From Big to Small, Vintage Autos on a Roll at Ford Show : Hobbies: More than 70,000 turn out at Knott’s to ogle restored cars--including pedal-driven miniatures.

Bill Brown doesn’t complain when business slows down at his Redlands auto-parts shop. That gives him more time to work on his real passion: crafting pedal-driven miniatures of vintage cars.

Brown even built a stroller in the shape of a 1930 Ford hot rod for his 7-month-old grandson, Sebastian, complete with a personalized license plate.

But he is possessive about his handiwork. Brown refuses to sell any of his models to the public, despite a steady stream of inquiries. Instead, he packs up his miniatures every few weeks and takes them to car shows like the one at Knott’s Berry Farm on Sunday, where admirers ogle them.

“It’s an ego trip for me,” Brown admitted as he sat with his family enjoying the bright afternoon sun.

Organizers estimated that more than 70,000 people turned out Sunday for the eighth annual “Fabulous Fords Forever” show, billed as the largest in the county devoted exclusively to a single make of automobile. The event was free to the public.

Some 1,700 auto buffs paid a $15 registration fee to display their cars--from Mustangs and muscle cars, to classic Model-T Fords and more modern “Bigfoot” monster trucks with five-foot-tall tires that dwarfed the many children who lined up for a peek.

“I didn’t realize there were this many Fords around,” said race-car driver Parnelli Jones, who signed autographs for the crowd. “Just a lot of beautiful cars.”

The day had a definite ‘50s feel. Tunes by Buddy Holly and Jerry Lee Lewis blared from car radios and loudspeakers, and the once-popular fuzzy dice hung from scores of rearview mirrors, harking back to another era. The owner of a ’55 Ford even clamped a drive-in food tray to the side of the car, with a pair of A&W; Root Beer mugs filled to the top.

Appropriately enough, it was a vehicle from that era, a 1952 F-1 pickup owned by Glen Bohannan of Temecula, that took top honors at the show competition. “It was just a perfect restoration--absolutely like new,” said John Clinard, an event organizer with Ford Motor Co.

But most car owners weren’t there for the competition.

The appeal, 46-year-old Lee Jackson of La Palma said as he wiped a smudge from the side of his 1930 Model-A sedan, was the chance to spend a day with other car lovers and swap stories about the painstaking effort that went into their reclamation projects.

Jackson bought his Model-A when he was 19 years old, not yet drafted or married. He can’t even calculate how much time he has put into the car in the three decades since. “If I thought about it, I probably wouldn’t have done it,” he said with a laugh.

A manager for a credit union, Jackson said he finished the restoration of his car only last year.

That came after many trips to swap meets and auto shops around the country in search of original parts to re-create the authentic look of the sedan--from chrome-plated door handles to the pin-striped paint work favored by Henry Ford, Jackson said.

Now that the car is complete, Jackson said he uses it mainly on leisurely family drives for Sunday morning breakfast and for special events. One such occasion will come later this spring, when he chauffeurs his son to the junior prom.