By Mary O’KEEFE

ars from all eras could be found along the 2200, 2300 and 2400 blocks of Honolulu Avenue – even the driveways and some parking lots were filled – for the 16th annual Montrose Car Show on July 2. The owners of the classic vehicles were more than happy to share their stories of discovery and recovery of their automotive works of art.

“My son wanted apricot and I wanted blue,” said Chris Carson.

Carson was at the car show with a 1961 Ford Falcon. The car, he said, was actually his son’s but working on it had become a father-son project. They each had their own idea of what color they envisioned for their classic car – but then they saw a swatch of green.

“Take it out in the sun and it went from green to blue and even a little teal,” he said.

The car does sparkle with its green color but there is also an added artistic touch to make extra special.

“They are called ‘true flames,’” Carson said.

True flames are different than the flames that can be found on a lot of hot rods. True flames are almost whispered onto the body of the car, not boldly painted. Carson’s were hand-painted.

“It’s funny but back in 2005 we were at the Hermosa [car show] and a guy had those types of flames,” he said. “My son (Ian) said, ‘Wouldn’t those look good on the Falcon?”

And they do look good.

But it was the process that attracted Bruce Jones of Moorpark.

“The building of the [car] is more fun,” said Jones.

He and his wife, Teresa, own a1956 Chevy that he bought for $1,800 in South Dakota.

“A woman was living in the car,” he said.

It took about two years but the car was brought back to its former glory.

It wasn’t just classic cars and motorcycles that admirers came to see. There were other interesting glimpses into how Americans spent their time on the road. Doug Huse brought two of his trailers, a 1947 Cub “Modernistic” Teardrop and a 1933 Sherman Covered Wagon.

Huse shared the history of the Covered Wagon.

“Arthur Sherman went camping [a lot] in 1930 and thought, ‘There has to be something better,’” Huse said.

Better than a small tent anyway.

Sherman began to build camping trailers in his garage. According to Huse, he built about 167 of them and they were so popular he decided to build more.

“It was the first assembly line trailer made in America,” he said of the 1933 production of the trailers.

Sherman based his operations in Mt. Clements, Michigan. By 1936, he was the largest travel trailer manufacturer in the U.S. But the Great Depression, World War II and the introduction of aluminum worked against the masonite and canvas box trailers.

Huse has one of the few Covered Wagons that could be saved and displayed it at the Montrose Car Show.

He also brought another of his treasures, the Teardrop trailer. This silver aluminum small trailer with a bed in the cab and a cooking area in the back came complete with a camping stove and pullout table.

“This was a Rosie the Riveter trailer,” Huse joked.

The trailer was built of aluminum from old WWII planes after the war. The Kit Manufacturing Co. began designing the Kit Teardrop in an abandoned fruit warehouse in Norwalk, California according to Huse.

The first trailers were available in 1946 and they sold for $500.

“It wasn’t long before many out-of-work plane builders [hence Rosie reference] used building techniques and designs they had mastered during WWII,” he said.

He added that most of the Cubs that could be found today were built between 1947 and 1948.

Huse and some of the other classic car owners from the Montrose Car Show will be at Cruise Night in Glendale on Saturday night answering questions as they display their classic cars, motorcycles and trailers. See the CVW cover story for more information on that event.

  Mary Okeefe