Club Cars

Ron Faerber’s ’57...        read full caption Ron Faerber’s ’57 Porsche Speedster won a Second Place trophy in the Porsche division. The drivetrain sports a ’74 VW 1,600cc engine.

Eric Brown showed that Cobras...        read full caption Eric Brown showed that Cobras can also stand out at the event. His Superformance 427 is juiced by a 400hp 351 Ford Windsor engine.

Mike Gaan’s ERA GT40...        read full caption Mike Gaan’s ERA GT40 has a ’65 Ford 302 that was bored out to 345 to propel him across the track and the highway. Gaan had the top-judged competitive race-style body.

Jim Sacks showed off his SAMCO...        read full caption Jim Sacks showed off his SAMCO Cord Sportsman, with a Ford 302 under the hood.

Bud Meyers’ Alpha-style...        read full caption Bud Meyers’ Alpha-style SLR was judged the Editor’s Choice Car of the Show. The car was a 20-year project and is powered by a ’65 Ford 289 engine.

Steve Mueller’s IFG/Warlock...        read full caption Steve Mueller’s IFG/Warlock Countach is a work in progress. He keeps tweaking the engine and other aspects of his project, and when he’s all done, we’ll show you the finished product.

Robert Jones’ CMC ’29...        read full caption Robert Jones’ CMC ’29 Gazelle Roadster street rod has a lot of punch, thanks to a 383 engine under hood. He took home a Third Place trophy in his class.

Top prize in the Late-Model...        read full caption Top prize in the Late-Model Enclosed-Wheel Sports Cars category went to Ed Morrison and his CR ’63 Healey Sebring MX Roadster, pumped up with a Chevy 355 engine.

Ken and Meha Smith’s...        read full caption Ken and Meha Smith’s Classic Roadsters ’52 MG Duchess sits on an ’80 Chevette donor. It took nearly 2,000 hours to complete the project, and the time and care taken shows.

Dave Bagwell took home Second...        read full caption Dave Bagwell took home Second Place honors in his class with his handmade Fiero-based Pantera, powered by a 2.8L GM engine.

The Innovative Sports Car...        read full caption The Innovative Sports Car Design trophy went to Gene Hollandsworth, who built his Scorpion on a Fiero donor. He has a 275hp Northstar engine under the hood.

Don Shank’s Type 55 Bugatti...        read full caption Don Shank’s Type 55 Bugatti is a one-off that he spent nine years building. It looks good at every show he drives it to. He has even shown up at Run And Gun with it.

Bill Watson’s Total Performance...        read full caption Bill Watson’s Total Performance ’23 Ford T-bucket has a Ford 310ci engine out front for all to see.

Something wonderful happens in the heartland of America every July within the shadow of the Gateway Arch. No, it isn’t the St. Louis Cardinals battling to get into the playoffs, and no, it isn’t the countless county fairs and events in which some of the best pies, pickles, and livestock are judged and shared.

It is the Club Sandwich Central, a coming together of the Greater St. Louis Kit Car Club, the Chicagoland Replicar Association, the Kansas Kit Kar Klub, the Missouri Valley Kit Car Club, and the Oklahoma Kit Car Club (and sometimes, other Midwest clubs). The club members show off their cars, share stories, enjoy camaraderie, food, and some Midwest heat, and vie for honors, awards, and prizes as they display their love for the cars they have built and driven across the highways of this nation.

In the past, as many as 100 cars have made it to the event. While attendance was down somewhat last year, expectations run high for renewed interest this year.

Don Shank, the stalwart Bugatti builder and spearhead of the event, was dismayed that his own club (Greater St. Louis Kit Car Club), the host of the event, was outshone by several visiting clubs. Many of the familiar faces of past events attended and new faces and cars made the show last year as well. In all, close to three-dozen cars were on display, and it was not an event for Cobras only.

Of the cars present, only a handful were of the Snake genre, as Gazelles, Corsairs, MGs, Porsches, Scorpions, Avengers, Jaguar SS100s, an SLR, ’34 Fords, a ’23 Ford T-bucket, a Trylon Viper, a Meyers Manx, several original designs, and a whole slew of Fiero rebodies (Lambos, Ferraris, Finales, Manta Rays, a Predator, and so on) out-struck the Serpents.

Bud Meyers captured the Kit Car Editor’s Choice award with his Fiberfab SLR, a 20-year project. The yellow beauty was a standout in the bright sunlight and seasonably cool temperatures at the Collinsville, Illinois–based Woodland Park, where the event takes place each year.

The Bob Shipe Memorial Award was presented to Bill Striegel of the Greater St. Louis Kit Car Club for his undying efforts for the members of his club, plus his constant traveling and displaying of his Cobra from coast to coast. Every car was a winner, as far as I was concerned, and all of those in attendance won as well.

This is a must-attend event, and we hope that attendance will swell this summer, the weekend after Independence Day. For information, contact the kit car clubs listed at right. It is the best kind of event and the best way to show off your car to people who care…people who have been there…and people who appreciate what you have done with your project.