Mar 03 2009
Mopars at the Red Barns car show
I’m already jonesing at the thought of attending the 21st Annual “Mopars at the Red Barns” car show at the Gilmore Car Museum in Hickory Corners, Michigan, outside of Kalamazoo. This is a car show and swap meet featuring hundreds of muscle cars, antiques and special interest vehicles. Dodge, Plymouth, Desoto, Chrysler and Imperial powered vehicles of any year are allowed to exhibit.
I had the pleasure of attending this event last year and it was a great show. We saw everything from 1966 ‘Cuda muscle cars, to a 2009 Charger, to a squeaky-clean 1949 Plymouth convertible that was literally owned by a little old lady who drove it to church on Sunday.
The Gilmore Museum is located on a gorgeous old farm with huge expanses of green grass and a complex of renovated barns housing some of the world’s rarest automobiles. There’s a special barn just for vintage Rolls-Royce, and other eye candy for the car enthusiast. The displays are so valuable that you have to wonder what kind of car alarms they use.
The Mopars at the Red Barns show is a special drive-in event where the car owners come in for the day. The fun part is that as the owners start leaving in the afternoon, the exit leads right to a quarter-mile stretch of smooth, paved state highway outside the Gilmore complex. Local law enforcement shows its warm fuzzy side and looks the other way as muscle car owners hit rubber in the quarter mile and let their Mopar machines strut their stuff.
This year’s show is set for July 25th 2009 ( Saturday ) from 8:00 am to 4:00 pm. Highly recommended if you’re able to attend. Special Event Admission of $8.00 includes all museum exhibits at no extra charge. Kids under 11 are admitted free of charge. Sponsored by the West Michigan Mopar Club, 269-664-5595.
