Nearly 50 cars — ranging from restored classics to tuned-up imports — took up the northern end of the Walmart Supercenter parking lot for the 14th annual Seattle Children’s Hospital benefit car show on Saturday in Chehalis.
Krista Wilcutt, event organizer and Walmart employee, said the turnout wasn’t as big as expected but she was still happy with the number of cars that did turn out. A total of $3,066 was raised for the hospital, according to event organizers.
Donations were made by car show participants and attendees to vote for their favorite vehicles. Additionally, nearly 15 local artisans and crafts vendors were on hand at the car show.
The best in show award was given to Darryl Tinnerstet for his 1957 Dodge Station Wagon. The award was given in memory of John Spears, also known as the “mopar man,” who first encouraged and helped Wilcutt organize the benefit car show 14 years ago. Spears passed away last year.
“He helped me move this forward to what it is today, and I appreciate him and his family, they’re here. I appreciate you guys and appreciate everything John did for me and the community,” Wilcutt said, later adding, “his wife donated a trophy that was John’s that he won for best in show as well.”
While Tinnerstet’s Station Wagon was a classic cruiser, it wasn’t the only automobile that caught attendee’s eyes on Saturday afternoon.
The Anniversary Triumph
Suzette Dowell, of Adna, brought her 1980 British Leyland Triumph TR7 convertible to the show, which she had just received as a gift from her husband to celebrate the couple’s 32nd wedding anniversary.
“When I was a teenager, this was one of my first cars. My husband calls it a ‘piece of sh-t,’ he hates it, but it’s just what you had when you were a kid,” Dowell said.
While it might look like a sports car, its four-cylinder engine produces just 105 horsepower. Triumph TR7s were produced by the British Leyland Motor Corporation from 1975 to 1981 and fewer than 150,000 in total were produced, making the car hard to come by, according to Dowell.
“There’s very few of them left, most of them are wrecked,” Dowell said.
The Signature MX-5 Miata
Erika Hann, of Federal Way, loves imports and brought one car she currently owns to the show — a 2017 Launch Edition Mazda MX-5 Miata signed by Tom Matano, who not only helped design the MX-5, but Mazda’s famous RX-7 as well.
The car was originally the flagship car of Doug’s Lynnwood Mazda, which was the first Mazda dealership in the U.S., according to Hann. Matano visited the dealership which is where he came into contact with the MX-5.
“Tom Matano actually auto-crossed it in Kent as well, which is awesome. He signed it and came down and hung out with us at the Miata mingle,” Hann said.
As for the car’s modifications, Hann has replaced the sway bars, engine intake, headers and exhaust among many other components. Car love runs in the family, too. Hann’s uncle is a professional drifter.
“I also own a (Toyota) Supra, a (Mazda) RX-7 FD and I have a (Honda) S2000 as well,” said Hann.
The LS-Swapped Apache
When it comes to “resto-mod,” or restored and modified vehicles, engine swaps are usually among the first modifications. When Don Cooper, of Silver Creek, was choosing a new motor to put into his 1960 GMC Apache pick-up truck, he decided to go all out with an LS (luxury sport) swap.
LS engines are produced by General Motors and Cooper chose the LS2, a V8 capable of producing 400 horsepower. The Apache is Cooper’s first resto-mod and the engine wasn’t the only thing that the 64-year-old truck needed replaced.
“It’s basically two trucks. I got the chassis, powder-coated, from up north, and then I got this rusted out truck and basically had to build everything,” Cooper said.
Cooper had pictures showing the extent of the rust damage, which had almost completely destroyed the truck’s old floor allowing the driver to see the road beneath them. “I was basically Fred Flinstone-ing it,” Cooper added.
The truck now serves as advertising for his business, D.B. Cooper Appliances in Chehalis.
The Rambler American
One car that was restored almost entirely to its original — with the exception of the air filter and brake master cylinder — was a 1961 AMC Rambler American owned by Rhonda Sloan, of Chehalis. AMC produced the car in order to compete with three compact cars on the market at the time: the Ford Falcon, Chevrolet Corvair and Plymouth Valiant.
“The motor is completely original, it’s a flat-six cylinder,” Sloan said.
While the engine only produces 125 horsepower, Sloan said the car’s main draw was its fuel efficiency and the fact the back seat could fold out into a bed.
“At first I thought men were flirting with me and being weird telling me that, but it really does fold out into a bed,” said Sloan.
The High School Student’s Project Car
W.F. West High School student Tanner Lytle brought his recently-restored 1985 Nissan 300ZX to the show to display his handiwork.
Having bought the car a little over a year ago, Lytle battled rust damage and struggled to get it started after it sat untouched for years.
“(I did) some suspension work and dealt with a lot of electrical issues. I just recently got it running and had it sanded and painted a couple of weeks ago,” Lytle said.
While Nissan began 300ZX production in 1983, U.S. sales didn’t begin until 1984. Despite that, the 300ZX would become Nissan’s most successful Z-series car.
The Z-series began in 1969 with the Nissan Fairlady Z — marketed in the U.S. as the 240Z — and continues to this day most recently with the Nissan Z, which Nissan began production on this year.
