Despite mostly overcast skies and drizzle throughout the morning, the Fun Day Car Show and barbeque at Mountain Falls beckoned a good number of attendees to the venue on the south end of town at 5001 Clubhouse Drive.
Organizer and emcee Gary Michalsky said the event on Saturday, March 10, was the second such show for local car enthusiasts since last August.
“We wanted to put it together for our Pahrump residents,” Michalsky said. “By we, I mean myself and all of the other gearheads that live in this town.”
The event, Michalsky said, was also an alternative to the longtime Valley Cruisers of Pahrump Car Club, which disbanded last year, after more than 20 years of hosting such events in the Pahrump Valley.
“We are not yet a full-fledged organization, but we are just trying to get another venue to be able to present our cars, since we lost the Valley Cruisers of Pahrump Car Club,” he said. “We don’t really have a social media site at this time but if we can grow this event into something big, we will create a website and social media platform.”
Even though the car show is basically still in its infancy, Michalsky said he was pleased with Saturday’s turnout of both classic car owners and those who just came to admire the vehicles.
“You can’t really have a better venue than here at Mountain Falls,” Michalsky said. “We must have had 25 different variations of cars here today, which are mostly classics. We even had one motorcycle.”
The top prizes, Michalsky said, were provided for the categories of People’s Choice and Best in Show, along with awards for the decade the vehicles were manufactured, beginning from the 1920’s.
Lorin and Liz Seidman of Henderson, Nevada took home a plaque for Best in Show, with their 1929 Ford two-door sedan.
The Seidmans, who purchased the car back in 2006, completely restored the Ford within a few months after taking possession.
“I have a Hot Rod, Chop Top, with a 3.8 V-6,” Lorin Seidman said following the show. “It has air conditioning, power windows, power disc brakes and all of the updates to make it safe and comfortable. It’s also a great driver and we take it to places like the Grand Canyon and California. There wasn’t a lot of work to do to it, so I just put my own personal touches onto it. I’ve won about 15 or 16 awards for it over the years.”
Pahrump residents Tom and Vivian South brought out their 1957 customized Chevy pickup truck, which won a People’s Choice Award.
“It was customized in Canada and I just got it about three weeks ago,” Tom South said. “I acquired it in this condition, but it took about three months of getting it through customs. I almost quit a couple of times, but I stayed with it and we now have it. I’ll be entering more car shows in the future, because I like to hang out with the car people and talk shop and tell war stories.”
Michalsky also had thoughts on Saturday’s weather conditions, as the event ended slightly earlier than scheduled.
“The weather put a slight damper on things but it also separates the true gearheads from the fair-weather drivers. You can really tell which people are really into their cars, especially if they are going to stick out a little bit of rain. If you go back east, you’ll notice people are doing these kinds of shows in the sleet and rain. If you love your car and you love your hobby, you’re going to want to present your car regardless of the weather.”
Along with the car show, Michalsky said visitors enjoyed a barbecue courtesy of Mountain Falls, as well as musical entertainment hosted by local resident Jim Gallagher.
“He’s has been doing disc jockey work here in Pahrump for many years,” Michalsky said. “He’s a great, dependable guy, and he’s been around here for a long time.”
Additionally, Michalsky said he is looking forward to more car shows from here on in.
“We are hoping to continue with these kinds of shows in the future,” he said. “We are also hoping that Mountain Falls was able to gain more access to people who want to know more about what Mountain Falls has to offer them. All of the people here today were very impressed. We have people who visited who actually live here that have never been here before, which is a shame. We hope to be doing this at least once or maybe even twice a year.”
Contact reporter Selwyn Harris at sharris@pvtimes.com. On Twitter: @pvtimes