Exhibition celebrates the Valley's car culture Wheels of STEEL

Staff report

YOUNGSTOWN

Hot rods and muscle cars have long been a part of the area’s fabric, and a new exhibition will celebrate this phenomenon.

“Wheels of Steel: The Mahoning Valley’s Car Culture,” will open Saturday at the Tyler History Center, 325 W. Federal St., downtown, and run through Labor Day weekend.

As part of the exhibition’s opening, a car show will take place in the center’s parking lot and on Vindicator Square from noon to 4 p.m. Saturday. Registration for the car show is $5 and includes one admission to the Tyler History Center.

The car show will feature music, local celebrity choice awards, dash plaques for the first 100 vehicles, and food prepared by the Recipes of Youngstown Facebook group.

“Wheels of Steel” will examine what people have done with motor vehicles since horseless carriages first appeared on the Valley’s roads in the late 1890’s. throughout the 20th century, local car enthusiasts have modified, customized and raced automobiles at drag strips, oval tracks and road courses. Others restore and collect older cars, join car clubs, and drive their special cars to the dozens and dozens of cruise-ins and shows across the Mahoning Valley every summer.

The exhibition will feature photographs, awards and memorabilia from local car collectors and enthusiasts, race teams and tracks, and car clubs including the Asphalt Angels, Road Knights, Youngstown Rod & Custom, Steel Valley Corvette Club and Mahoning Valley Olde Car Club.

Two highlights will be a hand-built 1960’s T-bucket street rod owned by Fred Rome, and a record-breaking electric drag bike from Lawless Industries Ltd.

The Mahoning Valley Historical Society, which operates the Tyler Center, worked with several car enthusiasts to plan the exhibit, including Ryan Martino of Martino Motorsports.

Martino said that putting the exhibition together with MVHS staffers allowed him to relive the glory days of car culture in the Mahoning Valley.

The Tyler History Center is open Tuesday-Sunday from noon to 4 p.m. Admission is $4 for adults, $3 for senior citizens and college students and $2 for children (3-18) and includes a same-day visit to The Arms Family Museum, 648 Wick Ave. For information, call 330-743-2589 or go to mahoninghistory.org.