Saturday, July 10, 2010
Iola Old Car Show And Swap Meet 2010: The Wild, The Weird, And The Wonderful Show Up To Classic Car Mecca
With annual attendance of over 40,000 spectators, the Iola Old Car Show and Swap
meet is a pretty big deal in the classic car world. You can find anything from a Pacer to a
Packard and everything in between and beyond at this gigantic event that makes enough cash
each year to pay for property year-round. Any car you can think of may show up. Among the
starts of this year's car show, auction, car corral, and swap meet in Iola, Wisconsin were a '26
Rickenbacker coupe layered in brass, a Race-modified VW Bug, and Alice Cooper's old '69 Shelby
GT350H. Every year in sleepy northern Wisconsin, the best of the best unite with the worst of
the worst and the average in this local show that has grown into the national classic car Mecca.
Starting in the Car Corral, you will definitely notice some odd and unique cars for sale. A
Lincoln KB, Lotus Europa, Fox Ford Mustang, and a Corvette-powered Austin-Healey can all be
found up for sale. One of the cars that caught our eye was this: A very early, late-Sixties
Lamborghini Espada. For those of you not familiar with the Espada, it is an absolutely gigantic car
by exotic-car standards, even in the time it was released. The Espada is about 15 feet long, with
enough length to make a Chevy truck next to it look short. This particular Espada was in
drivable, but not anywhere near showable condition. At a NADAGuides value in perfect condition
of $56,000 and an asking price of $20,000, this car would not be a good deal considering
restoration costs.
Moving on from there, the main show area had a few very interesting exhibits, including the first public showing of the comeback car for Nickey Chevrolet of Chicago. The new Nickey Camaro is inspired by the '67 Corvette, with the signature Stinger hood. With performance packages ranging from 500-700 horsepower, though it may not pack the same punch as similar Hennessey kits, they come with more history and pedigree. The car they had on display was number one of one so far, but according to some reps from Nickey, they had a few checks waved in their face, so look for more coming up from Nickey Chicago.
Next up, one of the GM Futurliners used in GM's Parade of Progress made a rare appearance, complete with working motor and tours of the cockpit for a little bit of change. This four to eight-million-dollar vehicle was Futurliner number 10, which was saved years back as well as four others by Joe Bortz from the fate of being turned into a restaurant. Yes, somebody was at one point going to turn this piece of history into a restaurant. The car is currently owned by a big insurance company and is used for PR events and major car shows such as Iola.
The theme this year at Iola was Sensational Sixties, and Sixties-era cars came out in storm. Over 5,000 cars attended the public show this year, including unusual ones such as this Mopar with a from-the-factory flower roof and interior. It caused many of the attendees of the show to have flashbacks of their days 0f childhood and neighbors, friends, and family with similar cars. Overall, the show was as big a success as usual, and look forward to features on specific cars in the coming days!
The theme this year at Iola was Sensational Sixties, and Sixties-era cars came out in storm. Over 5,000 cars attended the public show this year, including unusual ones such as this Mopar with a from-the-factory flower roof and interior. It caused many of the attendees of the show to have flashbacks of their days 0f childhood and neighbors, friends, and family with similar cars. Overall, the show was as big a success as usual, and look forward to features on specific cars in the coming days!
