Dozens of car brands lined the streets of downtown Naperville for the Classic car show hosted by the Downtown Naperville Alliance.
“We have 90 cars here of all makes and models for people to come down and enjoy on Jackson Avenue here from Eagle to Main Street and it’s a beautiful day to enjoy it too and it’s just a great way to come enjoy downtown Naperville, enjoy the beautiful cars and have a great morning with dad,” said Executive Director of the Downtown Naperville Alliance, Danielle Tufano.
A Father’s Day tradition in Naperville
The car show takes place every Father’s Day weekend allowing owners to share some history about the models.
“You could spend hours going down here looking at all the different cars there’s beautiful cars from every model,” said car owner Gary Pradel. “They are all old but they’re all great and these people are wonderful people to talk to about their cars and that’s the best thing so make sure you talk to the owners about their cars.”
One of the models shown is a 1931 Ford Model A car owned by Pradel and his son Nick who are son and grandson of former longtime Naperville mayor George Pradel. George was the first to drive the over 90 -year-old model, but now the keys are in the hands of Gary and Nick, who are spending their Father’s Day weekend showing off their ride.
“I can’t think of a better way to celebrate Father’s Day than to be with your kids and to be able to do something like this together,” said Pradel. “It’s a lot of fun for the whole community. It’s free and the Naperville downtown council does a great job doing this car show.”
“It’s easy for us to spend time together we get to enjoy seeing everybody hang out,” said Nick Pradel. “It’s something that we use to be able to do with grandpa that we can do together now.”
More than just cars at the car show
Not only are there cars, but there are also four tractors lined up from the Good Ole Toys Tractor Club.
“Everybody likes to see something different and that’s what we’re up for,” said Good Ole Toys Tractor Club Mayor Tom Kuhn. “There might be some kids that can’t afford a new car or one of these nice corvettes and they might come in and grab an old tractor, something they can afford and still get their hands nice and dirty and wrench on things.”
Whether you like cars or tractors, there’s always a history lesson about vehicles old and new.
“Appreciate the workmanship and the craftmanship that went into the old cars and to talk to your kids on how different these old cars are from the new cars,” said Pradel.
