By Erik Jordan

Saturday September 6 dawned a bright and sunny day, just what the doctor ordered for the 2^nd annual Autolawn European collector car gathering and car show, and a fund raiser for the Hickory Museum of Art. This second installment was as exciting and fun as last years. There were in excess of 80 beautiful automobiles including the new Ferraris, Maseratis, Porsches and Aston Martins that the event sponsor, Paramount Sports, brought to show. There were six members of our club that signed up for the event who had cleaned and polished their rides to show off. A well run event, the brain child of two local car aficionados, Charlie Zagaroli and Kit Carson (no relation I was told), that included food prepared by the local Elks Club, sodas, wine and of course beer for our gastronomic pleasure.

This gathering was is a non denominational event, open to all marques of European automobiles and just about all brands were represented. I noted from Italy more that one Ferrari and an Alfa or two. German autos included many Porsches from the early model 356s all the way up to the late model Carrerras, BMWs and one quaint Messerschmitt. A Citroen 2CV was in the field to carry the tri-colors of France and a beautiful White Volvo station wagon represented Sweden. Lest we not forget the British, as there were many and varied automobiles of proper British manufacture. These included Woodie Woodward’s fine Rolls-Royce, Ken Luderback’s 1975 Triumph TR-6, Wyatt James brought his recently restored Triumph TR-3 which received an award and I was in my 1985 Morgan Plus 8. Non member British cars included an MGTF, a beautiful Jaguar XK120 coupe, three Jaguar XKEs and an MGA. There were also two British step children, a 1985 Cobra produced by Autokraft and an original 1965 Shelby Cobra with only 5700 miles on the odometer. The other two CVBMC members there, Gene Spainhour and Dennis McCransky, arrived in a Citroen and a 911 Porsche respectively, both receiving awards. Imagine that, British car club folks winning awards with French and German cars.

The organizers of Autolawn recruited David Deal from the Table Rock Sports Car Club to pen a tour for Sunday morning and what a job David did. About 20 folks showed up at Paramount Porsche for the tour that led us though western Catawba County and into Burke County where we were able to enjoy a spirited ride on some of the best twistys you could find in our area. After going around Lake James and nipping a bit into McDowell County, the riding tour ended at a remote restaurant where the driving participants were able to relax and enjoy a delicious meal. A fitting ending to a most wonderful automobile weekend.