33rd-Annual Oktoberfest Classic Car Show at Wilson Bank & Trust ends the Mid-Tenn AACA 2021 car show season

The Mid-Tenn Region AACA finished off the 2021 car show season with the 33rd-Annual Wilson Bank & Trust Oktoberfest Antique Car Show on the Wilson Bank main campus. This is always one of the biggest car shows of the year in the Nashville area, and the car count and quality didn’t disappoint. With 553 vehicles entered, it was the largest turnout in the history of this show. Perfect weather and strong participation meant that there was something for everybody at this long-running event.

Huge turnout for the 25th-Annual AACA Wilson Bank Spring Meet in Mt. Juliet

I haven’t been to enough car shows lately, but I’m sure glad I didn’t miss the 25th-Annual AACA Wilson Bank Spring Meet in Mt. Juliet over the weekend. This is always a good show, and this year’s edition didn’t disappoint. There were cars crammed in every little crevice of that place. It has been quite a while since there was a local AACA show, and I think everyone decided to get out of the house. This was in spite of it being a cloudy, somewhat rainy day.

 

32nd-Annual Wilson Bank Oktoberfest Car Show brings the best of the AACA to Lebanon

For 32 years, Wilson County Bank has hosted the big Oktoberfest event at their main branch in Lebanon, Tenn. That tradition continued last weekend, including the big AACA car show on Sunday. The car show season tends to wind down quite a bit after this weekend, but not before 451 entries converged on about four different parking lots to make up this last-ditch blowout. I’ve been to this show before, but this was the first time I entered a car. Not only did my car take home a class award, but I got to spend the day hanging out with my teenaged son, and we were able to take our time studying all the nice cars and trucks on display.

Red Boiling Springs Fall Meet celebrates 63rd-Anniversary

Last weekend, the Middle Tennessee Region AACA recognized the 63rd-Anniversary of their Fall Meet, which was held on the picturesque grounds Thomas House Hotel in Red Boiling Springs, Tenn. According to my calculator, that means the first one was in 1956. That’s even older than this Chevy Viking 60 Howe-bodied fire truck, which was bought new by Red Boiling Springs Volunteer Fire Department in 1959. Tradition runs deep here. Many of the club members have been attending this event for decades. Even the hotel has been here since 1927. All of this history is great news for show-goers. Organizers have been doing this long enough now that there aren’t too many hitches in the operation. This year, 328 vehicles showed up. That’s a successful effort in anybody’s book.

38th-Annual Bowen Campbell Auto Expo returns to Moss-Wright Park in Goodlettsville

When a car show has been happening in the same place for 38 years, someone must be doing something right. In this case, that someone is the AACA Sumner County Vintage Vehicle Club, and that something is the Bowen Campbell Auto Expo, which happened last Saturday in its traditional location, Moss-Wright Park in Goodlettsville, Tenn. They always have a big turnout at this show, and it seems to draw some of the nicer cars from around the Nashville area. I hung out there all day with my ’63 Chevy truck, which would not be considered one of those nicer vehicles, but I was surrounded by good stuff. It was a hot day out there for sure, but that didn’t seem to keep people from enjoying this Labor Day weekend tradition.

24th-Annual AACA Spring Meet features factory stock in Mt. Juliet

You might think that having a car show on the same weekend that Goodguys is in town, on a cloudy, misty day, might not be a recipe for success. And while the car count may have been a little light for the 24th-Annual AACA Spring Meet at the Wilson County Bank in Mt. Juliet, I would still consider it a win. As usual, there were some very nice cars out there. I’ve always liked this event because it draws in a lot of interesting, unmodified cars. I like hot rods, but I also like to see things the way they came from the factory. Many of the car owners at this show do a great job of preserving that history. 

31st-Annual Oktoberfest Antique Car Show brings the best to Lebanon

Some of the best car shows of the year happen just as the car show season is winding down. Such was the case with the 31st-annual Lebanon Oktoberfest Antique Car Show, which was held last weekend around the Main Street Wilson Bank location in Lebanon, Tenn. It was a beautiful, cool day; just perfect for checking out all the beautiful, cool rides. 382 vehicles showed up for this event, making it one of the largest single-day car shows around. Also, since it is hosted by the Middle Tennessee AACA, there is always a nice assortment of factory-correct classics.

62nd-Annual 2018 Red Boiling Springs Fall Meet features humid weather and hot cars

The Red Boiling Springs Fall Meet claims to be the oldest car show in the south. After 62 years, this seems like a pretty safe proclamation. Held at the picturesque Thomas House Hotel, this event draws in cars from everywhere. I’ve seen some of them, because I go to a lot of car shows. But there were many that I have never seen before. The humid, steamy weather didn’t keep too many people away from here. It was a great turnout for a very historic event. This one is organized by the Middle Tennessee Antique Car Club, which is a chapter of the AACA.

Perfect conditions for the 23rd-Annual AACA Spring Meet at the Wilson County Bank in Mt. Juliet

I’ve been attending the AACA car show at Wilson Bank in Mt. Juliet for a few years now, and I liked it so much that I finally decided to enter a car. This is one of those events that always seems to be blessed with nice weather and a great turnout, and this year followed that trend. The Mid-Tenn AACA chapter reports that 156 entries made it to the show field, and there were several of them that really tripped the meter. My only regret was that I underestimated the sunshine and forgot to wear sunscreen. Hanging around at a car show is not for the weak.

Tons of stunners at the 2017 AACA Wilson County Fair Car Show

When you go to the fair you expect to see a lot of things. Giant watermelons. Big, fuzzy chickens. Shaky carnival rides. Mullets. What you might not expect to see is one of the best car shows of the year. But that’s exactly what you got at the Wilson County Fair during the AACA Car Show that took place last Sunday. I rarely go to an event that has this kind of quality. It’s like the Barrett-Jackson Scottsdale auction got dumped out in a field or something. There are so many top-notch restorations, so many desirable cars, and so many knowledgeable people that it’s an unusual situation indeed that you can get them all together in one place.

22nd-Annual AACA Wilson Bank Spring Meet in Mt. Juliet

The Spring Meet of the Middle Tennessee Region AACA at the Wilson County Bank in Mt. Juliet is one of my favorite shows of the year. As a whole, the quality of vehicles they get at this one is way up there. They’re not just neat cars; they’re exceptionally nice cars as well. This is not really a hot rod show. Factory-correct presentation dominates this field. And there are things here that you normally don’t get to see. They have 53 classes, so if you can’t find something you like in this bunch, you probably don’t like old cars.

29th-Annual Stones River Region AACA Swap Meet at the Tennessee State Fairgrounds

Swap meets. I do enjoy them. They’re like the flea market, which I also like, but without all the antique furniture and vintage Christmas decorations. Nothing but the car stuff. Heaven. I’ve been to hundreds of automotive swap meets over the years, and although I don’t tend to buy all that much, there is that occasional treasure I can’t live without. But more than that, it’s just fun to walk around and look at everything. The Stones River Region AACA held their annual swap meet at the Tennessee Fairgrounds last Sunday, and of course, I was there. And thanks to the power of the Internet, you get to go there too. 

2016 Wilson County Fair AACA Car Show

It’s county fair season, and folks around Nashville know that the Wilson County Fair is one of the biggest around. Even better, the AACA holds a big car show at the Wilson County Fair each year, so that makes it a must-attend event as far as I’m concerned. Attendance was down this year because it rained quite a bit in the morning, but the muddy conditions moved the show from the grassy field to the pavement surrounding the buildings. This turned out to be a pretty popular move, and it put the car show front-and-center among fair attendees. These AACA shows always draw a high-quality selection of show vehicles, and this event was no different. Let’s take a look at a few of the standouts.

2016 Stone's River Car Club Swap Meet at the Tennessee State Fairgrounds

Automotive passion takes on many different forms. Some people build hot rods in their garage, while other people just buy ‘em and drive ‘em. Some people collect signage or model cars, while other people build up their tool collection. No matter where your automotive interests lie, they all came together at the Stone’s River Car Club Swap Meet, which was held last weekend at the Tennessee State Fairgrounds. There were vendors inside; vendors outside; and vendors in the livestock barns. And every dude over 250-pounds wearing a camouflage jacket was trying to find the parts to complete their winter projects. This was the place to be for car folks in Music City.

2015 AACA Wilson Bank Car Show

I saw the sign promoting the upcoming car show at the Mt. Juliet branch of Wilson Bank for a week. I sort of figured it would be ten or twenty cars that the bank staff rounded up. Actually, this was an event for the Middle Tennessee Region of the Antique Automobile Club of America (AACA), and there were not only a large number of cars, but there was a large number of good cars. I noticed the same phenomenon when I lived in Kansas City, too. Overall, I think the AACA draws an older crowd that not only can afford nice cars, but have enough experience in the hobby to really understand them.

41st-Annual AACA Car Show is rich with history

One of my favorite car shows happens each year about this time in Lawrence, Kan.  Yes, I like hot rods, customs, muscle cars, Corvettes, and so on.  But the Lawrence Chapter of the Antique Automobile Club of America (AACA) is something different.  This is where you find older, mostly original cars.  You aren’t going to see people doing burnouts when they leave the parking lot of this one.  And with this crowd, no one has to remind them not to.  This caters to a more mature clientele.  These are the guys that have been in the old car hobby longer than the rest of us, and know how to take care of an old car better than most of us.