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Published on 8 Comments on Central Ohio Car and Bike Events for April 27 – May 3, 2026
1963 Chevy SS - Owner: Bill Albert

The Central Ohio car show season shifts into high gear this weekend as we roll into May. The threat of snow and freeze warnings is finally in the rearview mirror, and for the next six months, it’s all about sunshine, pavement, and polished sheet metal. If your car is still sitting under a cover, now’s the time—get it out and get it on the road.

This week also marks my return to the Buckeye State after spending four months escaping Ohio’s winter. I’m looking forward to getting back into the swing of things and catching up with everyone in the weeks ahead.

Monday (April 27th):

  • No Events Found

Tuesday (April 28th):

Wednesday (April 29th):

Thursday (April 30th):

Friday - (May 1st):

Saturday (May 2nd):

Sunday - (May 3rd):

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

Before getting into this week’s News and Notes, I want to touch on something that comes up often—the next generation of car enthusiasts.

It’s easy for our generation to take shots at the younger generation and say they’re just not into cars the way we were. I’ll admit, the percentage might be a little smaller, but the idea that the car culture is dying off just doesn’t hold up—at least not from what I’ve seen.

A perfect example is the Import Face-Off. People sometimes look at me a bit sideways when I say it’s the second-largest car event in Central Ohio behind Goodguys Summit Racing Nationals—and it makes two stops in the area every year. That kind of turnout doesn’t happen if the next generation isn’t showing up.

The cars may look different than what many of us grew up with—Chevys, Fords, Dodges, and Plymouths—now joined by Hondas, Subarus, Lexus, and Nissans. But the passion is still there. It just wears a different badge.

The bottom line: the next generation of car enthusiasts is alive and well. And if there’s any doubt, just take a look at the crowd from last weekend’s Import Face-Off. Even on a cold, blustery April Sunday, they showed up in force.

Car show organizers might want to take note.

Calvin Rowland Memorial Car Show:

Friday evening, the 2nd Annual Calvin Rowland Memorial Car Show was held at Precision Fleet Repair in Bellefontaine, Ohio.

For those who may not know, Calvin Rowland was a longtime member of the Central Ohio car community who regularly brought his two trucks to car shows until his passing in 2023.

Friday’s show drew 43 cars. Our good friend Jeff Shankle and his “Green Goblin” took home one of the Top awards.

Here are more rides from Friday's show courtesy of Jeff.

READ MORE 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

2

Published on 2 Comments on Central Ohio Car Shows, Cruise-Ins, and Meet-Ups for May 8 – 14, 2023
2011 Chevy Camaro Convertible - Owner: Kenny Windle

This should be my last post from the great state of Florida for this year. Heading back to Ohio on Tuesday. Should be back in Columbus Wednesday afternoon or evening. I hope to see everyone at Der Dutchman on Thursday.

If you'd like to be notified by email when a new posting appears, click the Subscribe link at the top. This is a non-profit website. Rest assured your email address will NEVER be sold to marketers. There's no risk of more spam mail in your inbox if you subscribe.

NEWS AND NOTES

This past weekend saw near-perfect car show weather on Friday and Saturday disappear into morning showers on Sunday which canceled three events.

Der Dutchman Cruise-In:

Attendance at the first cruise-in of the season at the Der Dutchman Restaurant in Plain City, Ohio reached 240 Thursday evening. Of course, there was the usual assortment of low-calorie goodies raffled off at the end.

Delaware First Friday:

The First Friday event in downtown Delaware, Ohio took place on Friday evening. Approximately 38 cars participated in the cruise-in part of the event.

It's my understanding that If you want to leave the cruise-in before 9 PM, you can request assistance from the police to move your vehicle from the designated parking area.

Tri-County's Annual Car Show:

The Tri-County Career Center in Nelsonville, Ohio hosted its annual car show on Saturday. The event drew more the 80 cars.

The awards were hand-made and all the award winners were picked by the students. Our good friend, Dale Pearce, received a Truck trophy. Karson Musick went home with the Best of Show Peddle Car.

NAMI Mid-Ohio Car Show:

The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) Mid-Ohio hosted its annual car show on Saturday at the Polaris Shopping Mall in Columbus, Ohio. The organization serves Delaware, Marrow, and Union counties.

The event registered more than 80 cars. There were 60-80 vendor booths selling all kinds of merchandise.

The show presented four awards, Best Muscle, Best Classic, Best Modern, and Best of Show. Lynn Wellman and her 1968 Pontiac Firebird received the Best Muscle Award. This was Lynn's first car show. The Best Classic award went to Rex Blevins with a 1955 Crown Victoria. The 2016 McLaren belonging to Joey Lowendick was picked Best Modern and our good friend, Dave Bratton, and his 1937 Ford convertible was the Best of Show winner.

Left to Right: Joey Lowendick, Dave Bratton, Rex Blevins, Lynn Wellman

Circleville First Church Auto Show:

The weather turned out to be a little better in Circleville on Sunday than in Columbus. As a result, the Circleville First Church Auto Show registered 85 cars. David Anderson and his 1963 Chevy Impala SS received the Best of Show award.

Other Area Shows:

  • The Elgin High School Music Boosters Classic Car & Bike Show in Marion, Ohio registered 91 cars on Saturday. Our good friend, Russ Annis, and his 1967 Chevy Chevelle SS picked up one of the 25 "Favorite" awards.
  • Speaking of Marion, The Rod Knockers Car Club of Marion hosted its second show of the season at the Rural King on Saturday evening. There were more than 150 cars in attendance.
  • On Sunday, Chad Herrick took home the Best of Show honors at the Eldorado's Car, Truck, & Bike Show with his 2018 Dodge Charger Daytona 392. Brian Z's Ford Falcon received Best Car and Mark Mitchell's SSR Best Truck.
  • After the rain moved out of the area, the Heart of Ohio Antique Center in Springfield, Ohio ended up with 50-60 cars in attendance for its monthly cruise-in Sunday afternoon.

This concludes this last report from Florida. Now back to packing.

A big thanks to all the remote reporters who have sent me photos and info during these first two months of the season. The list includes Jeff Shankle, Dave Bratton, Dale Pearce, Anthony Musick, Bling Amobi Breezy, Mark Mitchell, and Russ Annis. Your help has been invaluable!

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