Our nervousness was erased, as little by little, folks came over and began to look at our rides and ask questions.  We then began to walk around and look at the amazing rides from not only the Class Act club, but from clubs as far as Port Angeles and Seattle WA.  Amazing paint jobs, body work, air ride suspension, video and sound systems were everywhere.

And the people were great!  It really reminded me of when I first got into the hobby with my own cars, as a charter member of the NW Lowriders and Inimini Truckers.  Like myself, and many of our clubs members, these were young families participating.  Many of the rigs are daily drivers, and they have the passion and dedication of their rides equal to that of any $200 to $300k street rod.  

They had tons of activities for both the entrants, and more importantly, their kids.  They had club competitions, along with great food and raffle prizes.  But the kicker was their awards!  All handmade, and as imaginative as you could get.  The best interior award was a large pillow, that had the event information and Best Interior embroidered on it.  The Best Paint award, was an actual spray gun, mounted on a metal plate, complete with airbrushing identifying the event and award.  That was the single coolest award that I have seen in my 40+ years iin the hobby.

During the award ceremony, this club showed why they are worthy of their name Class Act.  Here we were the outsiders (only at first), and they awarded most of the top prizes to our rigs.  Something that they surely did not need to do, but they showed their respect to the craftsmanship and dedication we had in our rides, like they do in theirs. 

Something we all need to remember, unless you enter this hobby late in life, with a fair amount of cash and the desire to recapture your youth, and own a car you could never had during it.  You start with what you like and can afford.  You more than likely start with a daily driver, and you modify it and make it cool.  These enthusiasts are the future of our hobby!  We need to welcome them, respect and accept these amazing vehicles that they are building.  Afterall, a lot of the ideas they come up with, make their ways into our street rods and restomods.

We need to make sure these people, and their rigs are invited and welcome at our events, like they made us feel at theirs.  What a group of great folks with great rides.  Thanks again to the Class Act Car Club. 

Here is their story as told by founder Dan New and his wife Beth:

Class Act came to be in 1991, founded by Dan New & Marcus Stine. Our mission is to keep our hobby alive and provide a show atmosphere that is family friendly with plenty of activities for the kids to stay busy! Our charity is Clackamas County Dog Services. We donate both materials from their online wish list and cash for shelter needs. We hope to add food or supply donations as part of our registration for next years show. Class Act welcomes all age groups. Our current members range in age from 18-42. Most of us are more than friends, we are a family..

Learn more about this project and the Break the Chain program at http://breakthechainapparel.com/be-a-sponsor/sponsorships/chevelle

*You can find pictures from their event, in our Photo Gallery under Kickin' It Old School 2012.

This time, the Grandson of the original owner was going to be the proud exhibitor. I had the pleasure of meeting Marcus at the PRS and then ran into him again at the Suburban Auto Group Show earlier this month. Marcus's family and the story of their truck could be my family, or yours. The story of the bond that a vehicle can bring to a family, and truly create a legacy. Here's the story of that special truck in Marcus's own words:

The truck was originally my grandfathers. My dad “borrowed” it once when he was young, and put a little ding in it while driving with some buddies on a trail on mount hood. There may have been alcohol involved.  He hid the truck, did his best to fix the damage, and tried to pass off the repair as a new paint job. It didn’t work. Soon after that the truck became his. In high School, he tore it apart and rebuilt it as a hot rod, with a midnight blue / metallic flake paint job – all with his own hands. In 1970, he entered it into the Portland Roadster Show and took 3rd. A few years later kids and life arrived. He parked it at my grandfather’s property in Boring, and it grew old in the woods.

I grew up a few thousand miles north, and spent many summers visiting Oregon and playing in those woods – he used to tell me one day we would rebuild it. Over the years we dreamed about it, I drew sketches in my notebooks at school, built plastic models and painted them midnight blue, and later tinkered with it in the summertime – tearing it apart – losing parts in the process. When I was 13, I wrote my dad a letter promising him one day, we would restore it. In late 2007 (20 years later), I found a donor truck on craigslist with the perfect engine. I made him drive to Albany to get it with me. I think he thought it would just be another hunk of steel parked in his lot. Instead, I got a subscription to classic trucks magazine and started ordering parts.

We spent every Saturday for 4 years in his shop, welding, grinding, building, breaking, and rebuilding every single piece of that truck. My daughter, and 3 years later my son would come with me and play with their Grandma, occasionally sneaking into the shop to sit on the plastic bucket and hold the wheel while my dad and I would argue about the best way to do whatever. I spent most evenings during the week on my computer, finding just the right bolt, washer, wire, grommet, etc to make this fit with that. Every Friday I would get a box in the mail and quickly get rid of the receipt before my wife would see it. I probably have enough parts left over that weren’t just quite right to make another truck. In the process of building it I bruised, cut, burned and poisoned myself many times. I quickly learned why professional welders wear bandanas on their head – I still have a couple of spots where hair doesn’t grow. There was lots of profanity, sweat, a surprising amount of blood, a few tears, and heck of a lot of learning. We finally got it done late last year (or as close to done as it will probably ever truly get), and entered it in the 2012 Portland Roadster Show in March where it took best in class (42 years after its first win).

As the weather warms up for its first real summer as a driver, we finally get to spend our Saturdays cruising around, goofing off, letting my kids see neat cars and giving my wife ideas about the next project car. One day I’m sure either my daughter or my son will “borrow” it, put a little ding in it, and do it all over again.