Wheels has to agree with the assessment, and we stopped to photograph and visit with the owners of a number of unique rides.
Rick Shoemaker of Beavercreek cruised in with his blue ’67 Chevelle and found a prime spot.
“I try to get to these at least once each year; it’s a cool show,” he said.
Keeping with the ’60s muscle car theme was Bill Traufler and his beautiful, black ’66 Chevelle. With its louvered hood, high rear stance and chrome wheels, it looked like a picture from a Friday evening drive-in in the late ’60s.
“I’ve owned it since 1971; that’s 48 years and it still only has 68,000 miles on it,” Traufler said. “It’s a fair-weather car.”
Traufler, 75, repainted the car in 1985. Under the hood it’s period correct for sure, a 427-cubic-inch L8 mated to a 4-speed manual transmission.
When asked about awards, Traufler commented, “Yeah, I’ve won a few, but I don’t care about stuff like that. I like to just go enjoy the cars and the people.
“This is a great event, super organized, everything clean, customer friendly,” he said. “I have no idea how many people it takes to put this on but they do it right. It’s on my calendar each year as a must attend.”
Griffin from Voss explained that it takes about 40 volunteer employees the whole day to move the 400 cars to clear the space for the show and spectator parking, and then direct traffic and the car show until 9 p.m. “They start at 9 a.m. and go till it’s over. There’s no way we could do this without them,” she said.
On the other end of the spectrum was a 1936 Ford Limousine – yes, a limousine.
“There were only 10 of these built,” explained Dave Leiser, who was driving the car for its owner, Ron Slanker. “The body is by Cunningham, and it’s a nice limo, not real overdone. Of the 10 built, only two still exist in the U.S., this one and one in Boston. This car was restored in 1978, and tonight is only the second time it’s been on the road in three years.”
Rick Henkaline pulled in behind the wheel of a 1941 Packard 120 convertible. While clearly not a fully restored car, the lines caught everyone’s attention.
“It’s just a great, smooth car to drive and tonight’s a perfect night for it,” he said.
Thomas Bryte was sitting in front of his 1965 Pontiac 2+2 convertible, an all-original, red “land yacht.”
“I bought it on Sept. 9, 1965, from Paddock Pontiac and I still have it. Even with the 2+2 package, 421 engine and styled wheels, the sticker was only $4,500.97. I wanted the car so bad, I traded a 1963 Jaguar XKE for it!”
That’s pretty much from one extreme to the other.
Proceeds from the sales of drinks, the 50/50 raffle and other profits go to Aim for the Handicapped. Griffin also noted that many Voss vendors help out as sponsors. They include All Foreign, Finish Masters, Hertz, Sandy’s Towing, Valvoline, Flying Ace Car Wash, Advance Auto Parts and Auto Distribution Warehouse.
Plans are already in the works for the 2020 Voss cruise-ins to be held in June and July.
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