Every year on the Saturday before Father’s Day, classic cars from as early as the 1920s come to Downtown Naperville.
The show is a throwback to times when trucks had wooden beds, hood ornaments took styling cues from newfangled jet planes, and trunks were literal trunks.
And each car and owner has their own story. Ed Olson talks about buying his 1955 Chevy Bel Air Convertible like some people talk about rescuing their pets.
“It had just been neglected the last couple of years,” said Olson. “When I bought it was sitting in a field and it made me sick to see it there. I may have bought it just to get it out of the field.”
Bob Sabdo owned a 1967 Fiat 850 Spider when he was college, but had to sell it after getting married. A two-seat rear-engined roadster wasn’t the most practical ride for a young adult.
But he jumped on the opportunity to buy a 1971 later in life and still drives it every chance he gets.
“It’s ensured 12 months a year, 365 days. If we get a nice winter day it’s out with me and the top is down,” said Sabdo. “38 degrees is the minimum.”
Paul Luchok drives a 1966 Lincoln Continental Convertible, one of the only four door convertibles ever made.
It’s also one of the earliest examples of a powered roof, which at full speed takes 50 seconds to go up or down.
“I bought the car in 1993, so I’ve owned for 25 years,” said Luchok. “I bought it from the original owner, he lived out on the far tip of Rhode Island out in the Hamptons.”
The car show let onlookers see both old nameplates like Studebaker, Plymouth, and Oldsmobile, and the beginnings of badges still on the road today.
Naperville News 17’s Blane Erwin reports.
