River Tales brings classic cars to downtown Cape

For some, Sunday's River Tales Classic Car Show in Cape Girardeau was a trip back in time, for others a chance to display the results of their labor, and still others an opportunity to view autos they may not have seen since childhood.

The show, now in its 37th year, stretched down Main Street from Broadway to Hutson's Fine Furniture and featured 225 cars, said Johnny Mayfield, president of River City Rodders, which sponsors the event.

Mayfield said the number of vehicles participating was about the same as it's been the past several years. About 1,000 people turned out Sunday, and as of early afternoon, things had gone "pretty smooth," he said.

"We always like to have more. It's a pretty day," Mayfield said.

D.J. Brown of Whitewater had his Nissan 240 on hand. It's a drift car, he said. "It goes sideways, burning the rear tires at about 60 mph," he said.

He said he, his friend, his father and his girlfriend played a big part in making the car what it is today. Under the raised hood sat two boxes of Twinkies, a tribute to the movie "Zombieland," in which one of the characters tries to find the last Twinkie.

"The car's had a lot of work done to it. It was converted from automatic [transmission] to manual," Brown said.

"I've had the car about two years. It's been to about 10 different drift events. It has just a little over 50,000 miles on it," he added.

Brian Noto and Jack Rickard of EVTV, which stands for Electric Vehicle Television, had six cars on display at the show. Noto said EVTV broadcasts a weekly TV show in high-definition that tells people how to convert their gas-powered cars to battery electric.

They started with a replica of a 1957 Speedster in 2008 and have converted a Cadillac Escalade, Mini Cooper and Volkswagen Thing, among others, for their TV show. Recently, they hosted an electric vehicle conversion convention at the Arena Building.

Josh Kaufman of Olive Branch, Illinois, brought his 1926 Stearns Knight Model S to the event.

"It's one of six left in the United States," he said. He purchased it from an 82-year-old man in St. Louis who had the auto for 30 years.

Kaufman said he'd redone many of the car's main features and plans to make it show-ready for next year. As long as he can remember, he said, he's dabbled in cars. His other autos are a 2006 Pontiac GTO with a $13,000 paint job and Lamborghini doors and a 1951 Chevrolet truck.

Matt Martin of Paducah, Kentucky, and Nathan Kluesner of Jackson each bought 2004 Mustang Cobras. Martin said only 495 of them were made and "you'll never see two of them at one show."

The exterior colors and interior leather change, depending on the light.

"I'm a Mustang fan," Martin said. " ... I've had 18 Mustangs since I was age 18. My dad was a big car fan and kind of got me hooked."

His father also had a 1976 Pinto wagon with a "T-Bird-type" window in the back. He remembers listening to Eagles songs in it on trips to Florida. He's also a big Eagles fan.

"This is an '04. It turned 17,000 miles coming here. It doesn't get driven much -- just for shows," Martin said. He added he recently purchased a Honda Civic Hybrid to save gas for his Mustang.

Charles Stotts of Piedmont, Missouri, who had two friends with him at the show, was showing a 1948 Dodge pickup, just completed at 11 a.m. Saturday. "I drive it around a lot," to quite a few shows, Stotts said.

One of his friends, Al Long, also of Piedmont, said he drives his 1929 hot rod every day and takes it to shows in Maryland, Daytona, Kissimmee and Orlando, Florida. This is his first time at the River Tales Classic Car Show. He went to the Jackson cruise-in on Saturday and enjoyed himself at both events.

"The people are all friendly. They run a good show here; I'm impressed," Long said.

Mike Reiminger of Delta, a member of the River City Rodders, was a judge, casing the 1967 to 1973 vintages. He said owners are allowed three modifications in the original class.

"I make sure they don't have more than three," Reiminger said. He added he looks for the overall appearance of the car, the wheels, tires, engine compartment and paint.

"Then we give an overall score of the car. The top three get trophies," he said. " ... You'll have certain cars that stand out among the crowd."

rcampbell@semissourian.com

388-3639

Pertinent address:

Broadway and Main Street, Cape Girardeau, Mo.