2017 Gallatin Square Fest Car Show

I’m a big fan of the annual Gallatin Square Fest Car Show. For one thing, there’s a craft show there, so I can usually convince my wife to go. But it also seems to draw an outstanding collection of cars. There’s stuff there that I’ve never seen anywhere else. The weather was warm. The cars were clean. It was a great day for a car show. I’ll bet you wish you had gone. Well, at least I took some pictures for you. No need to thank me.

This ’57 Oldsmobile Fiesta wagon was absolutely spectacular. When was the last time you even saw one of these? The four-door hardtop wagon was finished in Granada Grey and Charcoal, with a beautiful Accent Vermilion interior. It also had he coveted J-2 engine option, with not one, not two, but three thirsty carburetors. This was one of the best looking station wagons ever made, and one of the strongest performing cars you could buy in 1957. Awesome.

In 1977, the Pontiac Firebird really was one of the most powerful, best handling cars you could buy. The Formula had, well, the Formula. It wasn’t as powerful or extroverted as the Trans Am, but that 400-c.i. V8 was pretty stout for its day. This example here, finished in Goldenrod Yellow, had the W50 appearance package to let everyone know it wasn’t just a base Firebird. It looked absolutely right to me inside and out. It even had an 8-track player if you wanted to clank your way through some Rod Stewart or Andy Gibb.

This ’54 Chevy Bel Air two-door sedan was also hard to beat. This one is finished in a beautiful springtime combination of Fiesta Cream with a Bermuda Green roof. It’s also loaded with options, including power steering, Powerglide transmission, power seats, and power windows. The Bel Air was the top-of-the-line trim level in 1954, although the hardtop is a little more desirable. The V8 would have to wait one more year, so this inline six was the best you could do. But as a whole, this was a good one.

The original Bel Air was introduced four years earlier, and they were all two-door hardtops in 1950. They were meant to look like a convertible on which the top did not go down. This one is Crystal Green with a Mist Green roof and green genuine leather seat bolsters. It’s a Deluxe, and has some nice features like a fancier steering wheel, nicer seats, and full wheel covers. I loved this car. It wasn’t anything flashy, but it was just nice and solid. I hope someday there are people my age or younger that still appreciate and want to preserve a car like this.

I think these ’58 Plymouth Furys are beautiful cars. They were all painted Buckskin Beige in 1958, in spite of what the movies may suggest, and they all had this anodized gold trim. They were as powerful as they looked, too, with V8 engine options ranging from 290- to 315-hp. The Fury was an optional package on the Belvedere this year, so they look very similar. This was a very nice old car. If it had been restored, it was a very long time ago. It did have a little rust appearing here and there around the top, but most of these were completely destroyed by rust over the years, so this is nothing.

I can’t close this story without mentioning this ’67 Corvette roadster. I love these anyway, and this one checked all the right boxes. Of course it has a 425-hp 427 with a four-speed. Of course it’s Lynndale Blue with white seats and red line tires. Of course I’d love to wrap my fingers around that teakwood steering wheel and give it hell. I think 1967 is the greatest year for Corvette of them all, so it’s hard to go wrong with a car like this.

Those are just a few of the standouts at the 2017 Gallatin Square Fest Car Show. There were others. You can see more than 300 pictures of them by clicking this link.