While the Blueberry Festival was taking place at Klickitat Prairie Park last weekend, the Mossyrock Road Rebels Car Show was held as a part of the festivities less than quarter mile away at Mossyrock Junior/Senior High School.
Nearly 100 gearheads brought a wide variety of cars, from those restored to the way they were when they first rolled off assembly line floors to customized rides. Raffles, silent auctions and a chicken drop event were also held.
“We’re the only car show around here doing a chicken drop,” car show emcee Dean Darnell said.
Much like a cow drop, where bettors can choose numbers on a grid where a cow is walking and put money on that being the spot where the cow poops, a chicken drop is the same game on a smaller scale. A 50/50 split of the pot was up for grabs.
While The Chronicle did try its luck, unfortunately the bet placed was one number off.
All proceeds from the car show, from entrant fees to auctions proceeds and the chicken drop, all go toward funding scholarships for graduating seniors at the high school to pursue education in trade schools.
The Mossyrock Road Rebels Car Club was originally founded in 1959 by Mossyrock teenagers after Washington State Patrol Trooper Bob Broshear noticed them idle and suggested they organize a car club to be productive in the community, according to the Mossyrock Area Action League (MAAL).
Broshear ended up becoming an adviser for the club and wrote the bylaws still in use today. For more information, visit the MAAL’s website at https://mossyrockfestivals.org/car-show/.
As for the cars parked in the school’s field, a number of them stood out, including a ghostly 1987 Ford Mustang GT and an iconic 1957 Ford Fairlane 500 Skyliner hardtop convertible.
‘Spooky’ the Mustang
When most people envision a Ford Mustang, it’s usually one built between 1965 and 1969 and it’s almost always red, which has always been a favorite color for most Mustang owners.
But for Rick and Joanie Nordlund, of Puyallup, they found something different and special when over a decade ago they stumbled upon “Spooky” — a 1987 Ford Mustang GT that came in a rare smoke color paint scheme from the factory.
“During our restoration of the original engine, we found the stamp marking the date it rolled off the line, and it was 10-31-86, which was Halloween, therefore the name,” Rick said.
The restoration process wasn’t easy, either, as when they discovered the car it had been neglected for a while and was rusting. Once the car was back in working order, Rick and Joanie began showing it. Eventually, the car caught the attention of the Ford Motor Company, which contacted the Nordlunds about participating in the Mustang’s 50th anniversary celebration back in 2014.
“Spooky” ended up taking Rick and Joanie across the country in Ford’s Mustangs Across America celebration. They traveled all the way to Charlotte, North Carolina.
Following Ford’s celebration, the company then selected “Spooky” as one of the 50 Mustangs that were displayed at the 2014 SEMA Car Show in Las Vegas, Nevada, which included one Mustang from all 50 years it had been in production.
The car’s ghostly, off-white, smokey color stood out even among all the other different color cars at the show. Originally, Rick thought that “Spooky” was one of 270 Mustangs from 1987 with the factory smoke paint job.
“They’ve gotten a newer update on that number. It’s one of 40,” Rick added.
A fine Ford Fairlane 500
While it may have only been produced for three short years from 1957 to 1959, the 1957 Ford Fairlane 500 Skyliner hardtop convertible is still always a sight to behold with its elegant whitewall tires and brilliant chrome trim and bumpers.
It was also only the second car at the time with a retractable hardtop, with the first being designed by the French carmaker Peugeot in the 1930s. The Skyliner was incorporated into the Galaxie series with the arrival of the Ford Galaxie in 1959, which had some models with both Galaxie and Skyliner badges.
Glenn Elhard, of Graham, owned his 1957 Ford Fairlane 500 Skyliner for 30 years and planned to restore it, as he was an auto body repair man by trade for more than 40 years.
“It sat for 28 years and, after I retired, I decided if I don’t stop working on other people’s cars, I’m never gonna get mine done,” Elhard said.
“People are always asking if I can work on there's, and I told them, ‘No, I gotta quit until I get my car done.’”
Together with a friend who was an engine mechanic and also owned his own Fairlane 500 Skyliner, the pair spent two years restoring both cars to the way they rolled off the factory floor. His friend did the engine work on both cars and Elhard did the body and frame work.
Though there was one exception — the paint job on Elhard’s.
“The original colors on this car were white and yellow, but it was a really ugly yellow, so I decided to go with red and white,” Elhard added.
