Car Show Classic – A Few Selections From Northern Colorado

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This morning I decided to take my two younger kids to a “Shine and Show” type of car show that was being held here in Fort Collins.  Like many of you, I have mixed feelings about these shows in that they invariably welcome a lot of very current machinery along with the stuff that a car show really should be about, i.e. those cars that you can’t or don’t just see all the time…

While it was certainly not a huge show, with only about fifty vehicles in attendance, the admission price was right (free!) and the owners were enthusiastic and friendly.  I picked out a few of my own favorites, all of which later surprised me in that I have never owned an example of any of them, either of similar age or newer.  What’s doubly strange is that as big a car nut as I am, American Iron is not at all my specialty so I may know a couple of factoids about them, but nothing compared to the majority of you, the readership.  I just know what I like…So in no particular order and with no further ado, here they are for you to enjoy as well:

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First up we have a very nice Corvette.  I’m no Corvette junkie, however this one was immaculately presented and I really liked the color combination on this particular car.  The wheels on this car really appeal to me.

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White doesn’t usually show off the lines of a car as well as some other colors but today this was really working for me.

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That interior looked just as good in real life as it does in these pictures.

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The second car to catch my eye was this very nice red Plymouth Barracuda, I believe the lady I was chatting with about it said it was a 1968 and there were only 81 of these made with the 340 Special package.  The readership will know more about that than I , but it looked like a great car to take the family for an outing in.  Not original paint, but it was originally red as well, and certainly looked good.

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For some reason I like flat black tail panels.

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Plenty of room in that interior for the family, my kids are still short so the aftermarket speaker boxes could stay for a few years as well.

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Overall just a very nice car done up to a nicely maintained and not over-restored standard.

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Next is a very nice Chevy Cheyenne Pickup truck.  This style Chevy has always been one of my favorites, it just seems honest, strong, and ready to go.  I really like the paint on this, while obviously a repaint of a color that was popular when this was new, it was nice to see how bright and shiny the automotive landscape must have been at the time.  Nowadays you still see older cars in this and similar colors but they are almost always faded due to age.

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The interior was great as well, I’m not sure if it was redone or just kept up in great condition.  Love that green steering wheel.

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I don’t recall ever seeing any of these with the wood applique trim before, it had it all the way around at the lower rub strip.  Very nice effect, I’m sure someone can enlighten my if that was a trim package or not.  This one also had the small “locker” ahead of the right-side rear wheel well.  Overall it looked much fancier than just an average work truck.  Maybe this was the Lariat or Denali package of its day?

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Here’s another shot of the wood trim on the rub strip along with the front fender badging.  A very nice truck.

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After we walked around and came back towards our car I noticed one of my favorite Detroit Classics had pulled in in the meantime and claimed a parking spot, a first year boat-tail Riviera.  (At least I think it was a first year, the rear bumper changed after that, right?).  This one looked to be a very well maintained survivor, the paint was definitely not perfect, but the interior was just immaculate.

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Look at that interior, original or not?  If so, someone obviously never had kids in it.  If redone, they did a great job.

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The rear looks very comfortable as well and like the front, in perfect condition.

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Here’s the shot from the rear, like I said, I find this style very appealing.  These were used in a couple of memorable (to me) movies as well, notably “The Ice Storm” as well as “Go!” where they had somewhat significant roles and were perfect embodiments of the characters that were the occupants in them.

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed these.  As a side note, you may have noticed the Colorado Collector Vehicle plates on them; that does not mean the cars are not driven regularly, here any car built before 1975 (rolling scale I believe) can apply for one, they are valid for five years, but you pay all five years’ fees up front, so no savings.   You sometimes see totally normal beaters that were built in the early 70’s with them which always looks a bit funny.