By Lori BODNAR

Despite scorching heat hundreds visited the 19th Annual Montrose Car Show. With 300 vehicles on display, there was a century of autos from all over the world ranging from Europe, North America, Oceania and Asia.

Forty volunteers including Bob Beck, announcer for Irwindale Speedway helped with the event.

Tom King ran the registration booth.

“The Montrose Car Show brings the community together and provides foot traffic for local businesses and farmer’s market,” King said.

Vasken Hagopian has owned a 1955 Chevy Los Angeles Police Dept. car for 10 years.

“When I first saw the car, it was dusty, dirty and barely running—I remodeled it. Studios rent this car for movies and actors like Matt Damon and George Clooney have used it,” Hagopian said.

Robert Best displayed his 1974 Corvette Coupe for the first time; he has owned the car since he was 19.

Kevin Hoard made modifications to his 1963 Vespa such as flags and lights to make it appear as a 1960s Italian mod scooter.

“I enjoy car shows because it is fun and supports the community,” Hoard said.

Ken Saffer has a roadster he started building in 1981 and finished in 1986 at Speedway Engineering, where he worked for the late-owner Frank Deiny. The car has a 1948 flathead hot rod motor.

A sight to see were two dogs driving a car. Troy G. equipped a toy car with a remote control so his dogs could cruise around. In addition to being at the Montrose Car Show, these therapy dogs also “drive”  into hospital rooms to the delight of the patients.

The winners of the Montrose Car Show were Ray Petri, Renne Holquin, Dale Hudelson, Sandy Norris, Blake Wilcox, Larry Helscher, Gus Ramos, Dan Olson, David Coulter, Bob Alcott, Gerorge Sayeg, Jim Ortega, Ernest Ortega, Darrell McGettee, Dan and Debbie Glick, Richard Fromel, Richard White, Steve Dalton, Manuel Gomez, Brent Unger, Jim Ayach, Bob Reily, Michael Alfeiri, Chris McDiffett, Peter Nguyen, Lynn Park, Kris Wilcox, and Simon Dulvandzhyan. The winning cars included a Ford Model A and Model T.

The roaring motors of the Cacklefest, featuring two cars and two boats with nitro and alcohol for fuel revving their engines was a real crowd pleaser.

Dwaine Miles said, “I have been to the Montrose Car show at least 7 years. My favorite part is photographing the cars. One car that caught my eye was the WWII 1943 Ford GPW, owned by John Bodnar,” said Miles. 

The car show was for all ages including Eric Truong, sixth grader, and fifth grader Abigail Eisenstein.

“I liked the varieties of cars and how designs changed. I enjoyed the Cacklefest. My favorites were the trucks and 1947 Willy’s CJ2A,” Truong said.

“I liked the cars including the 1943 Ford GPW. I’m glad that the car show was nearby the businesses and the Harvest Market,” added Eisenstein. 

The car show was sponsored by the Montrose Shopping Park Association. Besides cars, there were vintage motorcycles, dragsters, hot rods, and even a few speedboats. The public admired vehicles, visited local businesses, and shopped at the Harvest Market. If you missed the car show this year mark your calendars for next year–July 3, 2022.

  Lori BODNAR