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Published on Leave a comment on Central Ohio Car and Bike Events for June 29 – July 5, 2026
1951 GMC 150 Pickup - Owner: Nick Cochran

We conclude another month of the season this week as America celebrates its 250th Birthday on Saturday. There are no fewer than 14 car shows, cruise-ins, and bike events taking place across Central Ohio on July 4th, so everyone should be able to find something to enjoy while celebrating Independence Day.

Please Note: Shaun “Big Dawg” Sanders of the C-Town Cruisers let me know that the two remaining shows at The Point on Main Sports Bar, scheduled for July 5th and August 2nd, have been canceled.

Monday (June 29th):

  • No Events Found

Tuesday (June 30th):

Wednesday (July 1st):

Thursday (July 2nd):

Friday (July 3rd):

Saturday (July 4th):

Sunday (July 5th):

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:

Attendance started out slowly on Thursday evening due to an initial weather forecast calling for showers around 6:00 p.m. Once it became apparent the rain would hold off, attendance picked up steadily, reaching 234 vehicles by the end of the cruise-in. Approximately 32 of those were Cobras participating in the London Cobra Show.

Here are some of the non-Cobra vehicles that Jeff Shankle and I captured during the evening.

Friday at Barrett-Jackson:

I spent a few hours on Friday at the inaugural Barrett-Jackson auction at the Ohio Expo Center. Billed as “The World’s Greatest Collector Car Auction,” the event certainly lived up to its reputation.

There was no shortage of food vendors, exhibitors, and, of course, incredible cars. When you needed a break from looking at the vehicles, Dodge was offering thrill rides in its new gasoline-powered SIXPACK Charger models.

One of the most interesting aspects of the visit was seeing what the cars actually sold for. After each vehicle crossed the auction block, it was moved under one of several large tents where a SOLD sign was placed on the windshield showing the final sale price. Here are a few examples:

  • 1982 Chevy Corvette Custom Coupe - Sold For $17,500
  • 1954 Ford F-100 - Sold For $35,000
  • 1977 Cadillac Eldorado - Sold For $27,000
  • 1973 Chrysler Newport Bluesmobile Re-creation - Sold For $15,000
  • 1953 WILLy's M38A1 Jeep - Sold For $9,500
  • 1958 BMW Isetta 300 - Sold For $25,000
  • 1929 Ford Model A Mail Truck - Sold For $15,000
  • 1977 Chevy Monte Carlo - Sold For $10,500
  • 1963 Chevy Biscayne Custom Coupe - Sold For $27,000
  • 1987 Chevy Silverado 3500 Pickup - Sold For $10,500
  • 1975 Volkswagen Super Bettle Convertible- Sold For $21,000
  • 1979 Buick Regal Custom Coupe - Sold For $10,000

Of course, the main action took place inside the Celeste Center, where the vehicles were auctioned. The large crowd of bidders on the auction floor, combined with the spectators filling the grandstands, made for quite a spectacle. The entire operation ran like a well-oiled machine and was very impressive to watch.

  • Wiping down the cars before going into auction.

Several familiar faces from the Central Ohio car community were involved in the event. Mark and Patty Enyart were selling their 1970 Chevy Chevelle SS, giving me the opportunity to learn how the auction works from a seller’s perspective.

The Meguiar’s booth featured Jim McGruder’s 2020 Chevrolet Corvette.

Members of the Mustang club helped move vehicles through the staging area. Our good friend Phil Spangler was spotted on TV driving one of the auction cars across the block.

Before heading home, I stopped by the Kasich Building, where many of the top-dollar vehicles scheduled for Saturday’s auction were on display. Here are a few of those amazing cars.

It was a fun way to spend a few hours and a great opportunity to experience one of the world’s premier collector car auctions without leaving Central Ohio. Let's hope Barrett-Jackson will make a return visit to Columbus in the future.

CONTINUE READING

Published on
1959 Chevy Corvette
Owner: Jerry Galbreath

Here is this week's line-up. Several Patriot Day car shows commemorating 9/11 will take place on Saturday. The Street Elite Corvette Club will host its annual open car show in Sunbury also on Saturday. Motts Military Show and the All Corvette Gathering in Lancaster highlight the schedule for Sunday.

NEWS AND NOTES:

WARNING: Because of the holiday weekend, this week's report is a long one. If you want to jump to the list of events and skip the report, click here.

Der Dutchman:

With weather conditions being close to ideal this past Thursday, attendance at the Der Dutchman cruise-in in Plain City, Ohio jumped back up to more than 300 cars. The weather forecast looks good for this coming Thursday so expect another big cruise-in.

Zucchinifest Car and Motorcycle Show:

On Friday evening the Zucchinifest Car and Motorcycle Show at Fortress Obetz in Obetz, Ohio registered more than 180 cars.

Best of Show went to a 1940 Woody Wagon with a Corvette engine. Our good friend, Dale Pearce, and his 1950 Chevy 3100 pickup received the Mayor's Choice award. Good thing Dale has a truck or it could have been a challenge getting that trophy home.

Richwood Bank Coffee and Cars Cruise-in:

Twenty-one cars spent a relaxing Saturday morning at the Richwood Bank in Delaware, Ohio. I left before the raffle drawing to make the drive over to Mechanicsburg.

Flywheels Annual Car Show:

The Flywheels Hot Rod Club of Marion hosted a car show at the Prospect Community Park in Prospect, Ohio on Saturday afternoon. The Club expected to register around 50 cars and ended up registering 174 vehicles. Talk about exceeding expectations!

The Prospect Lions Club and several food vendors provided refreshments. There were commercial and craft booths scattered around the park. I'm told the park was a great location for a car show. Clean restrooms and plenty of trees to provide shade.

The Flywheels Hot Rod Club plans to make this an annual event. To see more photos from the Flywheel show, click here.

Mechanicsburg First Responders Car Show:

Ohio State's football home opener has generally been the first Saturday of September so I've never been able to attend the Mechanicsburg First Responders Car Show until this year.

The show is held on Main Street (Route 29) north of Route 4 all the way to the Route 29/559 junction. Main Street south of Route 4 is used for overflow parking. And this year the show needed every bit of overflow parking as it registered well over 200 cars.

I arrived in Mechanicsburg around 11:40 AM (registration opened at 11 AM) and I had to park at the very end of Main Street right at the Rt 29/559 junction. It was just about a quarter-mile walk from my car to the fire station to register. My advice is to arrive early if you want to park anywhere close to the action.

I didn't see a lot in the way of food vendors. Although to be honest I wasn't looking for any. I know there was food available at the fire station and there were a couple of refreshment stands. I know this because I bought ice tea at one.

The awards were a combination of custom-made and traditional trophies. There were a good number of special awards like Mayor's Choice, Most Original, Farthest Traveled, Best Engine, etc, along with "Top 45" trophies, a Runner-up Best of Show, and a Best of Show.

Runner-up Best of Show went to Sam Parks and his 1948 Chevrolet Pickup. The orange 1946 Ford Coupe belonging to Robert Kirst from Mansfield, Ohio took the Best of Show honors.

If you'd like to see more cars from the Mechanicsburg show, click here.

Auto Smarts Cruise and Ride at Ten Pin Alley:

Dan "Boots" Longenette and Pepsi's Auto Smarts Radio Cruise and Ride team were in Hilliard, Ohio Saturday at the Ten Pin Alley bowling establishment.

The show registered 82 vehicles. Dale Pearce and his 1950 Chevy 3100 pickup took The Best Truck Award. Best of Show went to Aaron Denney and his 1970 Oldsmobile Cutlass 442.

The Italian Gathering:

On my way to the Dublin A.M. Rotary Classic Car Show on Sunday, I stopped by Wendy's International Headquarters in Dublin, Ohio to take some photos from the Italian Gathering. Boy, could you smell the money!

The event is organized by Evans Automotive and proceeds go to the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption and Wendy's Wonderful Kids.

This is the first year that owners of the British manufactured McLaren could participate in the Italian Gathering. Personally, I think the organizers should relabel it the Exotic Gathering and allow the Porsches, Jaguars, and any other high-end foreign-manufactured cars to participate. I bet it would be a huge event.

Click here to see more photos from the Italian Gathering.

Dublin A.M. Rotary Classic Car Show:

After a year off because of Covid, the Rotary Club of Dublin A.M. held their second annual classic car show on Sunday in the public parking lots off Bridge Park Avenue in Dublin, Ohio.

This year the show registered 103 cars. The DJ again was Jason Nester, who in my opinion is one of the top two or three DJs in the area. Elvis was also in the parking lot along with the Poodle girls. The biggest complaint I heard was the lack of food vendors. If you wanted something to eat or drink the only choices were the restaurants adjacent to the parking lots.

The Dublin A.M. Rotary presented 30 "Favorite" trophies and a Best of Show. The Best of Show Award went to Mark Richmond with a 1967 Volkswagon Karmann Ghia Coupe.

Click this link for more photos from the Dublin A.M. Rotary Classic Car Show.

American Legion Southway Post 144 Labor Day Car Meet:

Big Dawg and the C-Town Cruisers were in south Columbus, Ohio on Monday hosting the Labor Day Car Meet at the American Legion Southway Post 144.

The American Legion Southway Post 144 is one of my favorite venues for a car show. It sits back off of South High Street. There's a long driveway to a big parking lot. You can park on the blacktop or you can park in the grass. There's plenty of shaded areas to escape the sun. What's really nice is the members of Post 144 appreciate the C-Town Cruisers hosting car shows at their establishment.

Getting back to the show, 90 cars registered Monday with another 10-20 cars showing up but not registering. Big Dawg presented trophies to the "Top 40" cars along with a Best Truck Award, a Best Rat Rod/Most Potential Award, a Most Patriotic Award, a Club Participation Award, the Larry Bickers Memorial Award, and a Best of Cruise.

The Larry Bickers Memorial Award went to Mike and Sandy Gibson and their 1947 Buick Super Convertible. The 1957 Chevy Bel Air belonging to Tom and Lynn Verfaillie took the Best of Cruise honors.

To see more photos from the show, click the link below.

American Legion Southway Post 144 Labor Day Car Meet photos

I received a few photos from Monday's West Jefferson Ox Roast Car Show that was held in Garrett Park in West Jefferson, Ohio. It looks like the event registered around 140 cars. According to the flyer, there were trophies for the "Favorite" 35 and a Best of Show. If anyone knows who took the Best of Show Award or has information on any other shows in the area this past weekend, please feel free to post in the comments.

That's it for this week. I think I set a record with 520 photos taken over the three-day weekend. Whew!

I want to thank Dale Pearce, Cathy, and Mark Krist, Jeff Shankle, and Bryan Lewis for their help making this report.

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