Fountain Valley Summerfest and Classic Car & Truck Show
Fountain Valley, CaliforniaSaturday, June 28, 2014
Story by Richard Parks
Photographs by Roger Rohrdanz.
The Fountain Valley Summerfest four-day Carnival and Fair also included the annual Saturday car show. It is an informal and easy show to enter or to spectate at. The cost to enter a car is only $25 and judges are selected at random among the participants. Pete Haak is the coordinator for the car show part of Summerfest and the city makes use of a huge number of volunteers to assist city employees. I like Summerfest and the car show for a number of reasons. On the first day, a Thursday, the carnival rides are just a dollar. On Saturday the car show is in an open field closest to convenient fair parking and a very nice playground for children. Summerfest, the car show and spectator parking is all free. The food booths are manned by local high schools and other charitable groups and the food and drinks are varied and very inexpensive. The weather is almost always sunny, clear and warm. The car show is easy going and there is always enough variety to keep everyone happy. This is not a vintage or classic show in the sense that your car is up against a world class Duesenberg or a mint Packard. Most of the cars are 1950’s through ‘60’s muscle cars with a rich customizing of engines and interiors.
I find that it is the people as much as the cars that I like. If you come early or late, stay 8 hours or just two, it is still a fun day for the family. There are numerous tents and booths surrounding the cars and a wide variety of vendors. We found a booth that was selling die-cast toy cars for $5 and bought eight of the cars. Nearby is the knoll where the band stage is located with modern music favored by teenagers. In the middle of the car show is another stage where the awards are given out and a Dee Jay plays music from the 1950’s and ‘60’s, so there is a theme that fluctuates around the huge park area where Summerfest is located in Mile Square Park, in Fountain Valley, California. This car show attracts local area residents. “We have 272 cars in the show this year in 22 classes. There is the Mayor’s Award, and one for the police, fire, city, best paint, best engine, etc, a total of 30 awards in all, which we give out at the Awards Ceremony at 2 PM,” said Haak. “To rent a vendor’s spot is only $150,” Pete added. Fountain Valley resident Steve Moore brought his green colored ’57 Bel Air and said that the cost to exhibit your car is just $25. Ken Hillberg brought six of his race cars and encouraged anyone who wanted to get in the cars and have their pictures taken. He told me that this is his last year racing his roundy-round cars. Ken and Laurie Osterbach were selling die-cast model cars for a donation of $5. The cars came from the estate of a man who hand built many of his models and the proceeds went to the Fountain Valley Car Club. The local police department brought an old cruiser and the fire department exhibited an old firetruck.
There are a few who come from a great distance away. Pete Haak is always looking for an interesting car at the shows he goes to in order to find people to display their vehicles at Summerfest. Paul Konkle is from the San Diego area and brought his 1962 MG race car. The car was originally owned by Mike and Bonnie Lelesch and they raced the little MG in VARA and SVRA (Sports Car Vintage Racing Association). Paul said, “I’ve raced the MG on the 2 and a half mile road course at Willow Springs. They also have a race course set up like city streets and that is really interesting and exciting.” I asked Paul about VARA and SVRA. “The Sports Car Vintage Racing Association or SVRA is nationwide and they have about 2000 racing members. VARA is mostly in Southern California and they have 400 members. I’ve been racing since 2008 and participate in 8 races a year. It is an awesome handling little car. I race it in the EP class (E Production) and all the classes are based on engine size and car weight. The MG is 1850 pounds and my best lap time on a road course is 86.5 mph and 125 mph on the straight-aways,” Paul told me. I asked him what other courses he raced on. “I like the Coronado Speed Festival on the military base in San Diego, Sear Point, Thunderhill (Willows, California), Chuck Walla, which is near Indio and is a purpose built track that is only four years old. Chuck Walla is a real driver’s course and there is always something to focus on as the course is very tricky and interesting,” Paul added. “There is also the Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) at Buttonwillow track. My MG is the first of 400 and the chassis number is 484 and I have the complete history of this race car. It is an MG brand and an MGM model,” Paul said.
Ralph and Marci Bruno of Huntington Beach, California have many cars which they show. Marci likes her silver ’37 roadster and Ralph brought his ’33 Ford stylized Boyd Coddington Boydster 3. The pinstriping was done by Wink in Fallbrook. Ralph put an Eagle decal on the grill himself and did an excellent job. I asked Marci if she attends very many car shows. “I go to all the car shows with Ralph,” she said. “We like the Rossmoor and Santa Anita Racetrack car shows. We like to go to car shows that have causes which they are raising funds for. I like the roadsters the best and the wind blowing my hair back and the big band era of the 1940’s and ‘50’s. My life-long dream is to own and drive a ’56 T-Bird,” Marci told me. Thang and Hien Tran are recent arrivals to America from Viet Nam and they brought their two small children with them. They told me that they love the American car culture and want to become a part of it.
Rick Abate has a large selection of cars that he owns or builds. He brought his orange/red ’67 Cadillac which he originally pulled out of a field in Taft, California. He exhibits his cars at all the big shows and I see his work at the Grand National Roadster Shows in Pomona, California. The Caddy was painted in a Bentley Burnt Orange and the interior comes from a ’65 Cad. It has a full touring suspension by Bagman of Anaheim. The Cad has been shaved and welded, with only a few stock exterior parts showing. The car has a 1500 watt sound system with nine hidden speakers. Meguiar’s Wax Company has sponsored Rick’s Caddy and he will take it on a 22 car show tour this year, including the SEMA show in Las Vegas in November. Rick’s business is Classic Car Marketing, Inc. Rick will also participate in the East to West coast Hot Rod Magazine Power tour later this year. You can see his work at all the major car shows and especially at the Grand Nationals in January. With Rick was Tom Simpson, an old friend from Jack’s Garage in Fountain Valley. Jack is Jack Underwood and the garage is not a commercial business. It is simply a garage that is open every day of the week from 7 to 9 PM and some of the best known names in hot rodding, drag, oval and land speed racing get together and bench race. Tom brought his ’55 Bel Air 2-door hard top with a two tone blue and cream paint scheme to the car show. “Rick Abate helped me build this car in just 15 weeks in 2013. We took it all the way down to the metal. The Bel Air has a small block 350 Chevy with a Champion radiator by Vintage Air out of Texas and installed by Duane Meyer,” Tom told us. Missing from the show was the Baney dragster and a guest appearance by famed drag racer and Fountain Valley resident Tom “The Mongoose” McEwen. I came with my wife Epi, our son Scott and our grandson Brock and we all had a great day at the 2014 Summerfest and Car Show.
Gone Racin’ is at [email protected].