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    St. Ignace Car Culture
    St. Ignace Car Culture
    St. Ignace Car Culture
    Ebook200 pages57 minutes

    St. Ignace Car Culture

    By Ed Reavie

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    About this ebook

    St. Ignace hosted its first car show in 1976 as part of the bicentennial celebration. Over the years, the annual gathering has grown into one of the largest collector-vehicle events in the country. This lakeside community overlooking the mighty Mackinac Bridge and historic Mackinac Island boasts a spectacular waterfront the perfect backdrop for a stunning array of eye-catching vehicles. In the early years, media referred to this show as dessert. As the numbers of participants and attendees grew, it became known as the main course. For teenagers growing up in the 1950s it was all new cruisin , drive-ins, drag strips, the country s intense love affair with the automobile, and the birth of rock n roll. Over 34 years, the St. Ignace Car Show has brought hundreds of automotive legends to town, and car-show traffic set crossing records on the Mackinac Bridge that are unlikely ever to be broken. So fire up the hot rod and cruise back to a simpler time . . . all these cars and still no traffic light!
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherArcadia Publishing
    Release dateMay 17, 2010
    ISBN9781439641187
    St. Ignace Car Culture
    Author

    Ed Reavie

    Edward K. Reavie introduced the automotive world to St. Ignace when he founded the famous car show in 1976. A lifelong �gearhead,� in St. Ignace Car Culture, Reavie illustrates a town�s infatuation with the automobile through vintage photographs from his own collection, as well as through generous contributions from fellow enthusiasts.

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      Book preview

      St. Ignace Car Culture - Ed Reavie

      Evers.)

      INTRODUCTION

      In 1975, the U.S. bicentennial was on the horizon, and most towns and cities were planning some sort of a celebration—St. Ignace was no exception. A small group of citizens came upon the idea of a one-year-only car show for the summer of 1976. Edward K. Reavie, a local banker, was tapped to put the details in place. For his entire life, Ed had been a gearhead. At five years old, he found a way to have wheels; at seven, he could name the make, model, and year of almost every car he saw.

      In the late 1940s and on into the 1950s, big things were happening on the sunny West Coast: hot rods and radical customs, auto shows, car clubs, organized racing, and car magazines. The East Coast had the same things on a smaller scale, but St. Ignace was far off the beaten path and not even on the same radar screen being 300 miles north of the Motor City. The local teens were on the outside looking in. Oh, they could cruise, they could soak up the rebellious anthems of rock ‘n’ roll, they could lay a patch in town or head out to Miller’s Stretch to come off the line, and they could send mail orders for parts and tinker in the backyard, but it always seemed as if next month they were waiting for the snow to melt, again! The true gearheads held on to their fascination with cars, and nothing could make them let go.

      As in all endeavors, customizing has developed its own lingo. What in the world is nosing and decking? A mild customization starts with the removal of chrome from the hood and trunk deck; thus nosing bares a hood, and decking clears a trunk. Of course, this is just the beginning. The sky is the limit when determining how much more drastic it can get.

      Though it would return to popularity, for a time the custom car faded and the muscle car took over the road. St. Ignace had its share of these, including GTOs, Corvettes, SS 396s, and six-pack Road Runners. Then along came the St. Ignace Car Show. Over the years, the biggest names in the automotive industry came to town to be part of this world-renowned event, and Ed still does not realize that his heroes consider him a peer. Movie stars, television personalities, and nationally known musical acts were added to complement the show as icing on the cake.

      The show attracts visitors from near and far. In fact, the farther away one goes, the St. Ignace Car Show name gets shorter and shorter. For example, way out west it is simply called Ignace. Folks come to the show to see beautiful cars, enjoy the picturesque waterfront and Mackinac Bridge Rallies, or just for the fact that all collector vehicles are welcome—from an all-original, 110-year-old horseless carriage to a hybrid purchased just last week. A person may see a 1927 Rolls Royce parked between a wildly customized 1951 Merc and a rough-looking 1909 Cadillac that was just unearthed from Old MacDonald’s barn. The diversity of this show inspires one to become more flexible about just what is the one and only great car.

      St. Ignace has seen over three centuries of booms and busts, and the St. Ignace Car Show turned out to be a big boom. For the first show, exhibitors were encouraged to attend by the offer of a complimentary bridge fare. Organizers were pleased by the unexpected and overwhelmingly positive response from both spectators and exhibitors. Who knew that a small, remote town in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan could be such a good fit for a show on the big car show map? The consensus seemed to be that "this worked so well . . . let’s try it just one more year. Didn’t you have fun?" With a longtime reputation of well-run events, Ed Reavie is still at the wheel 34 years later. There have been tweaks and adjustments, successes and backfires, triumphs and fizzles, breakdowns and repairs, misfires and flourishes, and hits and misses through the years, but the show goes on. It goes on because Ed’s car show formula is a natural; he runs the show the way he runs his life—with integrity. Come to the car show next June to reawaken memories of a first automobile, and she may be parked just around the corner at the curb on State Street.

      Ed would never say this out loud, but he suspects that the ride of his life is all a dream from which he will awaken. He often mentions that a car has just the right stance, and those who know him declare that he is just the right guy to run this stellar show. Ed has said, The car show presented an opportunity to meet our heroes . . . and we were never disappointed.

      —Judy Gross and Eileen Evers

      It isn’t hard to imagine cruising—top down—in this wine 1953 Oldsmobile. The nosed and decked sleekness, added to just the right stance, makes this car very attractive. Frenched head lights and DeSoto grill teeth with a modified front bumper give an elegant forward presentation. The addition of a set of nice pipes makes this is a well-put-together custom.

      One

      LOCAL HEROES

      Glossy black body paint, tan top, and elegant lines give this 1941 Cadillac a stately grandeur. Its accouterments—chrome rocker panels and The Goddess hood ornament—solidify its overall good looks. Red wheels and red Cadillac medallions centered in the fender skirts provide just a touch of whimsy.

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