Despite other car shows happening in Lewis County on Saturday and the main road running through Onalaska — state Route 508 — currently undergoing chip sealing work, more than 100 entrants came out for the third annual Onalaska Volunteer Firefighters Association (OVFA) Car Show, according to Oliver Jackson.
“We have about 115 cars, 110 of them have actually registered, and I believe the oldest one we have here is a 1929,” Jackson said.
This year’s OVFA Car Show almost matched last year’s registration of 115 registered entrants despite competing events and road work that could damage classic vehicles.
A firefighter for Lewis County Fire District (LCFD) 1 and member of the OVFA, Jackson also acted as the car show’s emcee on Saturday. He said the OVFA organized the car show to raise funds to pay for three new gas detectors for each of LCFD 1’s fire engines.
“We want to be prepared. After the firefighters go into a building and the fire’s out, after they take off their mask, we want to make sure there’s no gas lingering,” Jackson said.
He said none of the district’s engines have gas detectors. Once the detectors have been purchased, any remaining proceeds will go toward OVFA scholarships for Onalaska High School seniors, support for those in need in the community during the holiday season and to the Onalaska Alliance.
Jackson added they wanted to give back to the community as the show had 25 Lewis County sponsors.
“We could not do this without the community,” he said.
This year’s car show was also once again held in honor of Richard “Dick” Fuchs, who helped organize the inaugural OVFA Car Show in 2022 but passed away shortly after at the age of 82.
Fuchs’ lowrider 1937 Ford delivery wagon — which won the Fireman’s Choice award last year and was featured on the back of this year’s OVFA Car Show shirts — was once again on display as it is now owned by Ron Hanger, who helped Fuchs organize the first show.
“Dick and myself, for whatever reason, insanity probably, we decided to do this as a fundraiser. Unfortunately, Dick only got to help one season, then he passed away,” Hanger said. “The purple car that you see sitting over there, I had the opportunity and good fortune to purchase that from his children, and I’m now the proud owner.”
Hanger then handed out the Dick Fuchs Memorial Award, which went to Shelli Boisture, of Silver Creek, and her jet black custom 1955 Chevrolet pickup truck.
As for best in show, that award went to Renee Kerr with her custom red and white painted 1967 Chevrolet Chevelle. Other cars which caught the eye of The Chronicle included a 1962 Ford Falcon Futura, a 1969 Chevrolet K20 “Tonka” truck, a 1966 Ford F-100 with a Kenworth front end and a rusty-but-rare 1970 Opel Kadett Caravan wagon.
Back to the Futura
The Ford Falcon Futura was first introduced in 1961 as an upgraded trim and interior package for those purchasing a Ford Falcon. With its bucket seats, stylized interior and custom chrome trim and emblems, Jane Jarvis, of Toledo, found a 1962 Falcon Futura from a gentleman in Hood River, Oregon.
“He said it had been sitting for about 20 years, a barn-find type thing. He fixed it up and painted it, but he’s got a lot of cars and so he started selling them off, and this was the first one,” Jarvis said. “It’s a fun little car.”
She had just purchased the car at the beginning of this week, as she and her husband had been looking to sell and replace another classic car they own, a 1951 Austin of England Devon A40.
The Futura featured other futuristic — at the time — stylings, like its jet-engine exhaust-inspired tail lights. And though the Futura had the same engine as a standard Falcon, a 2.8 liter in-line six cylinder engine producing a modest 101 horsepower, that’s still more than the Devon gets which the Jarvis’ had nicknamed the “sloth car” with a motor only producing 40 horsepower as previously reported by The Chronicle.
“(The Austin) is my husband’s car, and I had no problem keeping up with him,” Jarvis said.
A life-size “Tonka” truck
One of the winners of a Firefighter’s Choice award at the OVFA Car show was Wendi Hanger of Chehalis for her customized 1969 Chevrolet K20 “Tonka” truck. Hanger was also volunteering for the car show and was selling raffle tickets for the OVFA.
Her truck came complete with its Tonka miniature, along with another yellow remote-controlled truck which she was driving around the show.
“I’ve had her for a little over a year, bought it last Valentines Day,” Hanger said. “I bought it with most of the work done, I’ve just done some minor engine and rear end work.”
She bought the truck for one reason though, it reminded her of her first car back in high school.
“I had a 1970 Chevy short-box when I was 16 that my dad bought for me as my first car,” Hanger said. “I like the squares, it makes me feel like I’m 16 driving it.”
Though living in Chehalis now, Hanger added she was actually raised in Onalaska.
The Ford F-100 Kenworth edition
While his truck may still have its original motor in it, Marlin Pruett’s 1966 Ford F-100 is far from your typical 1960s Ford pickup truck with its custom Kenworth semi-truck front end bodywork.
Originally a delivery truck purchased by a mail contractor which hauled mail daily from Portland to Klamath Falls, Oregon, Pruett, of Chehalis, purchased it in 1976 and has owned it ever since. Though he didn’t use it to deliver mail, ironically, another mail truck gave his Ford the face it has today.
“Years ago, a little mail truck turned left in front of it and the front end got wrecked,” Pruett said.
A truck driver and pilot by trade who also works in Alaska, Pruett owned other Kenworth semi-trucks already, and instead of finding old Ford body work at junkyards to make repairs decided to use what he had on hand.
“I got a Kenworth grill and figured it all out, narrowed it 15 inches, welded it back together and started fiber-glassing,” he added.
The whole project took nearly six years to complete as he was only working on it part of the year while he was up in Alaska.
“The hood took two winters, but five winters to do the whole thing,” Pruett said. “... It’s always been a truck and I still use it for a truck all the time as well.”
The rusty-but-rare wagon
Car shows are a family affair for some and for Brandon and Megan Emery-Martin of Chehalis that is indeed the case, as the family who has been featured in The Chronicle before with the custom RC Volkswagen Bus their daughter Olivia rides around car shows in, it was a car Olivia’s great grandfather, Gary Cadwell, brought to the show that stood out.
At first glance Cadwell’s 1970 Opel Kadett Caravan wagon looks like just another old rust-bucket barely running still, especially next to the family’s other cars including a pair of classic restored Volkswagen Beetles and a Ford Mustang — which certainly stand out more with their waxed paint and polished chrome.
Originally produced by German manufacturer Opel, from 1966 to 1972 a large number of Buick dealerships in the U.S. imported Opels by special order, with the majority ordering Opel GT Kadett B.
“There’s GT parts everywhere, but the wagon parts not so much,” Jim Martin, Cadwell’s son-in-law, said. “We went to a show in Tacoma that was supposed to be an Opel show but only six Opels showed up, and everyone was amazed that the bumper guards were still on it.”
The car has been owned by Lewis County residents as well throughout its entire life as far as they know, and Cadwell got the car as a project to work on as the family had an 1968 Opel wagon decades ago when he first got married.
“As soon as I saw (Cadwell’s) face when he first sat in it, I told my wife, ‘If he doesn’t buy this car I’m buying it for him,’” Martin added.
Cadwell recalled when he first got it and used it to bring beer from Wyoming.
“In Wyoming they sold 5% Coors, and all our beer out here then was only 3.2%. I wanted to bring some 5% back, so I had I think 10 cases of beer on top of the car,” Cadwell said. “My wife was just going nuts because she was convinced all that beer was going to start exploding on top of the car.”
Despite being a wagon, the car still had quite a bit of zip.
“I tore the tires up playing in the corners, for a station wagon, it cornered like a damn sports car,” Cadwell added.
Though Cadwell’s wife is no longer with the family, their new 1970 Opel Kadett Caravan wagon, albeit a bit rusty, is helping keep the family together as they continue fixing different things on it.
