Bangor car show ‘amazing’ event
9/14/09 | 9 comments

Bangor car show ‘amazing’ event


By Nok-Noi Ricker
BDN Staff
BANGOR DAILY NEWS PHOTO BY KEVIN BENNETT
Street rods, classic cars and the people who love them are reflected in the sunglasses of Frank Knight as he sits in the shade of the hood on his 1956 Lincoln Continental Mark II Sports Coupe at the second annual Bangor Car Show on the waterfront in Bangor on Saturday. Buy Photo

BANGOR, Maine — A shiny black 1923 Ford T-Bucket, with a purple-and-cream-trimmed interior and lightning bolts on the sides, was one of many antique cars on display at Saturday’s Wheels on the Waterfront event.

Owner Wayne Kimball and his wife, Rhonda, of Chester sat in lawn chairs near the open-cab two-seater as hundreds of people strolled by checking out their T-Bucket and the other 300 or so antique and modern cars and trucks parked together along the Penobscot River.

“You always get waves and head turns” from people when driving along, Wayne Kimball said. “I wanted one since I was a little kid, and I finally found this one that had a reasonable price. I bought it off a guy from Cherryfield” about six months ago.

His grandson has already said the T-Bucket is his inheritance, Wayne Kimball said with a smile.

“He’s 5,” said his wife, Rhonda, with an even bigger smile.

The second annual Wheels on the Waterfront event, sponsored by the Greater Bangor Convention and Visitors Bureau, was a great success, Executive Director Kerrie Tripp said Saturday afternoon, while Rockin’ Ron and the New Society Band played ’50s and ’60s music in the background.

“I’m so happy with today’s turnout,” she said. “It’s just been an amazing day.”

Vehicles from every decade stretching back to the early 20th century converged on the waterfront for the show. Corvettes, Mustangs, Camaros and Firebirds were big draws, as well as cars that are not as well known, such as the 1952 Chevrolet Sedan Delivery.

Teresa Maybury of Brewer said her husband, Mark, found the Delivery through word of mouth three years ago. The vehicle at that time was embedded in the ground and surrounded by trees at a friend of a friend’s property in Kenduskeag.

“He had to cut down half a cord of wood” to get at the car, Teresa Maybury said.

The project car has been “chopped and channeled” and awaits a paint job that someday will make it a deep metallic purple, she said. The roof of the vehicle has been chopped, the hood has been “pancaked” to reduce its height, and “suicide doors” have been added. All together the sedan has been lowered about 11 inches.

“My husband has done all the work,” Teresa Maybury said. “I help out when I can.”

Maybury, who is a board member for Boy Scout Troop 15 in Brewer, which held another car show Sunday as part of Brewer Days, said she handed out hundreds of fliers advertising the event.

With around 300 unique vehicles and car enthusiasts from all over the state, together with Saturday’s sun, Tripp said she couldn’t ask for more.

“There are a ton of great cars, and these people are so incredible,” she said. “It’s like a little culture. They travel together, and hang out together.”

In addition to the cars and trucks, at least one tractor was on display and three remote-controlled trucks. Picking a favorite was hard for Tripp, but not her son Wendel Cross, 13, who attends the James Doughty School in Bangor.

“Mrs. Trask, my math teacher’s car,” he said. “It’s a purple car with white flames on it.”

The car show, which was free for attendees and cost $5 to $15 for vehicle owners, had 26 different categories that received accolades, and this year a Mayor’s Choice was added, Tripp said. The mayor was to name his choice late Saturday.

The complete list of categories will be posted Monday on the Visitors Bureau Web site at http://bangorcvb.org.

To feed the masses, local nonprofit groups set up booths to sell food, drinks, desserts and snacks to participants and onlookers as a way to raise funds, she said. There was even a bounce house for children.

Around 40 volunteers, including students from the Penobscot Job Corps and United Technologies Center, were on hand to help set up and with judging. They did “a great job for us,” Tripp said.

There is no question that the Wheels on the Waterfront event will return next year, she said.

“We’ll do it the same time next year — the weekend after Labor Day,” Tripp said.

nricker@bangordailynews.net

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Comments
9 comments on this item
On 9/12/09 at 7:09 PM, LoisGM wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

Free for attendees, but cost the vehicle owners. Hmmm... sounds backwards to me, as the vehicles draw in the crowds and the owners already have thousands invested in their vehicles.

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On 9/12/09 at 7:14 PM, Cre8RoyalPalm wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

Man, does Frank Knight's 1956 Lincoln Continental, Mark II bring back memories. My mother bought one from Rapaport Auto Company; I think Mrs. Rapaport drove it as a demonstrator for a week before my mom bought it. This car was white, 2-door, and I remember well, it had the "Lipstick" option. This being, red leather seats, dashboard and trim along the doors and headliner. We still have photos of this car.

Mark Maybury's '52 Chevy delivery van reminded me of those "Cushman Bakery" station wagon's that used to deliver around Bangor years back. Our delivery guy had a circa 1952 model, too. Maybe this was the one, who knows? The sales guy simply fiddled around in the back of the delivery vehicle, and got what we wanted for goodies, by driving up and down Bangor's streets, calling out to those walking by or going to his customer's homes.

There are many custom and original vintage vehicles out here on the coast which are for sale. I'm looking for one. As yet, I do not know what I want, but when I finally see it, my nerves and heart will tell me. Maybe like the one my dad had, a 1957 Cadillac convertible in the Robin's Egg Blue color, or the Lincoln like my mom had, among other nice automobiles we had in our family. The Cadillac convertible my dad had; he told me he will never get another convertible again as long as he lived - and never did! He reasoned this when he took it to the coast (I think it was Northeast Harbor), parked it when he went into a restaurant and when he came out, the entire interior (top down) was loaded with seagull poop. Although I had a 1962 Mercury Monterey convertible, I loved mine, and had "bombings" only once in awhile.

Glad to see so many vintage auto aficionados preserving their rides! Wished I could see them.

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On 9/13/09 at 8:28 AM, Bangorian wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

Hopefully city planners can come up with something a bit more interesting than this. I'd had to think that we spent millions of dollars renovating the waterfront to host an event that takes place every week at Nicky's on the Union Street strip.

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On 9/13/09 at 8:33 PM, otisme wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

The Greater Bangor Convention and Visitors Bureau did an excellent job putting on this show! Everything ran smoothly and it was such a beautiful day.

I think the judging was very fair (even though I didn't get a trophy!) and it was very apparent that the owners take a lot of pride in their cars. People came from all over - there were quite a few cars from New Brunswick and 7 or 8 cars made the drive down from the county.

Bangorian, Nicky's does a great job, too, but they'd have a hard time fitting over 300 cars (and all the attendees) into their parking lot. The waterfront is a great place for the show.

LoisGM, you make a good point - the people paying are the ones that are supplying the entertainment for the people who are attending free. I know a few people who did not bother to enter their cars for this reason.

Again, Bangor did a great job and we're looking forward to next year's show!!

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On 9/14/09 at 6:07 AM, brooks10 wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

great show, great cars, and thanks to the wonderful people who let us see the great cars...

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On 9/14/09 at 8:02 AM, WinterporDragway wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

great show! We also hope to have a good attendance at our big fall car show at Winterport Dragway on October 3. for more info check our website : www.winterportdragway.com

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On 9/14/09 at 8:06 AM, Casey207 wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

This was a fantastic show! They could leave out the "tuners" and add motorcycles. It would also be nice if there was designated motorcycle parking. Perhaps they could also get Bangorian a life :-)

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On 9/14/09 at 5:24 PM, djcsme wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

Good job! I've been to several car shows across the country and most charge an admission price. While I think a free event is wonderful for attendees, it doesn't seem fair to charge the people showing a car a fee unless there are prizes, etc. Some of these owners come a distance...

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On 9/15/09 at 10:01 AM, REALTREECAMO99 wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

GREAT SHOW THANKS A BUNCH EVERYONE WHO HELPED

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