Travel Tips & Adventures

Although we promised a trip south of the border this week, we’ll be postponing that for a while – Technical glitches in our photo recovery.  Instead, we thought we’d offer some vintage vehicles on view at a car show in the city of Casa Grande, Arizona.

For 10 years, Casa Grande has been holding their annual car show and street fair – very successfully.  In 2009, they counted 40,000 attendees and this year the mild weather is likely to draw more. And, the show is free.

For a small city, the vehicles they attract to this event are remarkable:  Autos in “like new” condition from as far back as the early 1920s, motorcycles tricked out with amazing paint jobs and trucks you would never believe exist.

The street fair is a complementary part of the event since – well, you know, you have to eat!  The food has some unusual offerings, like Tornado Fries and Fry Bread, that you won’t find just anywhere.  Also, there were emu burgers and every kind of edible, portable food you can imagine.

Plus, the crafts range from jewelry to pottery to garlic graters and several flute vendors –  as well as almost any kind of gift you’d like to purchase.  (Too early to holiday shop for December 2010?– probably not!)  All together, there were nearly 150 vendors with food, drink and crafts to see.  Just big enough that you could see everything and not be worn out.

But, what really impressed us, though, were the cars…

Vintage vehicles of every description

Casa Grande has quite a few “vintage people,” so it was no surprise to hear people say, “I had a car like that when I was young” or “My Dad had a car like that!”

Hup, two…

Frank Fretheim (grey hat) and his 1932 Hupmobile

One car that was a particular focus of attention was the 1932 Hupmobile owned by Frank Fretheim.  The green, mint-condition vehicle has been obviously, lovingly kept.  It has 98,000-plus miles and, Frank maintains, had only 80,000 miles until 1980.  The car purrs – Frank started it up to prove it!  Other fun features are the button on the dashboard that shows how much oil is in the engine, the “trunk” (that is really just a shelf on the outside of the car’s rear,) and a special accoutrement that Frank has casually put on the rear seat.  The special feature is an old machine gun, such as a gangster type might have used.  Frank jokes that he gets “really fast service when he drives up to the bank window and asks for money.” (Frank definitely has a sense of humor.)  He also has another Hupmobile that he bought on EBay.

Unusual car accoutrement in back of Hupmobile

Hupmobile's trunk

Other vehicles

What auto show is complete without a 1925 Ford Model T, all boxy and upright.  There were older cars, but they did not look as elderly as they were too shiny and modernized.

1925 Ford Model T

A Kaiser, vintage 1954 caught my eye (“Darrin “ model) with leather seats. And, a 1941 Pontiac coupe was impressive.  There was a 1933 Plymouth sedan on display in green that really looked well-preserved, too.

1954 Kaiser "Darrin"

For the sportier car fan, there was also a vintage 1969 VW Karmann Ghia in a carmel color.   And, movie buffs could also revel in seeing several DeLoreans, such as they featured in the “Back to the Future”  movies.

1969 VW Karmann Ghia - one of the newer cars on view

1982 DeLorean

My vote for the strangest looking vehicle – which actually works – was a stagecoach – motorized, that also serves as a limousine.  Very weird-looking, but people were loving having a seat in it.

Stagecoach - available for hire

Casa Grande’s fair occurs annually in February.  Check it out if you’re in Arizona.

Come back later this  week for an unusual restaurant in Casa Grande.

Tags: Arizona, Autos, Crafts, Food, Historic, Hupmobile, Model T, Southwest, Street Fairs, Travel, Vintage vehicles

This entry was posted on Monday, January 18th, 2010 at 6:00 am and is filed under Art, Cars, Family Fun, Food, Shopping, Travel, Vintage vehicles. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.