Hall of the Balloon Festival Car Show
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© 2002 Brian F. Schreurs
Even we have a disclaimer.

Damn those gold-chain-wearing poofsters!
Josh and I checked out the car show associated with the 2002 Mountaineer Balloon Festival on October 12, 2002. We were sorely disappointed to find that the only examples of late-model performance were two V6-powered ponycar wannabes (hi Steven!), the world's ugliest Corvette, and some schmo who spent all his Mustang GT money on Steeda performance-appearance parts without spending one cent on actual Steeda performance parts. We entered the show as a simple reminder for the attendees that there was more to late-model performance than V6s, lunatics, and posers.

Oooh! A beautiful 2002 Chevy Camaro Z28 convertible and... er, me.

The world's ugliest Corvette. It was so ugly we took lots of pictures.

A 1972 Dodge Challenger with a custom paint job straight out of the late 1970s. Yow.

This tricycle is handmade. "Hey baby, how'd ya like a ride on my trike?"

Mustang performace has had an interesting history. This footnote is the 1978 Mustang Cobra. Complete with its hairy-chested V--er, are you sure you have all your spark plug wires attached? Yes? er, okay, complete with its carby V6.

This is a 1969 AMC SC/Rambler. You don't see too many of these. AMC never had any development money so when they needed a Mustang/Camaro/Barracuda competitor in a hurry, they took a smallish family car, put the coolest stuff they had in the parts bin on it, then gave it a real loud paint job in the hopes that you wouldn't notice it was pretty much just a really fast Rambler American.

A 1973 Plymouth Road Runner. One of the last of the vintage musclecars. These things are great; I'd probably get one if I didn't already have a Charger.

A 1968 Dodge Dart. Most of the millions of Darts sold were boring slugs. But they were lightweight boring slugs, so with the right drivetrain, they were practically unbeatable in the quarter mile.

The token prewar restoration job. For the most part, the restoration crowd tends to avoid being seen with the hot rod crowd. The resto guys are a bit snobbish, apparently thinking that their method of bringing an old car back from the dead is somehow better. It's good to see this guy here, because the hobby needs both rodders and restorers to thrive.

A first-generation, solid-axle Corvette. Great to look at. Interesting to drive.

You know you're getting old when the cars you hated as a child are now someone else's labor of love. This thing is a 1978 Chevy Malibu Sport, God help us all.

Firebirds like this one from 1978 are a big part of the reason I still hear "You drive a what??"