Classic cars more than a hobby for enthusiasts
Newman
Linn Newman stands next to a classic 1931 Ford Model A Huckster that he is in the process of restoring. The car will be on display on Sunday at the 41st Old-Fashioned Car Show at Firemen’s Field in McClellandtown.
A before photo of a classic 1931 Ford Deluxe Delivery that Linn Newman restored.
An after photo of a 1931 Ford Deluxe Delivery that Linn Newman restored.
Car enthusiasts share their labor of love by restoring American automobile classics at the 41st Old-Fashioned Car Show on Sunday at Fireman’s Field in McClellandtown.
“This is always nicely attended in the area and is perhaps the oldest car show in the western end of the state,” said Bill Kozlovich, president of Summit Mountain Early Iron Car Club. “We have a nice collection of cars from early 1920s up to the 1990s. We have great entertainment and everyone should have a good time.”
The oldest car show in the area and hog roast is sponsored by the McClellandtown Volunteer Fire Company and the Summit Mountain Early Iron Car Club. Classic cars will include a 1931 Ford Deluxe Delivery, a Ford Huckster, hot rods, Chevrolet Corvettes and more.
“We’re a passionate group of guys,” said Linn Newman of McClellandtown, son of Curtis Newman, who founded the show in 1970. “Restoring these cars is more than a hobby, it’s a lifestyle. You go to bed dreaming about old cars and you get up thinking about ways to build and restore them. Every chance you get, you put your hands on something. You are restoring, rebuilding and making it new again. Next thing you know, you have a long time invested and you have a car to show for your efforts — a car they don’t make anymore.”
Rain or shine, the event will start at 10 a.m. and include a Chinese auction, prize drawing, a children’s coloring contest and a model car building contest. A variety of refreshments will be available. Oldies music will be provided by Joe’s Dusty Discs. Proceeds from the event will benefit the fire company and the car club.
Kozlovich has been an old-car aficionado for years.
“I’ve always enjoyed automobiles ever since before I could drive,” said Kozlovich, 59, of Uniontown, whose current project is restoring a 1926 Model T Ford. “I like the designs of old cars. They are not cookie-cutter cars like that are made today.”
Newman said his father instilled a love for these cars in him. Together they restored a 1930 Model A Ford rumble seat coupe in 1966-67. He still has this piece of history and hopes to show it once again at this year’s car show.
Newman passionately described the restoration process as pursuing an ideal to recreate an experience.
“You climb in that car, close the door, turn the key and go down the road and it is 1933 all over again,” he said. “I love them all.”
Newman said he admires classic cars because of their “engineering, quality and simplicity — three things that are greatly lacking in our culture today.” He said the cars rely on stick shifts instead of automatic transmissions. Gas mileage is about 18 miles per gallon. The vehicles don’t feature radios, but make their own music.
“The music comes from the sound of the cylinders,” Newman said.
Immediately after finishing that first car — a Model A coupe with a rumble seat — the father son team started on their next project — a Model A chassis. The project went by the wayside for a few years, but Linn Newman returned to it after his father died in 2007 at age 93. Newman said he decided to continue the project as a tribute to his father.
“Working with his tools and the mindset that I learned from him — it’s almost like dad is here beside me,” he said. “It’s like we are here working on this project. I think about him constantly when I am working under the hood.”
Newman said it is not always easy to find the parts needed to restore automobiles that are least seven decades old. He discovered the rare, ancient chassis in Minnesota. Those parts that Newman couldn’t find, he manufactured himself.
“The true restorer seeks out the correct parts, rebuilds them, restores them, repaints them and assembles it back into the vehicle and creates that as-new performance and appearance and that’s what restoration means,” Newman said.
Kozlovich said he loves the hobby and there is never enough time to do what he needs to do to restore his vehicle.
“I take six to eight hours perhaps on a Saturday to tinker on that Ford,” he said. “Someday that car is going to be finished and I can’t wait to drive it.”
Newman was quick to pay homage to Larry Markwood and Tim Dillow, who both died recently. Newman hopes that their work and ideals will live on as younger generations see their legacy and take up the hobby, the calling.
“This is a hobby where you put your hands to work and make something worth while,” he said. “This year, we will be sadly missing two of our own, Larry Markwood and Tim Dillow, who passed away within the past few weeks. As our ranks dwindle and the rest of our culture ignores the past, we seek to preserve it. Our story is intended to perhaps inspire some new blood to join us.”