Vogt started the car show as a way to showcase the city parks, and also raise money for the park department. “We’ve raised over $10,000 in the past five years,” Vogt added. The evening featured a concert by the Van Dells in the newly renovated Hance Pavilion.
Piqua resident Ron Hardin was attracting a lot of attention with his 1939 Cadillac LaSalle four-door sedan. Finished in metallic Inferno Red, the big car sported period-correct wide whitewall tires.
“I bough the car eight years ago, and it took me five and a half years to finish it,” Hardin said. “It was owned by an old fellow in Troy, who had done most of the mechanical and drivetrain work, but I carried the car out of his garage in boxes,” he added.
“I did everything on the car except the painting, and it took a long time,” the retired machinist explained. “My daughter and I did the interior, in a leather-like white vinyl. The first show I took it to, we won best interior,” he said. While the paint and interior are not stock, everything else about the car is, right down to the flathead V-8 and three-speed manual transmission.
“I don’t really take it to a lot of shows, mostly just to cruise-ins and stuff like that,” Hardin said. “The older folks, especially the ladies, really like the car. It reminds them of the cars they grew up with, the big sedans with the big doors and spacious interior. The grille and the lights are very cool but they took a lot of polishing to get them to look good.”
Hardin did take the car to the Dayton Concours d’Elegance a few years back. “One of the judges asked me how big my trailer was, and I told him I drove the car there, that I drive it everywhere. It’s never been washed either, I just wipe it down. I guess it’s getting a little bath today with the rain, but I’ll just wipe it off; it’ll be fine.”
Dave VanWinkle of Trotwood was wiping down his 1949 Chevy pickup truck. “This rain won’t hurt it,” he said. The modified pickup has a small-block Chevy 350 under the hood and lots of chrome.
“I drive this truck all the time. They’re made to drive. I have a 2004 Silverado but I’d rather drive this old truck. It runs great and handles better than the new one,” Van Winkle said.
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