By Mary O’KEEFE

The 15th Annual Montrose Car Show was held on July 3 with over 300 classic cars, hot rods and motorcycles lining Honolulu Avenue in the Montrose Shopping Park area.

“This was our largest show ever, with probably the largest viewer participation ever,” said Dave Maher, the show’s organizer.

This year there were some more unusual cars on display like a 1933 Helms Bakery truck that had been refurbished back to its delivery days but with a surprise under the hood – it’s actually a hot rod.

It took Al Reyes about four years to get all the Helm’s original props, like stickers and signs, before adding his own twists like a canopy that stretches from the side when the truck is parked.

The Helms truck was found on one side of the street filled with classic cars and hot rods owned by members of Trompers, an Eagle Rock car club, and one of the oldest car clubs in California.

Don Zamble is an original member of Trompers, which started in 1945. He was on hand to enjoy the gathering of “gear heads” and those who just love cars.

“We were just a bunch of guys hangin’ in a driveway in 1944,” he said.

The guys liked racing hot rods and, after a year of meeting in the driveway, decided to make it an official car club.

“It was all hot rods back then, now it’s a [mix] of everything,” Zamble said.

In the 1940s, as is true today, the place to get information about cars was Hot Rod magazine. The hot rod was primarily a California phenomenon and it was growing fast. The magazine had a built-in specialized audience and the man who took photos of everything hot rod from the beginning was Eric Rickman. His son Michael was at the Montrose show.

“We traveled everywhere,” Rickman said of going on location with his dad. “Every kid in the U.S. had a Hot Rod magazine in their back pocket.”

Rickman said he got to travel with his dad to the most amazing places and met the most amazing drivers, including Mickey Thompson. In 1960 Thompson became the first American to break the 400 mph barrier. He broke that barrier in his car, the Challenger One.

“When Mickey Thompson was building his car he laid out the design [in tape] on the floor and sat me where the [driver’s seat] would be,” Rickman said.

Throughout the show cars were judged in a variety of categories; for a list of those winners visit www.cvweekly.com.

Exotics

Michael Axon—-Lotus

Greg Eisele—Ford GT

Motorcycles

Jerry Viviit—Moto Morini GT

Veterans Charity Ride—-Indian w/Sidecar

Classics

Rob Moore—31 Ford

Steve Ovanessan—67 Camaro Conv.

Steve Kirkland—67 Camaro

Fidel Acosta—66 Mustang

Hot Rods

Lynn Park—40 Willys

Bob Trainor—56 Ford PU

Russ Collins—34 Ford

Jim Lirones—41 Willys

Larry Peterson—68 Dodge Charger

Laraine Lisa—57 Chevy Conv.

Ross Lowende—70 Chevy Chevelle

Jim Nolan—50 Oldsmobile

Rich-Jacobus—40 Ford

Jim Cafferety—67 Ford Fairlane

Scott Ayers—57 Chevy

Ted Saraf—68 Dodge (Pasadena Police Car)

Chris Carson—61 Ford Falcon

John Martinez—55 Chevy

Jack the Barber’s Favorite Hot Rod

Danny Tubbs—57 Chevy Panel Truck

MSPA Appreciation Awards

Mike Fea

Jerry Cleland

Ron Stearns

  Mary Okeefe