Vintage cars, hot rods, motorcycles line Polson streets
Berl Tiskus
Aged yet shiny, a classic car draws the eyes of two men who strolled through the car show.
Linda Sappington
VIntage cars join hot rods and classics on a cruise around Polson Friday evening.
Berl Tiskus
Best of the 1950s, 1957 Ranchero, Marci Watson, Spokane
Berl Tiskus
Judy Clark stands by her grandpa’s car. Judy’s grandpa, Hap Helm, bought the car new in 1954, and now she and her husband have it fixed up and on the road again. Clark also won best classic at the car show.
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POLSON — With a carnation pink and white paint job, Marci Watson's 1957 Meteor Ranchero was an eye catcher at the Cruisen By the Bay Car and Motorcycle Show on Aug. 9 and 10.
Watson's dream car also caught the judges' attention, capturing the Best of the 1950s award.
The car is rare. Only about 300 of the Canadian (Meteor) version of the Ranchero were produced.
The blushing paint and sparkly steering wheel draws women and little girls because they like the color.
A 1959 Ranchero, owned by Sue and Jeff Stevens, was parked nearby. When they drove their classic car up from Missoula, thunder, lightning and rain had the Stevens crossing their fingers that there would be no hail.
Car show folks “just wait (the storm) out and dry ‘em off,” Jeff said.
Another car shining on the street was a ’54 Cadillac.
“It was my grandpa’s car,” Judy Brad said, pointing to the misty blue Cadillac with a white top.
“It’s a sky blue,” she said, adding they matched the paint color to the original interior.
Her grandpa, Hap Helm of Whitefish, was a conductor on the railroad and brought the car brand new to tempt Judy’s grandmother to drive it. She told him he could buy her all the Cadillacs he wanted, but she wasn’t going to drive one. So Hap drove it. He even took it goose hunting in eastern Montana.
When her grandfather passed away, Judy’s mom let it sit around for 30 years, and then Judy inherited the beast.
Because she couldn’t bring herself to get rid of it, Judy and her husband, who live in Sommers, fixed it up throughout the years. Now its paint gleams and the chrome shines again.
“We kept everything,” Judy said, showing her grandmother’s cigarette butts in the car’s pull- out ashtray.
“My grandpa would be proud,” Judy said.
Another grandpa is proud of his car - the license plate holder on the mint-green 1955 Hudson Rambler reads “Old Guys Rule.”
Although Jere Ancell, the car’s owner, isn’t really an old guy, he did say the car is the one the grandkids want to ride in when they come to visit.
The AM radio in the car’s mint green and black dashboard works, and it has an automatic transmission but no power steering or power brakes.
He bought the car in 1990 and said it was in good shape. He’s replaced the brakes, tires and radiator.
Another car in good shape is a 1957 Ford Fairlane with two-tone green paint. The car has only been repainted once, and in it’s original colors. The interior is also original.
Dwain and Barb Bourk pulled the Ford down on a trailer behind their pickup.
Barb’s sister and brother-in-law, Shelley and Doug Grasdal, also came to the show. The two couples are from Lethbridge, Alberta.
Shelley drove the Grasdal’s Sport Fury down and “absolutely had a ball,” she said.
Older cars have a special speed and a favorite spot on the road as they sway along that, when they find it, makes them “just hum,” Barb said.
“It’s their sweet spot,” Doug explained.
Polson certainly was a sweet spot, too, with
these cars and many others lining the streets. The weather was a little cooler this year, and a breeze kept the crowd and exhibitors from frying.
Results for the car show are:
Best of show-vehicle, 1949 Mercury coupe, Bill Austin, Butte
Best of show-motorcycle, 2008 Harley Davidson crossbones, Tim Redfern, Pouslbo, Wash.
Best paint, 1951 Ford pickup, Jay Arlint, Polson
Best interior, 1938 Ford coupe, Jim Sohm, Polson
Best cruiser, 1964 Chevy Impala, Jim Day, Polson
Best engine, 1928 Dodge 5-window coupe, John and Mary Lyons, Kalispell
Best General Motors vehicle, 1946 2-ton Chevy pickup, Warren Bury, Bigfork
Best Ford motor vehicle, 1956 Thunderbird, Tom Stockdale, Missoula
Best Mopar vehicle, 1952 Plymouth Concord, Jim and Sue Tebcey, Bigfork
Best early pickup, 1941 Ford pickup, Lyle Bainbridge, Stevensville
Best late pickup, 1949 Chevy, Larry Bays, Corvallis
Best classic, 1954 Cadillac Fleetwood, Judy Clark, Somers
Best custom, 1940 Ford convertible, Mark Giacaletto, Polson
Best muscle, 1972 Plymouth Roadrunner, Jacque Longpre, Polson
Best antique, 1958 Dodge pickup, Jim Day, Missoula
Best work in progress, 1955 Packard, Camden Woll, Polson
Most nostalgic, 1949 Hudson convertible, Hal Foltz, Ronan
Long distance, 518 miles, Gary Merritt, Marysville, Wash.
Best of the 1920s, 1928 Dodge 5-window, Paul Druger, Columbia Falls
Best of the 1930s, 1930 Fork pickup, Pay Mounts, Stevensville
Best of the 1940s, 1949 Mercury Coupe, Bill Austin, Butte
Best of the 1950s, 1957 Ranchero, Marci Watson, Spokane
Best of the 1960s, 1966 red Mustang, Jim Willougby, Plains
Best of the 1970s, 1970 blue Nova, Douglas Phillips, Ronan
Best of the 1980s, 1985 El Camino, William Smith, Kalispell
Most memorable, 1940 Rambler American, Chuck Gray, Imbler, Ore.
