Jim McGowan November 01, 2022 All Feature Vehicles
The Show Goes On a Year After an Earthquake
Visitors to Napa, CA are usually wine enthusiasts, but not when it’s time for this show. The streets of old town Napa were jammed with just under 400 entries for the 12th Main Street Reunion.
The Downtown Napa Association, with the able assistance of the Napa Valley Cruisers car club, sponsors this show. Entered vehicles must be 1976 or older to participate, and awards are given in 47 different categories and crowned with the coveted “Best of Show”. Considering the quality of vehicles exhibited this year that top award must have been a real chore for the judges to select.
A year ago August Napa was hit by a devastating earthquake, and many of the hundred year old downtown brick buildings were seriously damaged, as a few of the photos here will illustrate. Retrofitting and rebuilding this historic part of town has progressed nicely, but there is still much restoration to be done. This, however, didn’t deter thousands of spectators and vehicles of all shapes and sizes from attending this great event. The Napa merchants look forward to this show as it brings spectators from as far away as Sacramento and San Francisco to shop, dine and enjoy the beautiful weather. We spoke to Julie Morales, the event manager, and she was extremely happy with the turnout of cars and spectators despite the hot weather, and the city plans to continue this annual event for years to come.
We highly recommend this show to anyone in the northern California area, as it’s a great way to spend a weekend enjoying the areas scenery, cool old buildings, cuisine and incredible variety of vehicles. Let’s take a look at a few. We hope you will mark your calendars to attend the 2016 event next August.
This is looking out over the First Street bridge, which crosses over the Napa River. Both the First and Third Street bridges were packed with cars and spectators.A nicely done ’32 Ford roadster that combines original parts, powered by a small-block Chevy. Shown by Raymond Drazek from the Napa area.This is looking up Main Street and you can see the great old buildings, many of which have been restored after last years’ 6.0 earthquake.An incredible 1930 coupe from the Sacramento area owned by Paul Johnston. It’s a virtual work of automotive art. Check the turn signals molded into the top of the headlights.In contrast to the ’30 coupe is this 1937 restored Buick Special Phaeton owned by Gene Rose from the Napa area. This was the SUV of the ‘thirties.Here’s a slightly modified 1966 GTO “The Tiger” convertible piloted and owned by Rich Pellicciarini. It sports a 389-CID engine with two-speed powerglide transmission.A rat rod powered by a tri-power equipped small-block Chevy. The body is a mixture of early ‘30 metal with a ’32 Ford front grill.A slick ’57 Chevy tilt front-end pickup powered by a built Chevy small-block that features many well-done custom touches. Owned by Larry Parks, a local enthusiast.A radically customized ’71 Vega is motivated by a healthy Chevy small-block and owned by Stephen Kashiwada of Sacramento.A rare find, a 1929 Stearns Knight in fully restored condition. This one has all the bells and whistles, and we’re sure a room full of trophies as well.Talk about looking mean! This blown Willy’s coupe says it loud and clear, “Get out of my way!” It’s piloted by Todd Morris out of Alamo, CA.Tucked away off Main Street, a restored 1969 Dodge Charger Daytona. These rare cars were designed to be aerodynamically efficient for stock car racing, and this one’s powered by a 440-CID engine.A 3-window ‘34 Ford powered by a 540-CID injected big-block. Check the headers exiting through the front fender. Hmmm, that must be some tough fireproof paint! This beauty is owned by David Cox from the Sacramento area.A 100% documented original 1968 Camaro Z/28. The Butternut Yellow paint shows a grungy patina but all the original parts are there, including the smog pump. It has all it’s original dealer paperwork and shows 55,000 miles. Wow, what a find!A really slick ’53 Chevy four-door wagon. It almost looks like a hearse, but it has a modern drivetrain and restored interior, owned by Allen Whittington.A 1950 Lincoln four-door Phaeton with the door handles shaved, owned by John Kelly from Fairfield, CA.It’s 1957 all over again for this ’59 Ford. It’s totally customized from front to back and covered in “scallops”.This custom VW roadster pickup was incredible. The workmanship was flawless, and talk about being an oddity, this one takes the prize. No ID on this one either.A car show would be complete without a mid-’50 gasser. This ’55 big-block show car was the only one we found there. It is a meticulous build, end to end.
Please wait...