The car's the star

Nature smiled Sunday on the 13th annual Jewel City Kiwanis Car Show at Verdugo Park.

The clouds and rain that plagued the Southland most of the week were banished by sunny skies as nearly 2,000 descended on the park to get a close look at more than 300 vintage cars and trucks, sports cars and hot rods participating in this year's event, said Rich Jessup, chairman of the car show committee.

The show, which was originally scheduled for March 19 but was postponed two weeks because of rain, included entries from various countries and eras, from a 1922 Ford Model T to a 1963 Mercedes Benz 220SE, as well as classics from the American muscle car era including Dodge Chargers, Ford Mustangs and Pontiac GTOs. The event also featured an appearance by a Glendale Police Department squad car and the department's armored SWAT vehicle, as well as vendors selling everything from die-cast metal collectibles to T-shirts and car care products.

Kiwanis, which manned a food booth and held a silent auction, uses the car show as its biggest fundraiser of the year, Jessup said. The money raised goes to the group's various local charities, including the Boy and Girl Scouts, Glendale Assn. for the Retarded, Glendale Little League, and others.

First-, second- and third-prize trophies are also handed out to show entrants in more than 20 categories divided by era, including stock, modifieds, sports car, truck and muscle car.

"The participants love doing this," Jessup said. "Their cars are their pride and joy, and they enjoy traveling these car show circuits. Our in-progress category is pretty popular, because they bring the cars they are working on and run into people who can tell them, 'Hey, I know somebody who can get those hubcaps for you.' So it is great for networking."

Among the enthusiasts with entries in the show was Ron Johnston of Burbank, whose 1959 Austin Healy Bug-Eyed Sprite took second place in last year's People's Choice category.

"It took me two years to restore it, after I bought it in pieces," said Johnston, a retired banker. "I learned myself, reading manuals and making mistakes. It is in the Foreign Sports Car category, which is ironic because it is competing with all the big boys like Porsches, Jaguars and Mercedes, and it is probably the smallest in the show."

He agreed that meeting other car enthusiasts was probably the biggest reason people like him frequent car shows.