Rode a Rad Rod – The Complement

The 2023 RVM Rods n Rides Car Show

contributors: George Yates, Bob Buddemeier, David Monczynski, Reina Lopez, Connie Kent

On July 1, 2023, Jim Collier and Sarah Karnatz combined forces with a host of other residents, staff members, and owners of fancy cars to put on a gala automotive event. Since pictures speak more loudly than words, we offer you a breathtaking suite of images, accompanied by fascinating tidbits of information. As a testimony to the robust nature of RVM residents, we must point out that none of the vehicles were nearly as old as our oldest residents. Better luck next year, car people.

For those who like their horsepower somewhat tempered with people-power, our first photo panel presents pictures with some human connection. People and cars or trucks. Just people. Cars belonging to people we know. And so on.

For a ride-through video of the show prepared by David Monczynski, click https://youtu.be/6ztvJYJH_s0

Overview — People milling around in a parking lot full of old cars early in the day

Model AT — Yvonne Lynn (at left) stopped short when she saw the 1930 Ford; it reminded her of one of her mother's favorite stories. In the 1930s, her mother had gone for a ride in her boyfriend's Model A (or was it a Model T?). When they stopped and went into a bar, all the people froze!, thinking they were seeing Bonnie and Clyde. Yvonne's mother, her boyfriend, his car, and an unidentified man are at right.

Brett and Belle McBee’s 1968 Camaro. You all know Belle from the Manor Front Desk, and no, she doesn't walk to work

BillF — Bill Fullenwider is Transportation Supervisor at RVM, but that doesn't mean he drives a white Honda with a green dash light. This is the '66 Mustang that belonged to his Great Grandfather and was in storage for 40 years.

Dale Lohman and Patty Robb were seeking beer drinkers, but all they could attract was a photographer.

Michael Rugg drives his '66 Chevelle off to start planning next year's Rods n Rides event.

The second panel buckles down and gets away from the soft stuff, focusing on Detroit Iron. Well, mostly Detroit. We’ve already had a taste of that with the McBee, Fullenwider, and Rugg offerings shown above, but now we can diversify further. Classic cars to match our classic people. When real car people say “prewar” nobody asks which war.

In addition to the thrill of following automotive development linearly over time, there are some horizontal offshoots that are at least moderately titillating. In the material below we present some of the Stunted Branches of the American Automotive Family Tree (AAFT-SB).

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