The 11th Duluth Rotary Car Show had everything an automotive aficionado could want. Classic American muscle cars. (Photos by Glenn Boylan)
Hot rods that would be right at home in the movie American Graffiti.
Sports cars, both import and domestic.
And trucks of all types, including, ummm… this one.
They were all on display at the car show, held earlier this year on June 17.
The best thing about the show is that all the proceeds the Rotary Club generate go to Operation One Voice, which is dedicated to helping protective services personnel and their children and families.
Begun from a desire to help
The Rotary Club’s Mark Tyrrell came up with the idea of hosting a car show to benefit Operation One Voice.
“Operation One Voice was founded by one of our fellow Rotarians, Bill Stevens, after 9/11,” Tyrrell said. “His thought was that the government takes care of injured soldiers, but sometimes their families need help as well. So he decided to start raising money to help the families. He has raised upwards of $2,000,000 and gives it all away.”
Sadly, Stevens, who was a retired Gwinnett County fireman as well as a Duluth Police officer, was diagnosed with cancer last year and passed away.
During the show, there were tributes to Stevens and people spoke about what a great organization Operation One Voice is and what it does for the soldiers and their families.
“He was just a super, super guy and a great friend,” Tyrell said. “He had a heart for taking care of these people.”
And now the Rotary Club is trying to continue Stevens’ great work. The car show is a fantastic way to do that.
Some stars of the show
One of the first cars at the show’s entrance was Dan Chickvara’s stunning 1968 Corvette. Chickvara has owned the car for 12 years and recently finished a bumper-to-bumper, fully stock restoration, which took 10 years to complete.
Along with his lifelong friend Mike Porter — the two of them have been restoring cars since they were 15 and living in Michigan — Chickvara wanted to restore the ‘Vette to exactly how it came off the St. Louis assembly line in October of 1967. As if that wasn’t challenging enough, this was one of the first of this style of Corvette that was built. By December of that year, Chevrolet had already incorporated many design changes, making the original parts that were used in Chickvara’s model rare.
“When the car is judged at shows, the judging is done based on the original vehicle codes,” Chickvara said. “I needed those early components. The parts are very hard to find.”
But the results were worth all the work. At last year’s National Corvette Restoration Society competition, the Corvette received a 98.4 score, achieving Top Flight status. Then at the Bloomington Gold Corvette show in Charlotte, it received a 98.7 score. And it’s not just a looker, Porter said, “It drives like a brand new car.”
Classic cars were popular at the show, and very close to Chickvara’s Corvette was Amy Leslie Becham’s 1962 Oldsmobile F-85 Cutlass. It’s likely they were parked close together since they probably drove down together because they’re married.
Becham saw the car in 2004 on Peachtree Industrial Boulevard. Her father was a huge Oldsmobile fan and the F-85 looked to be in great condition, so she was hooked. It had been owned by one family and needed a little bit of repair work, but overall was in great shape.
The paint, interior and most of the mechanical parts are all original. Becham said, “We joke that it sounds like a Singer sewing machine because it just runs so well.”
Having such a classic car in excellent condition inspired Becham to submit it for a movie casting call for automobiles. Her F-85 caught the attention of the people making the movie Hidden Figures. The Oldsmobile is in several scenes, including a scene where one of the main characters, Katherine Johnson (played by Taraji P. Henson) is riding in the car on a date.
If you’d like to see the F-85, and Becham, in person, you can look for them both at the next parade in Duluth. It’s likely you’ll see her in the back of the car in her mermaid costume, giving out candy along the parade route.
Of course, no car show is complete without hot rods and classic Volkswagens.
Hot rods were well represented with none better than Gordy Waters’ 1932 Ford Cabriolet. It’s a classic all the way with a 350-cubic-inch small block Chevy engine and Turbohydramatic transmission. If the weather is too hot to take advantage of the Ford’s lift off top, Waters stays comfortable in the leather interior thanks to the air conditioning he’s installed.
The air cooled, four cylinder Volkswagens of the 1950s, 60s and 70s are always crowd favorites. This young girl got a big kick out of sitting behind the wheel of the classic VW Bus.
Robert Porter also represented the brand at the show with his 1971 VW Super Beetle. Not only is it a vintage VW, but it’s a native German VW.
“I bought this Volkswagen in Herzberg, Germany in 1981,” he said, “which was my first duty station after coming out of basic training.”
Porter is in Norcross now for work, and his home is in Oklahoma, but he drove the car from his parent’s house in Virginia. No doubt he won the long distance participation award at the show.
His Bug does still have an air cooled four cylinder engine, but it’s not a Volkswagen engine. During his second stint in Germany, he bought a Porsche 914 from the lady he was renting his apartment from and installed that Porsche engine into his VW. Older car fans will get a kick out of knowing that Porter got some of the parts he needed for the swap from the J.C. Whitney catalog.
You can see that the VW is heavily modified on the outside and looks great. It’s hard to believe now, but the car completely rusted out while it was stored during another one of Porter’s tours of Europe. Thanks to help from the Bug Shop in Virginia, he got it back in great shape.
A good day and great success
With beautiful weather and over 100 great cars to look at, the 2023 Duluth Rotary Car show was a big success. The Rotary Club’s goal was to raise $10,000 for Operation One Voice.
Mark Tyrrell was quick to give credit to Duluth for their support. They let the Club pick the dates for the show and gave them access to a large expanse of the public parking lot.
“The City of Duluth really got behind us this year,” he said. “It’s really good to live in a city like that.”
Images by Glenn Boylan
