Old cars shine at Glen Ellyn vintage car fest

The Glen Ellyn Historical Society held its first vintage auto fest at the Society's Main Street facility Sunday. Over 50 vintage autos showed up to wow the large afternoon gathering. Featuring cars from the Studebaker and Packard auto clubs, but including dozens of other makes, the fest also included auto presentations on the history of Studebaker, Packard and other topics in the near by Historical Society headquarters. Wife Mary who volunteers at the Society, recruited me to direct cars (shoehorn is a better word) into the six connected areas on the Society's grounds. I thought that would be a piece of cake. No way. Maneuvering these 50 to 90 year old cars with no power steering, driven by equally old drivers, was both difficult and stressful. I had visions of creating a "twofer", causing one classic to bang or scape into another, damaging two beauties on one fell swoop and incurring the wrath of two loving owners. After two hours and 55 cars safely in place, I was exhausted but relieved the event would be dent-free.

Besides the fabulous cars, a couple of which valued north of a hundred grand, the owners provided fascinating stories of their devotion to collecting one of the great American art forms of the 20th century. One Glen Ellyn couple brought their his-an-hers 1930 era Pierce Arrows (the Cadillac of American cars before Cadillac was King). They dressed in period threads straight out of the Great Gatsby and piped Jazz Age music from their boom box to an appreciative crowd. Another owner turned his bullet nosed 1950 Studebaker Champion, supposedly designed after the famous WWII P-38 Lightening fighter, into a car version of that famous plane. See this fabulous customization at http://www.hotrod.com/featuredvehicles/hrdp_1004_1950_studebaker_champion/.

With nearby Wheaton, Lombard and Downers Grove boosting their local economies with weekly vintage car shows, its time for Glen Ellyn to grab a piece of the action with their own old car nights. Sunday's vintage auto fest at the Glen Ellyn Historical Society proved there's a bunch of Glen Ellynites who will support it.