Classic Car Show Attracts a Big Crowd

Upper St. Clair Patch: Classic Car Show Attracts a Big Crowd
William Hannah of McMurray bought his 1954 Nash Ambassador from a car collector in Atlanta. It was one of those instances of being at the right place at the right time.

“I knew him and he was looking to get rid of (the car) and I bought it sight unseen,” Hannah said. "I had it brought up on a trailer."

Hannah spent countless numbers of hours restoring the tan and gold Nash, and had to begin with the motor—which was frozen and had to be completely rebuilt.

“It’s been a long, long process, but it’s been worth it,” he said.

Hannah and his wife Martha have had about five different Nash models, which he restored. The one he drives now, and just took to the annual Pennsylvania Trolley Museum Classic Car Show near Washington, Pa., is among his favorites. “I just can’t resist them,” Hannah admits. The first Nash he bought and restored was a 1939 model, which he kept for 18 years.

He and his wife will drive in their 1954 Ambassador to a national car show in Racine, Wis. next month. “We drive it everywhere,” Hannah said. “It wouldn’t be fun to haul it around in a trailer.”

Hannah was among more than 90 antique car enthusiasts who attended the car show Sunday. There were vintage cars from the 1920s through the 1960s on display, and while a DJ played 1950s music in the background, the scene resembled an evening at a local drive-in hamburger stand. Crowds milled about checking under the hoods and just “talking cars” with fellow vehicle owners.

“We’ve had car shows for the last 30 years, but this by far is the biggest and most well-attended,” said Scott Becker, executive director of the Pennsylvania Trolley Museum.

He said that volunteer DJs Frank Chickins (Fritz and Judy) also help attract car collectors since they regularly travel the circuit and bring their own fans.

Becker said the antique cars, along with museum’s collection of trolleys, helped create the perfect day for nostalgia.

Among the trolleys in operation were a newly-refurbished open-air car and an old Pittsburgh city car.

Kenneth and Audrey Menke, of Mt. Lebanon, were also among the car collectors who, like the Hannahs of McMurray, favor the old Nash automobiles. They displayed their 1954 Rambler, which they loaned to a production company for a movie about “The Temptations,” part of which was filmed in the Oakland area of Pittsburgh.

Menke purchased his car in 1988 from a dealer in Carnegie who was selling the car on consignment.

“It was in pretty bad shape when I bought it, and it took a lot of restoration, but it’s been worth it,” Menke said.

For Dodge enthusiasts, Greg and Lucy DiNardo of Forest Hills brought their 1956 Dodge Coronet convertible—complete with push-button drive—and posed for photos with their prize possession.

The car is back in its original black color. When purchased new, the buyer asked the dealer to paint it blue since he didn't want to wait until the 1957 models debuted. The DiNardos still have the bill of sale. The sticker price for their car in 1956 was $3,500.

“I have a small repair shop—I knew the owners and worked on this car a number of times,” DiNardo said.

He bought it from the original owners in 2008, and set out to restore the car to its factory-applied color.

“We drive it as much as possible,” DiNardo said. “So far this month we’ve put 700 miles on it, going to shows and driving around.”

DiNardo said he takes the car by trailer to shows in Detroit, and when there puts several hundred miles on the odometer, just driving around the area.

“We bought this car to have fun,” DiNardo said. “It’s been to wedding receptions, taken kids to proms and it’s made to have fun.”

DiNardo admitted to being “a General Motors man,” but quipped about the Dodge. “It was the convertible that got me.”