President's Day at the KC Auto Display

Despite being a little cold and damp, President’s Day was a good day. I didn’t have to go to work. I got to hang out with my son. The post office was closed, so no one could deliver any bills. And we got to go check out some cars.
For many years, the KC Auto Display has been a nice place to visit on a day off when there weren’t many car events taking place. They don’t always have the best cars. They certainly don’t have the worst cars. But they always seem to have an interesting selection of muscle cars, customs, and classics beneath the utilitarian roof of their Lenexa warehouse.

If you’re into muscle cars, the KC Auto Display had a few standouts. You seem to run across a lot of ’69 Camaro SS Indy Pace Cars (there was one here, in fact), but very few ‘67s. There was a really pretty white-over-blue ’67 Camaro SS Indy Pace Car here, lettered and decorated in full pace car regalia. And with an asking price of $79,900, it was one of the most expensive cars in the collection.

Interestingly, another car shared the exact same price tag. This, a Top Banana Yellow 1970 Dodge Charger R/T with a V-Code 440 Six Pack. Now I’m more of a Chevy guy than a MOPAR fan, but even I could tell this was a pretty special car. It even had a four-speed with that iconic pistol grip shifter. This car was so nice that even if I were being chased by the Hazzard County sheriff for a trumped-up charge, I’d think twice about jumping it over a creek.

They usually have a nice collection of Pontiacs here, including a variety of GTOs and Firebirds. I really liked their red-over-white ’73 Trans Am. Those were pretty neat cars in the first place—I mean, can you imagine someone coming out with a car today with over-the-top spoilers and fender extensions, 455-cubes, and a giant Phoenix decal covering the entire hood? They claim that this one only had 8,800 miles on it, and except for the center of the spoiler missing, it could have been a new car. Heck, I’m a ’73 model myself, and I don’t look nearly as good.

If you want to go back a few years, there were a few more mature rides in the mix. Their ’50 Chrysler Winsor was a proper-looking early-‘50s MOPAR. The ’52 Dodge pickup was really nice, and had sort of an ugly utilitarian charm. And their ’63 Oldsmobile 88 convertible was one of the most intriguing cars in the place. There was a sign taped to the dash of the Olds that said, “no brakes,” but that would be an easy fix to enjoy this nice, 24,000-mile car.

In the “what the heck” department, the Auto Display featured a few oddballs of automotive history. One was an extraordinarily nice 1977 AMC Pacer D/L station wagon. Somehow this little yellow “woody” survived all these years without succumbing to iron worms or other common maladies. There was also a black, 38,000-mile 1985 Chrysler Town and Country wagon that I could only assume is the nicest example on earth. And of course, they still have the actual 1985 Subaru Brat that was driven by Joy on the TV show My Name is Earl. It is simply breathtaking.

If you have a little bit of down time and want to go look at this place for yourself, be sure to visit http://www.kcclassicauto.com/. But if you’re stuck at work … no problem! Just check out the photo slideshow below.