Reagan Library Marks Birthday With Car Show
Hoping to begin an annual tradition, the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library staged a vintage car show Sunday to celebrate the 89th birthday of the former president.
The afternoon event also kicked off the release of a new California license plate design bearing Reagan’s image.
Event organizers turned to the automobile--what some would call one of the quintessential symbols of American freedom and individuality--to celebrate Reagan’s life and presidency.
The car show drew about 3,500 people, the largest crowd ever to visit during the library’s annual birthday celebration for the country’s 40th president.
“This is about the man, his ideals, his values,” said Mark Burson, executive director of the Reagan presidential foundation, the fund-raising arm of the library.
Other than Reagan’s slightly rusty, 30-year-old red Ford Custom Ranch Wagon, which the museum keeps in storage, the 70 cars on display had been lovingly restored, and appeared to be in mint condition.
And their owners waxed rhapsodically about their cars’ design and craftsmanship.
“Its undercarriage looks like its outside,” said Orange County resident James Stovall, who stood near his shiny, black 1931 Rolls Royce Phantom I Regent convertible, one of the show’s most popular attractions.
It was manufactured in Massachusetts during a brief period when the British car maker maintained an American auto assembly plant.
Among the other featured cars were a 1923 Ventura County sheriff’s patrol car, a 1960 Ford Thunderbird and a 1956 Corvette convertible painted in its original two-tone Cascade Green and Shoreline Beige.
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Most of the people showing their cars and the ones attending the free event came out to show support for the ailing president.
“I have this love for him, he’s the Gipper,” said 59-year-old Vic Colello, a Simi Valley resident proudly showing off his fire-engine red 1958 Chevy Impala, complete with white fuzzy dice. “I felt secure when he was the president. Like he was a father.”
The new license plates, featuring a photo of Reagan in a cowboy hat from his Santa Barbara ranch, are available through the presidential foundation. A portion of the proceeds from the license plates will be donated to educational programs for schoolchildren. For information, call the foundation at (805) 522-2977.
