Ford V-8’s Flock to Friendly Ford’s Car Show

By John Emmering • Photos by Ken Bounds

Friendly Ford in Roselle had the best turnout of Early Ford V-8’s ever during their fifth annual Customer Appreciation Car Show on Saturday August 26th.  Our Northern Illinois Regional Group fielded nine club affiliated vehicles along two other antique Fords.  The Ford V-8’s began to arrive shortly before 8:00 am and soon all were on prominent display in the Friendly Ford dealer lot.  The show had a number of Ford Model T’s, Model A’s and of course other cars of various and sundry makes and years. 

Turning out to the show with their Early Ford V-8’s were:  Ron Blum, 1940 Ford Deluxe Fordor, Ken Bounds, 1950 Ford Crestliner, John Emmering, 1951 Ford Custom Fordor, Frank Koeder, 1939 Ford Deluxe Convertible, Joe Kozmic, 1937 Ford Coupe, Paul Lunecki, 1951 Ford Custom Tudor, Pat Maroney, 1936 Ford Deluxe Fordor, Tom O’Donnell and his grandson, 1953 Lincoln Sport Coupe, and Ron Steck, 1940 Ford Pickup.  John Slobodnik with son John displayed his 1954 Ford Crestline Fordor and Paul Levine exhibited his 1966 Ford Mustang Convertible.  Arriving in modern iron were John Judge, Gary Osborne, John Scheve and Joe Serritella.

Besides viewing the displayed cars our members enjoyed the camaraderie the event offered.  One group of early arrivals walked down to McDonald’s for breakfast.  By midday other of our membership found themselves seated at the nearby Bulldog Ale house partaking of burgers and of course a couple glasses of Ale.  Friendly Ford generously provided hotdogs, water, soda, and potato chips free of charge. 

The morning of the show started off cool and cloudy but the sun came out by afternoon, all in all good weather for an outdoor event.  The NIRG publicity sign was plainly posted and club recruitment literature was distributed to any potential future members. 

As the event came to its conclusion, participants gathered for announcement of trophy winners for the various categories of displayed cars.  The winners were determined by participant voting.  Our big winner was Paul Lunecki, who was awarded a trophy for the Best Ford of the 1950’s for his 1951 Ford Custom Tudor.  Also receiving awards were Frank Koeder for his 1939 Ford Deluxe Convertible and Joe Kozmic for his 1937 Ford Coupe. 

Participants from the NIRG appreciated the hospitality offered by Friendly Ford in offering the free of charge car show and hoped that the presence of our Ford V-8’s added to the success of the event.