Classics and Chrome Car Show

When the restoration of my Lada Sedan was nearing completion (in the beginning of March or so), I started looking for local shows I could take it to - mostly just to see people's reaction... Looking at Hemmings car show calendar, I found the "3rd Annual Keith School Classics and Chrome" car show in Loves Park, IL. Incidentally, my car was in the shop in that same Loves Park, so I though - great, I could just drive the car straight from the shop to the show.

But after contacting the person in charge of the show, I found out this was an "invitation only" car show, with a committee hand-picking 80 cars from all the applications they receive. Well, I thought, can't hurt to send in an application, and so I did. Much to my surprise, about a month later I received a phone call telling me that they are very excited to see my car at the show.

After spending last couple weekends at the shop helping them get my car all finished (since they were not capable of doing anything on time), I came to get it on Friday April 25 and drive to the show... After battling some nasty electrical problems (dead battery, bad grounds and burned connections in the ignition switch caused by the shop's mechanic short circuiting connections to one of the turn signals), I was finally able to get my car to the show. Here are some photos I took at the shop right before driving to the show. Click on thumbnails to see full-size images:

I drove the car to the show (about 5 miles), and it was driving really well with the new Weber 32/36 Progressive carburetor. You can really feel it when the secondary venturi opens up - almost like turbo boost...Anyhow, I drove it to the show, parked it in the designated spot inside, and went home. Next day (Saturday April 26), I was back at the show ready to answer any questions people might have about my car. And there were a lot of questions, ranging from "What is it?" to "Where did you get it?", to "Is this a Trabant?"... A few people actually knew what it was...But most hadn't a clue. It certainly was a lot of fun... Here are a few pictures I took Saturday and Sunday. Check out photos of a nice clean engine and the interior.

See the last photo? Yes, I got a trophy for bringing my car there. Unfortunately I didn't win the best of show... Maybe next time. There were quite a few interesting cars at the show, and I got to talk to many owners... I think I'm going to do a few more shows this year - people really liked my Lada. Here are some of the show highlights, enjoy: