Originally held at Cincinnati Music Hall, the Cavalcade of Customs is believed to be the second-oldest car show in the United States, ranked only behind Detroit’s Autorama. The Squires Car Club of Northern Kentucky has hosted it since the beginning, and that still holds true today, despite the small membership numbers.
“There are only six of us left,” explained club member Joe Landwehr. “Ironically, there were seven of us, but our oldest member passed away last week.”
Landwehr, who is the judging coordinator and self proclaimed “jack-of-all-trades” for the show, has been working the Cavalcade of Customs for 43 of its 50 years.
“I wouldn’t know what else to do on the first weekend in January,” he said. “Plus we have a really great group of volunteers who have helped us for years, so it runs pretty smoothly,” Landwehr added.
Smooth it was on Sunday afternoon and very crowded.
“We have about 32,000 through the doors,” McDaniel said.
The dazzling custom cars clearly held the spotlight of the show, but there was something for just about every car lover. A very cool display of 1960s front-engined dragsters included two of Don Garlits’ Swamp Rats along with dragsters of Connie Kalitta and Don Prudhomme.
Survivor Alley was filled with rat rods and street cruisers, and there were also the obligatory pro street machines and lots of different race cars. Classics and ’Vettes were also to be found, as well as vendors galore.
For the fifth year, a group of pin-stripers gathered to create a mall of stripers, working their magic with paint and brushes for the public to see. Dayton pin-striper and all-around-car-guy Don “The Egyptian” Boeke was in attendance, working his art for a good cause.
“A bunch of us get together, maybe three or four times a year at various shows. Then we create some unique pieces and auction them off for a charity,” Boeke explained.
“This event, being the 50th anniversary, is really big. There’s like 16 of us here, and we’re doing pretty good at the auction. It looks like we might clear over $16,000 for the Kidney Foundation,” he said.
“It’s a great reminder of how lucky we all are to enjoy our cars, our pin-striping, and also a chance to give a little bit back,” Boeke said.
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