Elkton, Minn., is one of those small towns in America where almost nothing ever happens. You wouldn’t know that nothing happens, because you’d probably never even know that Elkton, Minn., even exists. That’s because Elkton has a population of only 149 packed into a total area of 1.31 square miles. But once a year, for the past eight years, all that changes. That’s when Fred Engelhart puts on his car show.
Fred’s shindig didn’t start out as a car show, though. You see, Fred buys and sells cars, but not your ordinary cars. He doesn’t deal in stuff like 1991 Dodge Dynasties, or Honda Accords. Fred specializes in race cars, Super Stocks, cars with a pedigree. Cars raced by the likes of a Ronnie Sox. Fred has a cadre of regular customers. He marks up his cars for a fair profit, so his customers keep coming back.
Fred’s idea was to give back something to the car guys who have given him business all these years, so he came up with the idea of a “customer appreciation day.” Fred invites his customers for a 2-day get-together, picks up their hotel tab, puts on a feed, and everyone has a good time. There’s no formality, no schedule. It’s a laid back deal. And another thing. Fred doesn’t advertise this event. It’s like his own personal “open house.”
The first appreciation day pulled some 75 cars. This year, 526 cars showed up. All without any advertising, except word of mouth. While primarily a Mopar show, guests can bring anything they like. So this year, in addition to race cars, there were musclecars, street rods, classics, and even a jet car that lit up and really rattled some windows.
This is Harry Holton’s original car. It was never cut. Mickey Weise raced it, but didn’t own it for all the years it was reported to be in his possession. Mickey sold the car to another racer, and at one point, some parts got stolen off it. The car then went up to Washington, where the owner redid the paint scheme back to the Mickey Weise lettering. Years later, Mickey bought the car back at auction, and eventually sold it to its current owner.
As far as Super Stockers go, last year about 13 showed up. This year, Fred says he expected about 20. But that was before guys like Dick Towers, Jim Kramer and Mark Janaky started talking things up to put together a ’68 Super Stock reunion. As a result, 40 trailers pulled into Elkton, each packing a 1968 Super Stock Dart or Barracuda. And it wasn’t only the cars. About a dozen racers from the golden age of Super Stocks showed up. Included in the quarter-mile who’s who, were the likes of Dick Landy, Arlen Vanke, Judy Lilly, Don Grotheer, Gary Ostrich, Jim Wick, Larry Griffith, Charlie Rogers and Dick Oldfield.