I warned you, I have plenty of car show photos and I ain’t afraid to use ’em! So, continuing the theme of area indoor shows from years past, here are a couple more from my dusty archives.
The first batch comes your way from what was, to my knowledge at least, the first indoor car show that ever happened in Ortonville, Minnesota. Staged by the local Coachmen car club, the event was held in the spring of 1975. The venue: the local armory, just like they did in the “good ol’ days”… although nobody came up with any angel hair to spread around the cars or chose a show queen to hand out trophies! Not a bad showing though, we drew cars from Montevideo and the Fargo-Moorhead area as well as a great group from the Brookings SD area and the newly-formed Vintiques car club. Take a gander!
In the last shot above, members of the Brookings Vintiques (Brookings SD) show off their “Club Participation” award.
It was later that summer when the Coachmen and the Lake Region Antique Auto Club of America chapter from Milbank SD combined forces to stage an indoor show at the Milbank 4-H grounds. The AACA chapter of course consisted of mostly original, restored/antique vehicles whereas our wheels were mostly modified. But in spite of all the stories you may have heard about restorer vs. rodder conflicts that supposedly existed at the time, we saw none of that. Both groups, I think, had a sincere appreciation for the others’ rides. In the first photo from that weekend, I believe that’s AACA member Sig Wasberg at the wheel of his brass-era Cadillac as fellow member Norbert Janssen rides along. The second photo is a 1903 (?) Maytag owned and restored by Jim Rabe, one of a very few surviving examples of that brand. As far as I know, both cars may still be in the possession of family members. In the third shot, the Coachmen clan held court across the aisle with Bob and Betty Zahnow’s 289-V8, four speed equipped ’39 Ford stake bed pickup in the foreground. Checking back to the first pic, passenger Norbert Janssen had a Ford Model “T” roadster that I recall was almost always driven (not trailered) to any event he attended. At right in the same photo, wearing the striped shirt is Dick Forster who had a Ford Model “A” sedan and later, a “T” roadster pickup that he drove regularly.
A bunch of great folks, restorers and rodders, just hangin’ out, digging the wheels – ‘cuz cool old cars are cool old cars no matter how you put ’em together. I rest my case.
Thanks for dropping by Terry’s Garage, hope to see you down the road. “Dig the drive”!
terrysgarage.com 