Despite overcast and rainy skies, around 100 gearheads still brought out their prized rides for the 18th annual Road Rebels Car & Motorcycle Show during the 20th annual Mossyrock Blueberry Festival last weekend.
The show was held in the field behind the Mossyrock Middle School and featured local food and drink vendors along with the classic cars.
Organized by the Mossyrock Road Rebels Car Club, all proceeds from the car show fund scholarships for graduating Mossyrock High School seniors pursuing education in trade schools.
The Mossyrock Road Rebels Car Club was founded in 1959 by local teenagers after Washington State Patrol Trooper Bob Broshear noticed them loitering and suggested they organize a car club to be productive in the community, according to the Mossyrock Area Action League, which organizes the Blueberry Festival.
Some of the cars that caught the attention of The Chronicle included a 1986 Nissan 300ZX Turbo and a 1941 Chevrolet Special Deluxe Coupe.
A “rebirthed” 300ZX
The 300ZX belongs to Silver Creek resident Jared Swetz, who was also at last year’s Road Rebels car show with his 1989 Nissan Skyline R32 GT-R. While the Skyline was back on display again this year, it was joined by Swetz’s 300ZX, which is his “daily driver” and a salvage repair job to boot.
Having been in a rather serious front-end collision, Swetz initially purchased the car with the intention of parting it out to fix up other cars back in 2017.
“However, when I got it, I put in the key to start it, and it fired right up,” Swetz said.
While the front end collapsed from the wreck, it was only damaged up to the start of the front wheelhouses, which were intact frame-wise.
Since he was able to get it started, he decided he wanted to take it for a drive, and hooked the bent front end frame up to a tree with a chain, and put it in reverse in order to pull the frame straight again.
On top of the wreck, the car also survived a fire, which damaged both the rear interior and a bit of bodywork, including the right rear mudflap and right edge of the spoiler. Despite the fire damage and a bit of a “drunk” look with the car’s pop-up headlights being slightly misaligned from when the frame was bent, the car still runs and drives great.
“It had to get rebirthed. It’s like the Phoenix,” Swetz said. “It went through a fire, it was completely wrecked, and then I was like, ‘You know what, it’s got life left in it,’ and I’ve daily driven it now for eight years.”
First produced in Japan in 1983, the Nissan 300ZX was built to compete with other production sports cars at the time including the Chevrolet Corvette and Toyota Supra, and was available for sale in the U.S. until 1996, though Japan kept producing them through 2000.
The Special Deluxe barn find
Owned by Chehalis residents Jill Hartman and Ray Taylor, their 1941 Chevrolet Special Deluxe Coupe was actually a barn find previously owned by Taylor’s son-in-law.
The son-in-law saved the old coupe after his own father-in-law passed away, but because he was in the military, the car ended up being put into a barn for storage — where it remained for 29 years.
“We took it out of the barn and got it started in about two days,” Hartman said.
Though the interior and bodywork are still all original, the cooling system had deteriorated and rusted away while in the barn, so an all new radiator was installed.
And though the original engine was replaced 29 years ago, it still has the replacement installed, which was a 1975 Chevrolet small-block V8. Hartman added that recently they ran into another 1941 Chevy Special Deluxe owner, who they found out had previously owned the car they now drove and also had another 1941 Special Deluxe.
“He’s actually a part of the Mossyrock Road Rebels. He doesn’t have his yellow one (Special Deluxe) here today, but he was amazed that he saw the car ever again,” Hartman said.
Special Deluxes were produced by Chevrolet from 1941 through 1952, coming in a variety of two-door and four-door configurations and trim models.
Originally, the cars came with Chevy’s “Victory Six” inline-six engine, which produced a modest 85 horsepower. The V8 that’s in Hartman’s and Taylor’s Special Deluxe produced close to double that when it was originally made in 1975, topping out at 165 horsepower. And with the modern, aftermarket carburetor on the motor now, it produces even more power.
