Rolling Back the Years
Rick Di Cesare was a teenager in Philadelphia when he fell in love with his neighbor’s car, a turquoise-and-white 1958 Ford Fairlane.
Decades later, Di Cesare found a similar car parked in a barn in Simi Valley and started the six-year process of restoring it.
On Sunday, Di Cesare was among 250 car owners who parked their classic vehicles on the Cal Lutheran campus to show off for thousands of visitors to the 12th annual Father’s Day Car Classic show.
A small crowd gathered around Di Cesare’s finished product: an immaculate red-and-white 1957 Fairlane with red interior and a retractable hardtop roof. He said his model is one of 200 left in the United States.
“And I get about 10 miles to the gallon,” Di Cesare, 57, said. “But when I take this car up to Santa Barbara and park it by the pier, everybody walks by to take a picture of themselves in front of it.”
During Sunday’s show, hundreds of grandfathers, fathers and sons leaned over chrome-plated engines and exchanged opinions on the horsepower of the hot rods from the 1950s, ‘60s and ‘70s. Others peeked into the smooth interiors of restored cars from the 1920s, ‘30s and ‘40s.
The show made many families nostalgic.
New York native Zac Schwartz, 48, remembered visiting car shows as a child with his father, Barney. On Sunday, the father and son were joined by Zac’s son, Matt, 13.
“My dad used to take me to the auto show,” Zac Schwartz said. “And now I’m taking him.”
Bart Huffman, 52, brought his three sons to the show. While his 74-year-old father, Bob, admired the cars of the 1920s and ‘30s, Bart and his 23-year-old son, Noah, leaned over a sleek black 1955 Chevrolet.
“I’m telling you,” Huffman said to his skeptical son. “It’s the best engine they ever made.”
Mike Ragen, 43, who brought his 14-year-old daughter, Erin, said his family has made the car show an annual event.
“It takes us back to our childhood,” Ragen said. “When I was in the first grade, I remember putting the Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud on my wish list every Christmas from 1959 to 1963.”
The car never materialized under his Christmas tree, but Ragen has settled for taking the family’s 1959 MG out for monthly drives.
More than 3,000 people were expected to attend Sunday’s car show, an event sponsored by the Milestone Car Society of California Inc., Make-A-Wish Foundation, Conejo Rotary, and Cal Lutheran’s Community Leaders Club.
Organizers expected the event to raise $25,000, a portion of which will help pay for university scholarships and the Make-A-Wish Foundation, Community Leaders treasurer Norman Leuch said.
For Tim Sharon, the lasting interest in the classic car symbolizes the free-thinking, independent spirit of the southwestern United States where “the car is a necessity.”
On Sunday, the 61-year-old La Crescenta native sat under a shade tree, wearing his straw hat and watching passersby admire his bright yellow 1927 Rolls-Royce Brougham Limousine de Ville, a one-of-a-kind car with leather fenders.
It’s a cherished machine to car enthusiasts and a far cry from the hot rods Sharon rebuilt and raced during the 1950s.
“You become addicted,” he said of the hobby. “It’s a part of history.”
