With summer just around the corner, it’s officially car show season in Lewis County.
On Saturday, 124 classic car enthusiasts and custom fabricators turned out with everything from faithfully restored classics to customized clunkers for the Lewis County Cruisers’ “Car-nival” at the Veterans Memorial Museum in Chehalis.
Hundreds more locals came through to look at the cars on display throughout the afternoon. Lewis County Cruisers co-founder Ronda Coleman said the show was a huge success for the club, raising money to meet its goal of filling backpacks with school supplies to give to local kids.
“It was phenomenal,” she said. “We are easily going to be able to meet our goal of 400 backpacks this year, and we were able to make a nice donation to the Veterans Museum as well.”
Aside from giving kids school supplies, the club also fills Christmas stockings for seniors during the holidays.
Of all the cars on display, these are the ones that caught the eye of The Chronicle.
The 280z
Owned by Lyle Foister, of Chehalis, who bought the car brand new in 1975, a maroon Datsun 280z was a customized sight for sore eyes and a dream car for many gearheads.
“Originally it was my daily driver. Then I kept it in storage for a while. Now I’ve cleaned it up and upgraded the engine,” Foister said.
He’s performed a plethora of upgrades to his 280z, including a turbo, an intercooler, bigger fuel injectors and even a transmission swap.
“It has a five-speed transmission now. It originally came with a four-speed. With all the upgrades, I wanted to let it stretch its legs out,” Foister said.
The ‘Studiac’
Bullet-nosed Studebakers are always eyecatchers at car shows, but the metallic-lime “Studiac” — or “Pontibaker,” depending on which nickname you prefer — was a custom classic to behold.
Owned by Jim and Sherry Kavanaugh, of Olympia, what was originally a 1949 Studebaker Champion bullet-nose coupe has been given myriad modern upgrades. They purchased it from a custom car creator in Olympia who had been working on it for 15 years, according to Jim Kavanaugh.
“He used a ‘79 Pontiac Grand Prix chassis, so he put the (Studebaker) body on the Grand Prix, so it’s somewhat modern with disc brakes, cruise control, sound system, power steering and air conditioning,” Jim Kavanaugh said.
The Studiac even sports suicide doors. It is always an attention getter at all the shows the Kavanaughs drive it too.
The Milk Truck
While milk delivery is a thing of the past, one 1950 Chevrolet Panel Milk Truck is still alive and kicking despite a recent engine fire, according to owner Jeff Bjornsgard, of Naselle.
“I bought it off a friend of mine in Vancouver who dragged it out of a field in Idaho. It wasn’t running, no motor, transmission or anything,” Bjornsgard said.
Despite the recent fire, he bought the truck back from the insurance company after it was totaled and had it restored to running condition once again. Bjornsgard had no trouble driving the now 73-year-old truck two hours from Naselle.
While the milk truck won’t be winning any beauty competitions, it has a vintage aura around it that makes it stand out even among waxed and polished muscle cars. Bjornsgard invites people to draw on the sides of the truck with chalk.
“Everybody asks me what color I’m gonna paint it, and I say, ‘The color it is right now is the color it’s going to be,’” said Bjornsgard.
The All-Original Stingray
While Corvettes are a staple at every car show, most are modified in some way or another. But not Jim and Lori Champion’s 1973 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray.
“Everything’s all original, even the giant rubber gasket on top of the air filter. That was the original part of passing California emissions, it had to be set up like that to pass,” said Jim Champion, of Rainier.
While the Champions aren’t the original owners, they have all of the original documentation going back to the car’s original purchase with its $945 of additional options.
“One of the most unique options on this car is that it was ordered from the factory with an AM/FM radio, instead of just AM radio,” said Jim Champion. “In ‘73, if you didn’t have FM, you were listening to 8-tracks since there wasn’t much to listen to on AM.”
Even the interior, which is in pristine condition, is all original from the factory. While it did come with a factory upgraded engine, the Stingray still has its original four-speed transmission and puts out around 265 horsepower, Jim Champion said.
“It may not go very fast, but it sounds good and it looks good,” Lori Champion said. “You can look good at 25 miles per hour.”
