WILLARD - The saying is that if a car casts a shadow, it can be restored.
Restored and even well-preserved cars and trucks will be featured at the fifth annual Willard Round-Up Car Show to be held here Sept. 14 at 100 Center Street at Willard City Park. The show starts at 11 a.m. Judging ends by 4 p.m.
Show organizer Gary Hart said he expects 120 to 150 cars there this year. The first 50 people to enter their vehicle in this show will receive a free t-shirt and dash plaque.
This car show is geared so anyone who attends has the option of participating. Spectators can become judges by voting which is the best Ford, Chevy, Dodge; best rat rod, best paint, best engine, best lady driver, oldest driver, youngest driver - that one gets broken down into months and days - best car from the 1920s, then 1930s, 1940s, and so on - and an award for best rat rod, which is a vehicle restored from pieces and parts of other vehicles.
“You want to include everybody,” Hart said. “We try to give 50 awards every year.”
One award is given in honor of Brook Hart, 17, who was lost to suicide. Brook enjoyed car shows before her untimely death in 2009.
Some people judge a car based on the paint job, others look at how the mechanics souped up the engine. Some competitors put $5,000 to $7,500 into a car, Hart said, but the average person spends $15,000 to $20,000.
“Some people just go nuts,” Hart said.
Winners receive an award made from an old piston that Hart has powder coated in different colors at his shop, Harts Powder Colors. Sponsors of the event include Les Schwab; and Prairie Schooner, Moore‘s and Maddox restaurants.
Organizers are still looking for sponsors, Hart said.
Other events include a matchbox car race, with the cars issued at the site to avoid the addition of tiny weights and other small alterations to add speed.
Show participants can also compete in a poker run to Mantua, back down into Brigham City, and into Willard. Each driver is expected to make a stop at a designated place, and will then be given a playing card. At the end of the course, whomever has the best poker hand wins the pot. The poker run starts at 9 a.m. Based on past years, Hart said he expected 20 to 25 cars to participate.
There are competitors who like to stay with the original parts and maintain historical accuracy, Hart said. Others like to see how much they can change an old car with fiberglass body, a chopped down roof and updated dashboards and gauges.
As for which type of car is best, Hart said if he knew, he’d be a salesman.
“I think most of it has to do what you grew up with,” he said.
