What is it about boys and cars?
The side lot at Ray Varner Ford was packed Saturday with cars, mostly Mustangs, and guys. There were old guys with gray beards, little guys wearing T-shirts with words, and guys in the middle at the slow-paced event. Car owners and a few spouses had arrived at daybreak to set up. The show opened at 8 a.m. with judging at noon. Prizes were awarded at 2 p.m.
The 30th annual Tennessee Valley Mustang Club Car Show raised money for East Tennessee Children’s Hospital, but mostly it was a chance for some good ol’ boys to gather and talk cars.
Bob Engle, from Elk Valley near LaFollette, brought his 1921 Studebaker. It looked quaint, sitting alongside the muscle cars. Bob loved to talk about it. “It was hand-made,” he said. “There were no assembly lines in 1921. … And there are only four known to exist. Well, actually this one is No. 5 but I’ve not registered it yet.”
Engle called the restoration a four-year labor of love. He spent $5,000 (“a little high,” he said) to have four fenders perfected, the heavy black metal polished inside and out. The original bumpers were painted black, but he brought them to Knoxville Plating and turned them into shiny chrome.
“Everything works, but I want an ooga horn.”
The gold-colored radiator cap contains a thermomotor. When the cap is screwed on tightly, the back side has a circle, visible to the driver. As the temperature rises, the circle turns red. “Then you stop,” Bob told the Sotomayor brothers.
“You had to be pretty smart to build a car without a computer,” I said. The boys just looked puzzled, like 1921 was prehistoric.
“So, how much would you take for this car,” I asked Bob Engle.
“Oh, a quarter of a million,” he said with a smile. But it’s not for sale.
If you want to buy it or just go see it, call Engle at 423-912-1354 or email him at happytractorbob35 @gmail.com. And enjoy the photo gallery.
Branson Cox, 8, was the lucky winner of the grand prize in the car show raffle drawing. He’s the son of Lindsey and Shane Cox and the grandson of Ray and Tracey Varner.
The Sotomayor brothers – Elijah, Frankie and Caleb at the wheel – in Bob Engle’s 1921 Studebaker.
The thermomotor is in the radiator cap, visible to the driver.
A full view of Bob Engle's 1921 Studebaker with its spiffy chrome bumper and running board
Dr. Don and Cindy Wegener had their son's Mustang at the car show. The late Travis Wegener was a president of the Tennessee Valley Mustang Club.
Matt DiBenedetto is the driver for this Wood Brothers Mustang No. 21, a big attraction at Saturday’s show.
2014 Mustang Sherrod, owned by Roger Davis of Dandridge. He says it’s mainly for show but he drives it two-three times a week.
Colorful jugs of undisclosed content were given as prizes at Saturday's Mustang and All Fords car show.
Richard Young of Halls owns this 2012 Mustang 302 fastback. For Young, it’s a show car. He said it’s a street version of race cars from 1969 and 1970 – the Trans-Am Series. He estimates the car could run 140-150 mph on a straightaway.
Jeremy Wiederspahn brought this black and yellow 2014 Mustang with its specialty license plate.