Club plans Medora Car Show

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The Dakota Western Auto Club is sponsoring its 32nd annual Medora Car Show on Saturday on the grounds east of the Badlands Motel in Medora.

The public is invited to view the cars between 10 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. There is no admission charge, but donations are welcome to help cover expenses.

Last year’s first-place winners will be displayed at the Medora Community Center from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., along with a 1922 Hispano-Suiza.

The vehicle was designed by a Swiss engineer who lived in Spain — hence the name, said show chairman Carl Larson.

The chassis was built in France and sent to Australia, where a custom-body was built for it. It is owned by a Billings, Mont., collector.

“It’s very rare to begin with. There’s no one like it because of the custom body. It was very expensive when new and we’re honored to be able to showcase it,” said Larson.

As an added feature this year, the Pioneer Auto Club of Bismarck-Mandan is assembling a Model T car.

“What that means, is the Model T is broken down and put back together and started up,” he said.

The demonstration is being done four times — at 11 a.m., 1:30 p.m. and 3:15 p.m. at the car show grounds and a final time on the scoria strip of the stage prior to start of the Medora Musical.

The show also features events on Friday, with the video “Merrily We Roll Along” with Groucho Marx at 6:30 p.m. in the Medora Community Building. The video is followed at 7:30 p.m. by musical entertainment provided by the Friday Night Gang.

At 9 p.m., the Winners’ Circle exhibit (last year’s first-place winners and the featured car) opens in the community building, along with a reception. The public also is invited to these events at no charge.

Larson has been show chairman since it started in 1978. He remembers people commenting about the old cars they saw at Medora throughout the summer.

“I thought, why not set a date and invite everybody to come on the same weekend,” he said. “We had just founded the Dakota Western Club and the group was ready to take on the task of organizing the show.”

The show traditionally draws over 100 cars, and this year’s registrations have come from five states, he said.

Anyone desiring to enter a collector vehicle in any of 20 categories may register by calling Larson at 701-225-8851. Registrations also are taken from 6-8 p.m. Friday in the community building and beginning at 7 a.m. on Saturday on the show grounds.

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