Sunday, July 24, 2011

38th Annual Ag Hall of Fame Show N' Shine brought rows and rows of great cars to a beautiful and interesting location

The Annual Show N' Shine at the Ag Hall of Fame in Bonner Springs, Kan., is a real tradition here in town, and a nicer place to hold a show you'll never find.

This is the 38th year for this event, which is hosted by the Genuine Chevy/GMC Truck Club of Kansas City. As you might imagine, there tends to be a large contingent of old Chevy pickups there, but that certainly isn't the only thing that makes it in.

Before I get into too much detail on the cars themselves, I want to talk a little about the Ag Hall of Fame. Basically, it's the Mecca for all things farm-related. They have all kinds of permanent displays featuring things like combines, rare tractors, threshing machines, and other equipment. There is also a museum that outlines the history of American agriculture, and the people who have made the greatest contributions.

Out on the grounds, there is a neat blacksmith shop with lots of cool tools and other displays, various old-time buildings, and even an old one-room schoolhouse that is usually occupied by a craggy schoolmarm that threatens to rap your knuckles with a ruler if you forget your manners.

There's also a great antique Union Pacific mini-train. For a buck, they'll take folks on rides around the scenic grounds, circle the pond, and even pass through a tunnel. The kids love it, but I know the adults found the train itself pretty interesting as well.

Lots of great cars show up for this event. There was a spot-on Family Vacation Family Truckster on display. That silver screen freak was almost too nice. Someone really obsessed over the details. You gotta' love it!

Then, there was the Smokey and the Bandit play set, which included the perfectly-rendered Snowman Kenworth, Buford T. Justice's Lemans police car, Bandit's Trans Am (naturally), and even Fred the Bassett Hound.

Among my favorite cars were a super-sweet candy-apple red '48 Chevy Fleetline with an awesome white rolled and pleated interior, a near perfect '50 Ford coupe that still retained its flathead six, a great '64 Grand Prix with white seats and factory air, and a very nice '58 Oldsmobile two-door sedan. Your favorites may vary.

As usual, I leave you with a slideshow of the cars, trucks, and sights of the 2011 Ag Hall of Fame Show N' Shine. There are more than 200 pictures down there, so if you don't like the first few, something better will turn up eventually.


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