Centerville Americana Festival Car Show

Updated 4:31 PM Friday, August 6, 2010 The crowd of cars for the Americana Festival Car Show in Centerville was outstanding, and the spectators were shoulder to shoulder.“We have over ?200 cars here, and a lot of cars we’ve never seen before,” said show chairman Robert Kenley. “And it’s not raining!”The show picks unique classes each year and for 2010 they were: Pre-’49s, ?Nifty ’50s, Muscle Cars and Corvettes. In addition, the judges also had to pick the cars for five special awards; Rat Rod, Daily Driver, Hard Luck, Custom Motorcycle and Long Distance.“the owners really like this show; it’s more like a street fair than a car show,” Kenley said. “the cars aren’t jammed together, the people really can get close to the cars, and the spectators and owners really get a chance to talk with each other and share their love of cars.”One car that hasn’t been out much recently was the multi-color custom ?Corvette belonging to Stan Wells of Centerville. the ’73 Vette was drawing a strong crowd of spectators, attracted by the paint job that sports 23 base coat colors and an additional 70 blended colors.“I got the car in 1975. It was wrecked in front so I decided to make a custom and had bill Sheets do a custom paint job,” Wells said. “Sheets worked out of ‘the Greek’s’ shop and is pretty well-known. He used all lacquers and House of Kolor paints, and it still looks good 35 years ?later.”Wells took the car on the ISC car show circuit those first few years after it was done, but since then, he’s been driving it.“It has about 43,000 miles on it, and I’ve driven it to Florida twice,” Wells said.The gas mileage likely wasn’t very good, since the Corvette has a 355-cubic-inch V-8 that has a 6-71 supercharger under the twin AFB 4 barrel carburetors.“It’s got a 4-speed stick, and I put in Recaro seats, long before they were cool,” Wells said. “about five years ago, I put a new Corvette CR1 suspension on it and Bilstein shocks and added rack and pinion steering. Now it handles just like a ?Corvette should. This is only the second time I’ve had it out this year, but I’m gonna start driving it more.”The Nifty ’50s class was a natural for Doug James’s 1959 T-Bird.“I had a ?’58 T-Bird in 1959, and I always wanted another one,” the Kettering resident said.“I found this one in Portland, Ore., three years ago and it was just finished late last summer,” James said about his meticulously restored bright-red convertible.“It’s kind of a time machine for me. I step right back into 1959, with the side pipes, fender skirts — even the dummy teardrop spotlights,” he said.“It’s got the bar grille and even the spinner hubcaps with the whitewalls; hey, it’s just plain fun.”To nominate your special vehicle for Wheels of the Week, contact us at: Wheels, Marketing Publications Department, Dayton Daily News, 1611 S. Main St., Dayton OH 45409 or via e-mail at . Include your name, daytime telephone number and a photo of your vehicle. ??Read this story and others like it at DaytonDailyNews.com/Wheels.

Centerville Americana Festival Car Show