Show is a polished effort
Car d’Lane attracts hundreds of pre-1972 gleaming beauties
Four years ago on a day trip to Metaline Falls, Bob Evans saw an ad for a 1951 Chevy in the small town’s newspaper. The classic car buff called the number and found the Chevy in pieces. But he saw its potential, so the Post Falls resident forked over $4,000 and drove back and forth three times to haul the two-door hardtop home in his trailer.
Today the Chevy is pristine and joins hundreds of other classic cars for Coeur d’Alene’s 19th annual Car d’Lane show. Classic car fanatics have come from as far as Colorado, California and Canada to show off their pre-1972 beauties on downtown streets.
“If you want to park with a club or with friends, come early,” said Caren Easterly, as she accepted registrations on Sherman Avenue on Friday morning.
Hundreds of cars planned to join the cruise of downtown streets Friday night, with the show following today.
Most of Sherman and Lakeside avenues in the heart of downtown will be packed with classic cars.
The show is not judged, but 16 trophies are awarded in categories including the “mayor’s pick,” “police department pick” and “people’s choice.”
The awards ceremony starts at 4 p.m., and door prizes will be given to show entrants all day, Easterly said.
The show is a joint venture of the Coeur d’Alene Downtown Association and the North Idaho Classics car club. Cliff Fender, a member of the car club, said he most appreciates the money Car d’Lane raises for charity. Entering the cruise costs $10; entering both the show and the cruise costs $35. Last year, about 650 cars entered the cruise, and 328 the show. Some $9,000 was given to organizations, he said.
This year, the show has had a good response from Washington’s West Side and from the Inland Northwest Corvair Club, with 45 members attending, said Gay Glasson, of the Downtown Association.
“We have more cars preregistered this year than we did last year,” Glasson said.