Rev’ up your engines and lay down some rubber, as the 21st Annual Cruisin’ Morro Bay Car Show takes over Downtown Morro Bay from Thursday, May 4 through Sunday, May 7.
Some 550, classic-custom, chromed chariots are expected for this, the first big car show of the year in San Luis Obispo County.
Cars will start rumbling in Thursday, when registration opens at the Ocean View Garage on Main Street. Ken Vesterfelt, who is on the car show board and is the show’s emcee, said last year they had 240 cars register on Thursday alone. And with just 10-12% of the cars local, those folks came for a 4-day stay.
Registration continues Friday at Ocean View with a trio of special events scheduled.
Morro Bay High School will have its 2nd Annual Car Show and unveil its new auto shop from noon-2 p.m. Friday, May 5. Donations to the show accepted and will support the auto motive technology program. They’ll also have a celebrity, Ben Bright from the TV show, “Overhaulin,’” will be on hand to meet the public. Bright has a local shop and helps with the students’ studies.
At 1 p.m. the school board, superintendent and shop teacher, James Bueno, will cut the ribbon and officially open the new shop.
The event is at the high school and the new shop is located in the southwest corner (in the former bus barn).
Friday will also see more than 100 cars caravan up Hwy 1 to Ragged Point for lunch.
Morro Bay’s professional custom car shops will be holding open houses, too. From 2-7:30 p.m. Saturday, Bear Metal Kustoms, 1147 Scott St., will be open. And on Sunday, Bright’s shop, Old Soul Speed and Custom, 339 Quintana Rd., will welcome the public from noon-2 p.m.
Friday, from 6-7:30 p.m. the cars will parade Downtown streets in an American Graffiti-style cruise night. Bring a chair to sit on and watch the parade roll by.
“Entrants come from Arizona, Nevada, Oregon,” Vesterfelt said, “and a whole bunch from the [San Joaquin] Valley.”
Saturday’s car show runs from 9-4 in the 800-900 blocks of Main Street and Morro Bay Boulevard from Morro Avenue to Piney Way, and along side streets. Trophies will be handed out at 4 p.m. Saturday. Sunday’s show is from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. with trophy presentations at 1.
The Cruisin’ Morro Bay Car Show had humble beginnings 21-years ago. The show was the brainchild of a handful of local antique car buffs, who thought Downtown Morro Bay was laid out perfectly for a car show. Ocean View garage owner, the late-Ron McIntosh, and local professional Engineer, Steve Carnes, actually hatched the idea one day in 1993 over coffee.
Over the next 3 years, McIntosh and Carnes pitched the idea to local business people and organizations and eventually another couple of car guys — Chamber of Commerce member and Happy Jack’s Saloon owner, the late-Dave Tope, and then-Rotary Club President, Don Doubledee, jumped aboard and pitched the idea to their organizations.
In 1997, the First Annual Morro Bay Car Show was born, to an auspicious start with 125 cars on display. The show grew quickly and by 2004, they’d topped 500 cars.
The Car Show Volunteer Committee, Vesterfelt said, is composed of citizens and representatives from the Morro Bay Rotary Cub, Police Department, Morro Bay High School, and the Chamber of Commerce.
Today’s Car Show board is comprised of Carnes, Vesterfelt, Chris Parker, Scott Mace, Greg Hardcastle, and Jody Cox.
“Profits from the show activities are divided among these four recipients,” he explained. “The Police Department’s share is used to support Police Explorer youth activities.”
MBPD officers, Community Volunteers and Police Explorers oversee Friday’s Cruise Night, and AGP Video, the hometown TV production company, films the parade, rebroadcasting it on Cable Ch. 20.
Local merchants, civic groups, and individuals sponsor the 123 trophies handed out for the car show. And, “we do not have any judging — it’s just fun,” said Vesterfelt. But one of the favorite perks for the entrants goes to a baser need — food.
“One of the most important functions is the BBQ,” Vesterfelt said. “For many years, David Owen from Rotary has headed up the lunch and it’s one heck of a job he does; and it runs as smooth as silk. Last year they served 630 plates in 2 hours — great job with Rotary volunteers and the Boy Scouts.”
On a sad note, the car show family lost Ted Radoumis in January; one of its long-time attendees, who owned one of the favorite hotrods in the show — a 1937 Willys Truck and dragster named, “The Energizer.”
“Ted always joined his friends Dennis and Henrietta Johnson for a week here,” Vesterfelt said. “They always come in on the Sunday before and visit for the week.”
For complete information on the 2017 Cruisin’ Morro Bay Car Show, see: www.morrobaycarshow.org.
By Neil Farrell
