Dan Skawski August Rush: Das Awkscht Fescht On a warm summer morning in a small town in the southwestern part of the Lehigh Valley, a dull roar fills the air as, what looks like a colorful metallic dragon rumbles down Route 100. The air is full of excitement and anticipation, for this event happens only once a year but many have looked forward to it since 1963. As this beast closes in on the town, a familiar image of vintage automobiles comes to view, along with their different types, shapes and sizes. Their horns blast a classic toot as a convoy of our country s history rolls by one by one. This continues until Memorial Park is filled with this array of colorful, classic art at its greatest. The event is Das Awkscht Fescht. For years the small town of Macungie has come alive with fun and festivity for the first weekend of August. Since Macungie has a strong heritage of Pennsylvania Dutch, they chose the name Das Awkscht Fescht, meaning The August Festival. Dubbed by Steve Siegel, one of the largest antique and classic car shows in the country, it attracts the attention of antique car enthusiasts all over the nation. People drive for days to get here, Fescht spokesman Scott Rarick says. Attendees praise it for its beauty and organization. Cars line up on the 42- acre lot for hours on end until what was once a familiar park is now a carnival for antique car enthusiasts. This show is not for prizes or to brag about who has the best car but rather for everyone to experience different cars from around the nation. Since most of these cars are very uncommon, people from all over the country will bring their cars here just so everyone can experience them. But these cars do not just stroll up to Memorial Park and get access, there is lots work to be done to keep these beauties running like brand new.
Owning a car like one of these is a very time consuming hobby, it takes hard work and many hours to keep it up to date and looking brand new. The Classic Car Club of America or the CCCA was founded in 1952 to judge cars and their classic authenticity after the war. The CCCA considers a car to be classic when it is between 25 and 45 years old and any car older than that is considered an antique. Other factors include the car needs to have been high priced when it was first produced and needs to have been produced in limited numbers. Another club that was made before the CCCA was the Antique Automobile Club of America or the AACA. Their classifications for an antique car include a vehicle that is in show condition and is 45 years or older. The only way to experience these cars is to make your way to Das Awkscht Fescht. Every year a different car headlines Das Awkscht Fescht. The most recent was the American classic, the Thunderbird. The Thunderbird began production in 1955 as Ford s answer to the Corvette. This was one of America s first muscle cars and it gained popularity almost overnight. During its initial sales, Ford was hoping to sell around 10,000 units but its popularity was so high that after making more than 16,000 they had to stop production for that year, because they could not keep up with demand. For fifty years this car stayed in production until it was finally phased out in 2005. Nearly 100 Thunderbirds were on display during the 2010 show, including the rarest birds of all, the 1967 Thunderbird Apollo. Like most of the rare cars in this show, theses two cars were on loan from a private car company. In 2009, the featured car was the Oakland made by General Motors. Over 30 of them showed up that year. This car got the spotlight because it was the 100 th anniversary of the first production of the Oakland. The international Oakland club president lives in the Lehigh Valley and was more than excited to see the Oakland headline the 2009 event. With its first car made in 1909 and the plant that made them shut down in 1932, it s easy to say it is a rare car and there
are not many left in the world. For example, the Landaulet made an appearance, that year and it was one of only five left in the world. The Phaeton was also there and that car was the only one left in existence. Another antique that made an appearance in the 2008 show was the 1919 Detroit Electric Vehicle. This antique was one of the first electric automobiles that ran completely off of electric power. The car is powered by 14 6-volt batteries and bought mostly by wealthy women who used it for short trips back in the early 1920 s. It was dependable and offered different things that gasoline could not offer. The car came on a loan from the Bethlehem Historical Society and is one few left in the world. It s not just the recent history that has made this show great, it s been a popular event around this area since 1963. In the 1984 show a man realized his dream by restoring a 1955 Chevrolet and entering it in the show. Russell Miller has always been interested in cars and wanted to prove that he could restore a classic car to show condition. He chose a 1955 Chevrolet Bel-Air Sport Coupe to be his prize. After he bought the car in 1978 he worked on it for six years and finally finished it the summer before the 1984 Das Awkscht Fescht. When asked by his friends, Are we going to see you in Macungie? Miller could proudly say Yes you are! But it s not just rare cars that come to the Fescht, old but reliable cars make their way on the lot to enjoy the attention as the rare cars do. The Ford Falcon, as Ed Kernozek considered it, was a square-sided [car] in a sea of older, sleeker or more glamorous cars. This did not bother car enthusiasts, though, because it was considered a sleeper car something that was not common to a car show but still greatly enjoyed. Also to join the festivities were a few odder
looking cars like the 1978 checkered cab from New York City and a 1967 Oldsmobile limousine that was used by a Philadelphia funeral home. This event is not just for people who love classic and antique cars it s a fun and entertaining place for the entire family. Memorial Park has many different venues set up to keep everyone happy. Memorial Park offers a swimming pool for the kids to enjoy themselves on those hot August afternoons, as their parents look at the classics and antiques. At an outdoor theatre local bands play free concerts all day long for all the patrons at this show. One of the most popular traditions is the parade that happens on Friday during the first night of the event. There is a parade of cars where all cars are welcome to join, even if it s not a classic or antique, and it is quite a sight to see all the cars go honking through the park and Main Street Macungie. Pennsylvania Dutch style food is served all day for the hungry enthusiasts with many vendors, from local restaurants, setting up their different booths around the park. There is even a children s area complete with magicians, clowns and a table from the Crayola Factory. To wrap things up on Saturday night, a firework show is displayed for the whole family to enjoy. With three days of fun and over 2000 cars, Das Awkscht Fescht is a national favorite for many car enthusiasts. Highlighting classic and antique cars, it allows people from all over the nation, some even driving for days, to come to this event and share it with other enthusiast. No judging or other awards are given out but rather just a relaxing atmosphere where car lover can share stories and adventures with each other. The show includes fun for the whole family and no one will leave this place feeling disappointment. As Scott Rarick put it, Fescht may be about cars, but it's become, at its heart, a family event.
1919 Detroit Electric Vehicle on its way to a show "1919 Detroit Electric Vehicle." Http://www.detroitelectric.org/images/Awel2.jpg. Web. 15 Oct. 2010. Even though it seems hard to keep these machines up to par, the end result is a work of art. "1955 Ford Thunderbird Classic Car Pictures." Antique and Classic Cars: Pictures and
Information: 1902-1970s. Web. 15 Oct. 2010. <http://www.hubcapcafe.com/ocs/pages01/bird5501.htm>. Relaxing at Macungie Memorial Park during Das Awkscht Fescht David, Dennis. Digital image. Web. 5 Nov. 2010. <http://www.kitfoster.com/images/2008-8-13_parkweb-large.jpg Antique Automobile Club of America. Web. 12 Nov. 2010. <http://www.aaca.org/ Blumenau, Kurt. "Ford Falcon swoops up spotlight at annual car show: Das Awkscht Fescht features lesser-known model of the 1960s. Knight Ridder Tribune Business News 5 August 2007 ABI/INFORM Dateline, ProQuest. Web. 15 Oct. 2010. Classic Car Club of America. Web. 12 Nov. 2010. <http://www.classiccarclub.org/>.
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