Hundreds of Classic and Custom Cars crowded the lots and fields surrounding the Veterans Memorial Museum in Chehalis on Sunday morning for the Rust or Shine Car Show.
Most of the classics were out to be seen, but some unique cars stood out amongst the rest.
Here are some that caught The Chronicle’s eye:
The Demon
All the classic muscle cars were represented, but there was one that was more rare than the rest. That car was Eric Meyn’s 1972 olive-green Dodge Demon. Production on the Demon started in 1971 and was based on the Dart’s design. It only lasted for those two years on the market.
Meyn, a Rochester resident, said it wasn’t poor sales that ended the short life of the Dodge Demon.
“In ‘72, the Catholic Church petitioned Chrysler and told them to change the name because they didn’t like it, because of the symbolism, and (Chrysler) did. It’s the only car to ever be de-badged and it went back to just being a Dart,” Meyn said.
He laughed at the fact that 50 years later there are Hellcats, Demons and cars with other demonic names that are commonplace. Meyn purchased the car eight years ago and together with his family spent six years restoring it.
Loadmaster
There were plenty of classic trucks, too, and one of the most unique was Rick Baumgarten of White Salmon’s 1949 Chevrolet cab over engine (COE) Loadmaster truck.
Baumgarten worked with his son over a period of about two years restoring the truck. COEs were sold commercially and used mostly as work trucks during the 1950s, making them hard to come by today. Getting one of the trucks fulfilled one of his childhood dreams.
“I’ve always kind of wanted one. I had a regular pickup when I was a kid but I always wanted one. When my son got back into cars, we just started buying every (COE) we could find,” Baumgarten said.
Frankentruck
While Baumgarten’s COE was built with original components, mostly sourced from other COEs he purchased with the intent to cannibalize for parts, Rochester resident Jim Peterson’s 1956 Ford F-100 Frankentruck had plenty of parts that were far from original equipment manufacturer (OEM) parts.
“I’ve owned this truck since ‘82, and it pretty much had all original parts on it back then. I’ve always been a Chevrolet nut so I eventually put a Chevrolet motor under the hood,” Peterson said.
He didn’t stop with the motor, though. He gave Frankentruck a multitude of upgrades including four-wheel-drive and swapped out the original two-speed automatic transmission for a four-speed manual. Even the hinges on the hood weren’t from the original equipment manufacturer (OEM) anymore, as Peterson sourced them from an old Jeep.
“It’s been loads of fun working on it,” Peterson said.
‘Farm Boy’ Model A
The Frankentruck had a cousin at the show too, as Mossyrock resident Gary Mathews’ truck was listed as a 1932 Ford “Farm Boy” Model A but had plenty of parts far from OEM as well.
“Body is from a Ford four-door car, all been cut short, and the doors I tried to get them thinking they were ‘32s but they ended up being from a ‘26, and I, just last night at midnight, I put a Ford Ranger rear end on there and Ford F-150 disc brakes on it and had the virgin run was today and it made it here,” Mathews said.
He’s owned the truck for about two years now and is always swapping out parts.
“It's got Chevy T5 transmission in it now too,” Mathews added.
1951 Austin of England Devon A40
Not every car at the show was about speed and power. Mark and Jane Jarvis’ 1951 Austin of England Devon A40 had a giant plush sloth in the sun roof to illustrate that.
“The sloth indicates how fast this car is. Sloths may not be indigenous to England but that’s about how fast we go. We call it the Sloth Car. It gets to 50 (mph) tops,” Mark Jarvis said.
He added the car’s motor only produced 40 horsepower and was designed initially for the narrow streets of London.
“We like it. It’s low and slow. Backroads all the way, no freeways,” added Jane Jarvis.
1931 Pierce-Arrow Model 43 Roadster
Sometimes the slower cars are built that way to be more luxurious, as was the case with John Deshaye of Olympia’s 1931 Pierce-Arrow Model 43 Roadster. With white-wall tires and varnished-wood rims accenting the candy-apple red paint job, the Model 43 is a beautiful piece of engineering and one that Deshaye got the pleasure of driving before he ever owned it.
“I’ve known this car my whole life, though a classic car club and a very close friend wound up with it. I would actually drive this car 40-plus years ago when I was in high school because he was a close friend and he trusted me with it. I grew up around this car,” Deshaye said.
When his friend died about a decade ago, Deshaye said he was lucky enough to have his friend’s son sell him the car. He also added he felt lucky to now be the car’s caretaker.
“(The restoration) was done in the ‘60s. It’s just been kind of kept up but I did have to do a ton of mechanical work to get it working again. But since then it’s just been a lot of polishing,” Deshaye said.
