Rod Benders car cruise scheduled Friday in downtown
Rod Benders will hold a “Cruise Main” event at 5:30 p.m. Friday June 5, in downtown Bonners Ferry.
Anyone who wishes to show off their classic car can participate. All cruisers are asked to gather in the Kootenai River Inn parking lot at 5:15 p.m.
The 2009 Borders Jamboree car show will be held in downtown on Saturday June 6. Registration is at 8 a.m. and judging begins at 11.
Don James, a member of Rod Benders, said he expects 120 to 140 participants this year. Each registered car owner will get a free Rod Benders T-shirt and are entered to win trpohies and prizes.
Participants vote on their favorite cars and the top 12 will be given trophies. Mayor Dave Anderson will choose his favorite car for the Mayor’s Trophy. In addition there are trophies for best in show, work in progress and pre-1940 cars. Participants are eligible for door prizes that will be drawn at random throughout the day.
The Rex Theater will be showing the 1971 film “Two Lane Black Top.” The movie is about a driver played by James Taylor and a mechanic who are car finatics and drive a 1955 Chevy throughout the southwestern United States looking for other cars to race.
The theater will hold showings at 10 a.m. and 1 p.m., by donation; there is no ticket charge. The snack bar will be open.
Among the classic cars on display downtown will be a ‘58 Chevy Nomad. Dave and Nita Hilliard members of Rod Benders own the turquoise four-door, a family car back in its day.
“I have always had a classic car at one time or another,” said Dave Hilliard.
Born and raised in Bonners Ferry Dave Hilliard is semi-retired and drives truck for Apex Construction. He met his wife here and the couple married in 1982.
Nita Hilliard co-owns Mercari/Bonners Ferry Candy and Creations with her daughter, JoHanna Brooks.
The Hilliards and their 58 Chevy have been Rod Bender members for 4 years.
The 58 Nomad has a 327 engine from a 1980 Corvette and a 350 turbo transmission. You won’t see it in the parade because in Nita’s words, it doesn’t go slow.
The Nomad was previously owned by the Hilliards’ daughter, Penny Worley. She decided to go back to school and needed some money for tuition so she sold the car to her parents in 1995.
“There were only 350 four-door models made in this year,” said Dave Hilliard. “It is a rare version and was considered a famliy car.”
The turquoise original paint with a lot of chrome surrounding it remains on the Nomad. According to Dave Hilliard to have it painted will be quite a big and expensive job.
“A lot of time goes into the car, it takes hours to shine and maintain the chrome there is so much of it,” said Nita Hilliard.
“The older cars are easier to work on because they don’t rely on computers and you can fix them yourself,” Dave Hilliard added.