2016 Old Hickory Fellowship Car Show

I’ve lived in Old Hickory, Tenn., for more than two years, but I’ve never been to a car show that actually took place in Old Hickory. That all changed last Saturday when we took the truck over to the Old Hickory Fellowship Car Show. This was a nice little church fundraiser that attracted a quality group of cars and trucks in a grass field next to the Dairy Queen. It was a pretty low pressure event, and they gave out some door prizes along the way. Hanging out with car folks on a nice day and watching the traffic sail by isn’t a terrible way to spend and afternoon. Being able to check out some nice rides doesn’t hurt either.

This screamin’ orange ’37 Oldsmobile must be one of the best built street rods around, because I see it at every show I go to. Every. Single. Show. I’ve seen it at two different shows in the same day. I saw it at the Street Rod Nationals in Evansville, Ind. I see it at the Fontanel, Hendersonville, and Goodlettsville. You can’t blame the owner for wanting to show it off, though. It took a lot of work to chop and channel this car. And the transformation is startling. A normal ’37 Olds is not what you would consider very sleek and sporty. But this one sure is. And of course, it has plenty of creature comforts, including air conditioning, a good stereo, and a modern interior.

This Oldsmobile is 36 years newer than the orange one, but it’s still 43 years old. Or, to look at it in another perspective, the Crystal Green Delta 88 convertible is the same age as your author. It’s probably aging better than I am, although I’ve never been repainted. The white vinyl interior really sets things off. I never saw the hood open, but I suspect it had an Olds 350 under there. I like these big old ‘70s cars. They’re not the most popular, but that means you don’t see them as often. These cars are cruisers. If you drive 100 miles on the highway in this Oldsmobile, you’ll really be disappointed when you get back in your modern car. These babies just make the miles ooze away.

Also from 1973, check out this Gremlin X. The Gremlin was AMC’s answer to cars like the Pinto and the Vega. It was meant to be small and frugal. A Gremlin X was the sportier version, and included a beefed-up six, wider tires, and bucket seats. This particular car is still sporty, but not nearly as frugal with a souped-up Chevy V8 under the hood. Wide rear tires wrapped around Cragar mags put all that power to the ground. My 12-year-old son immediately referred to it as a “lemon” thanks to the Pixar Cars 2 movie, but he appreciated the Hot Wheels logo on the door. These Gremlins are so weird an unusual, it’s hard not to have a soft spot for them. The way this one was fixed up is as good as I’ve seen.

This was a cool old truck. It’s a 1949 Chevrolet; paint job by Mother Nature. A Chevy Stovebolt six provides the power, but it’s hopped-up with a split manifold, Fenton intake, and two carburetors. The weathered look continued to the inside, with a tough old vinyl seat cover defining the comfort features. It’s not all rust and patina, though. The chrome grille and bumpers were as nice as the come, it had some nice hubcaps and trim rings, and blue dot taillights warn drivers you’re putting on the brakes with a warm, purple glow. There are a lot of these type of shop trucks out there lately, but not too many of them were put together as well as this one.

I really did enjoy hanging out at the Old Hickory Fellowship Car Show. I hope they are able to do it again next year with even more success. In the meantime, check out all the pictures by clicking this link.