

Heart of Grove City Patriots Day Car Show

Shaun "Big Dog" Sanders and the C-Town Cruisers were hosts for the 2nd Annual Heart of Grove City, Ohio Patriots Day Car Show.

The show registered a little over 60 cars. The Best Truck award went to Loy Oberer with a 1955 Ford F-100 pickup.

The 1932 Ford five Window of Gus O'Day took home the Best of Show honors.

Lite the Nite Car Show

The big event on Saturday was the 37th Annual Light the Nite Car Show at the Courthouse Square in Newark, Ohio. This year the show registered more than 420 cars.

The event helps support the holiday lighting of the courthouse in Newark and other charities. This year the show also honored the late Jim Matheny who helped organize the Nite the Light show for many years.

The awards were four and six-foot trophies. Dale Pearce used every inch of the truck bed in his 1950 Chevy 3100 pickup to bring home his six-foot award.

Wings and Rings Car, Truck, & Bike Show

My original plan was to attend the All Corvette Gathering in Lancaster, Ohio on Sunday. But rain between my house and Lancaster killed that plan. Luckily the showers mainly stayed south and east of my location.

Plan B was to find a dry car show relatively close to home. This turned out to be the Crossroads Events show at the Wings and Rings in Lewis Center, Ohio.

This was the second show at the restaurant this year. Both this show and the previous show have faced less-than-ideal weather. A final show of the season is scheduled for October 9th. Hopefully, "third times a charm" will kick in and give them a beautiful day of weather.

With 23 cars, trucks, and bikes in attendance, the Best of Show awards went to Steve Barry with a 1999 Harley Davidson Heritage Springer and "DW" Warren Dorilen with a 2014 Maserati Ghibili.

Riverside Dairy Car Show

The Riverside Dairy Car Show in Mount Vernon, Ohio was originally scheduled for August 21st but was postponed to Sunday because of the weather.

The show registered 45 cars. Awards were presented for 3rd place, 2nd place, and Best of Show for both cars and trucks. Not only was there a trophy for each award winner but also a cash prize. The Best of Show winners received $100. Second and third place winners received $75 and $50 respectively.

Best of Show Car went to Harry Squires with a 1970 Chevy Chevelle SS.

Steve Andrix's 1948 Chevy Pickup received the Best of Show Truck award.

Jeff Shankle's 1950 Ford F1 received the 2nd Place Truck award so drinks are on Jeff this week.

Other Area Shows:

  • The Empty Pockets Cruisers had over 120 cars in attendance for its Patriots Day Car Show in Hilliard, Ohio on Saturday
  • Despite the rain, 200 plus crazy Corvette owners turned out for the All Corvette Gathering in Lancaster, Ohio.
  • Our good friend Dale Pearce took home the Mayor's Choice and the Kid's Choice awards at the 17th Annual Gahanna Community Church Car Show

Whew! That's it for this week. A big thank you to Jeff Shankle, Dale Pearce, and Mark Mitchell for their help in preparing this week's report.

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Published on 4 Comments on Central Ohio Car Events for September 20 – 26, 2021
1964 Chevy Corvair Monza
Owner: Dave Albers

Here are the events scheduled for this last weekend of September. Once again it's a big one! If past history is any indication, the two biggest shows of the weekend will be the Sunbury Lions Club Country Cruise-in and the North Hills Car and Bike Show. Both are on Sunday.

CLICK HERE to skip the News and Notes section and go directly to the list of events.

NEWS AND NOTES:

Der Dutchman:

The Der Dutchman Restaurant in Plain City, Ohio held two cruise-ins this week. Their weekly cruise-in on Thursday evening attracted 347 cars. It turned out to be a wonderful evening to hang out with friends.

Saturday morning the restaurant hosted its annual Coffee and Donuts cruise-in. More than 80 cars stopped in for a cup of coffee and a famous Der Dutchman donut. By 11 AM everyone was experiencing a pretty good sugar and caffeine buzz.

To see more from the Thursday and coffee and donuts cruise-ins, CLICK HERE.

Farrow Hot Rods and Handlebars:

Saturday evening the Farrow Harley Davidson Dealership in Sunbury, Ohio hosted their second Hot Rods and Handlebars Car and Bike Show of the season. The event was sponsored by Rabid Customs, Ricart Automotive, and of course, Farrow Harley-Davidson.

The Parking lot was divided into two sections, one for the motorcycles and the other for the cars. Two food trucks and a beer garden provided refreshments. A live band (sorry, don't know the name) entertained the crowd.

Entry to the show was free for spectators and motorcycles. If you wanted your car included in the judging for a trophy, a $10 donation to charity was requested. With the $10 donation also came a 16 oz bottle of Jax Wax Hawaiian Shine, microfiber towel, and air freshener. Not a bad deal.

On the car side, there were trophies for the top 25, third and second place, and Best of Show. I believe there were three awards for the motorcycles.

The car registration forms were not numbered so I don't have an accurate count of registered cars. I'm guessing somewhere around 100 cars with another 50 that showed up but didn't register. All I can say about the bikes is there were a lot of them! I didn't spend much time in the bikes section. There was a lot to keep up with the cars. I did, however, discover (as did many others) a "Legends of Rock" themed bike that was absolutely amazing. You'll have to check it out on the show's PHOTO PAGE. Let me know how many rock legends you can name.

Here are the top three award winners from the show:

THIRD PLACE AWARD
1932 Ford Model 18
Owner: Ed Young
SECOND PLACE AWARD
1957 Chevy 3100 Step Side
Owner: Bill Reno
BEST OF SHOW
1966 Ford F100
Owners: Chad & Diana Wills

Coughlin Chevrolet of Pataskala Car Show:

Coughlin Chevrolet of Pataskala, Ohio held its 12th annual car show on Saturday. Advertised as "Ohio's Best Free Car Show", the event registered close to 200 cars.

The show attracted mostly Corvettes with maybe 40-50 cars being other makes and models. Trophies were presented to the Top 100 cars. There was no Best of Show award.

To see more from the Coughlin show, check out the show's PHOTO PAGE.

All Oldsmobile Car Show and Swap Meet:

On Sunday, the Mid-Ohio Chapter of the Oldsmobile Club of America held their 34th Annual All Oldsmobile Car Show and Swap Meet at Quaker Steak and Lube in Columbus, Ohio.

The club registered 75 Oldsmobiles. Trophies were presented to the Top 20 cars as voted on by those participating in the show.

Even though I don't own an Oldsmobile, the first car my wife and I bought as a married couple was a 1977 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme so I have a little soft spot in my heart for the brand. Unfortunately, I only saw one 1977 Cutlass. It was a 442 not a supreme.

To see more from the All Oldsmobile Show, CLICK HERE.

Other Area Shows:

Reports are the Jax Wax Car Show on Saturday registered close to 400 cars. Steve Andrix and his 1954 Chevy Bel Air received the Best of Show award.

The turn out for Pepsi's Auto Smarts Radio Cruise and Ride at Columbus Auto Resale on Saturday was between 50 and 60 cars.

The Cupola Classic Car Show in Johnstown, Ohio on Sunday had 160 cars in attendance.

If you have any information on other shows in the area from this past weekend, please feel free to post it in the comments section.

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Published on 7 Comments on Central Ohio Car Events for August 2 – 8, 2021
1953 Ford F100 Pickup
Owner: Dave Mohler

This week Central Ohio has a jam-packed Friday and Saturday line-up of events. Twenty-three events are on the schedule between those two days.

The marquee events this week are the Vettes, Rods, and Classics Car Show in Gahanna, The Vance Outdoor Car Show in Obetz, and the Powell Cruize-In and Pig Out in Powell.

NEWS AND NOTES:

Rain on Thursday dampened the Der Dutchman Cruise-In in Plain City, Ohio. I received word that only 26 cars braved the scattered thunderstorms and showed up last week.

Shaun "Big Dawg" Saunders and the C-Town Cruisers partnered with the Pharisburg United Methodist Church in Marysville, Ohio for a car show/cruise-in on Friday evening.

The show registered 50 cars. A free-will offering 50's style diner was served.

The Best of Show Award went to Janice and Sam Foos and their 1957 Ford Skyliner.

For the other award-winning cars and trucks and more photos from the Pharisburg United Methodist Church show, click here.

The Vanity Gentlemen's Club in Columbus, Ohio was the scene of the Heels & Wheels Car Show on Saturday afternoon. As you can guess by the location and name, it was not your traditional car show.

The Gentlemen's Club registered a total of 55 vehicles. The $15 registration fee also included a door prize ticket. I've got to say those were some of the better door prizes I've seen this season.

Everyone who registered a car got a chance to vote on awards for their favorite Vanity dancer. Since this is a "G" rated website, I won't list the name of the awards. I'll leave that up to your imagination.

The dancers did all the judging. Their pick for Best of Show was William Brown's 1979 Ford Mustang Pace Car.

To see the other award winners and more cars from the Heels & Wheels show, Click here,

At the other end of the spectrum from the Heels & Wheels show was the Purple Door Cruise-In at the Grove City Methodist Church.

The show busted its previous attendance record of 135 cars by registering 174 vehicles on Saturday.

Best of Show honors went to our good friend, Jeff Shankle, and his 1951 Ford F1 pickup.

See more photos from the Purple Door Cruise-In (thanks Dave Bratton).

The Life City Church in Pickerington, Ohio registered 80 cars on Saturday. Registration and everything else I'm told was free.

On Sunday the Buckeye Rod Builders hosted the 41st Annual Poor Man's Nationals at the Pastime Park in Plain City, Ohio. Just like in 2019, the event was free and open to all makes, models, and years. In other words, it was a big cruise-in. And big it was with over 245 cars. Just goes to show trophies aren't necessary to attract a large gathering of cars. Just offer some door prizes, a 50/50 raffle, refreshments, a good location, and some nice weather and they will come.

Click here for more photos from the 41st Poor Man's Nationals.

And finally, The C-Town Cruisers were out at The Point on Main Sunday afternoon for their monthly show at the restaurant. The Cruisers registered a little over 60 cars.

Steve Kidwell received the Best of Show award with his 1965 Pontiac GTO. Charlie Seymour and his 1967 Nova took the Ladies Choice honors.

If anyone has info from the Cardo's Pizza show in Pickerington, please feel free to post it in the comments section.

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