What A Drag, Ladies! Muscle And Motors Power All Wheels

DAYTON- An assortment of antique and classic cars ranging from a 1902 Oldsmobile to a 1970 Dodge Super Bee muscle car were just a few of the eye-catching autos on display at the All Wheels Car Show last weekend .

Two other cars highlighting the show were Klova Beck's light yellow 1951 Lincoln Convertible Cosmopolitan and Donald Keen's 1955 sage green Chevy pickup.

Beck and Keen, two Walla Walla residents, remember the "good old days" when gas was only 35 cents a gallon and when fuel was rationed during World War II.

The oldest car on display over the weekend belongs to Dayton's Bill Barclay. His 1902 Oldsmobile is one of the first horseless carriages to roll off an American assembly line.

Kennewick's Craig Klages, who started working on cars at a young age because he couldn't afford to buy one, owns a fleet of 12 cars including the Super Bee muscle car.

Beck, now retired after nearly three decades as a Milton-Freewater junior high teacher and principal, also looks back on the days when knowing how to make repairs was the only way to afford a car.

Gas rationing during WWII often meant there was too little fuel to go around. A driver's profession or job often dictated how much gas could be purchased each week. Once gas rations were gone, workers pedaled bicycles to work.

Keen's memories date back to a time when gas was 35 cents a gallon while a loaf of bread was 33 cents and three pounds of hamburger went for a dollar.

Keen, also retired, spent eight years transforming an old rusty pickup into the beauty he has been showing off for the past two years. He prefers the smaller car shows like Dayton because people are more approachable, cordial and easy to talk with.

Barclay's 1902 Oldsmobile has won Best of Show honors many times at events throughout Oregon and Washington.

Barclay took possession of the vehicle nine years ago, when it resembled a sleigh, and restored it to its original condition.

While it may look like a horse-drawn carriage, Barclay's early-days Oldsmobile has an 8-horsepower Briggs Stratton engine in the back. It gets 40 mpg while scooting around at modest traveling speeds.

"I got it up to 35 miles an hour and it scared the living daylights out of me," Barclay said.

The dozen autos owned by Klages are mostly muscle cars from 1965 to 1972. Drag racing kept him busy for a time, but he recently returned to showing off his classics at shows.

Klages, a construction worker, prefers small-town car shows because he says they are less commercial. Shows in larger cities are more about making money than about people and cars, he said.

Cars were everywhere in Dayton, as were races.

Competitors raced tricycles and lawn-mower dragsters, and the slow drag followed a Soapbox Derby format. Other events ranged from the depot's railway motor car rides to the Poker Walk.

The lawn-mower dragsters, in good weather, can hit speeds up to 78 miles per hour on a track of just 100 feet. The fastest time ever recorded at one of regional car shows was 1.4 seconds, which was clocked a year ago at the Dayton show.

Lawn-mower dragsters build their own rigs, scavenging spare parts from wrecking yards and motorcycle shops. Helmets are required.

The open air, small railway cars, or "speeders," take people on rides on the railroad tracks and travel at 30 mph. People purchase tickets to sit for 20 or 40 minute scenic daytime rides.

The slow drag allowed owners to race their cars by coasting downhill with engines turned off.

The tricycle races featured 12 men in colorful drag. The tricycles were adult sized with heavy duty crossbars of varying colors, thick black tires, a horn and rainbow colored tassels on the handle bars.

The manly women, scantily clad with facial hair and tattoos, came out of the movie theater and raced about 200-300 feet down Main Street.