Car show continues Lordstown GM's 50th anniversary events

By BOB JACKSON

news@vindy.com

LORDSTOWN

Even as rain soaked through the shoulders of his jacket and dripped off the brim of his Army veteran hat, John C. Turner couldn’t take his eyes off a blue, 1974 Chevrolet Impala.

The sight of it inspired in him thoughts of coming home, young love, and picking up criminals.

“My first car was a 1972 Impala,” the 66-year-old Warren man said. “I came back from Vietnam and bought it with money I’d saved while I was over there.”

Turner was among those who turned out Saturday for the All-American Car Show at the General Motors Lordstown complex off Hallock-Young Road. The show was part of the assembly plant’s 50th anniversary celebration, and proceeds generated by it will benefit three area veterans’ charities.

Hundreds of vehicles, including old Chevys that were built at the plant, were on display.

Turner said he’s owned cars of several different makes over the years, but he will always fondly remember that first set of wheels. His was tan instead of blue, and it was a versatile vehicle.

“It was big. It was a big car,” he said. “We used it for a police car for a while.”

After his return from the war, Turner said he joined the police department in Westover, W.Va., where he’s originally from. When the department’s cruiser broke down, he had to use his own car for police business.

Then with a sly laugh, he added, “It was a good car for dating, too. Hey, I was 22 years old.”

Turner said he attends area car shows whenever he can, taking pictures of older cars. He tends to focus on ones built in the 1970s and before because they’re of his generation. Eventually, he plans to have all the photos saved to a disc and made into an album to be passed on to his grandchildren.

“I want them to be able to see the kind of cars their grandpa, and their great-grandpa, drove back in the day,” he said.

Glenn Johnson, president of United Auto Workers Local 1112, said Saturday’s cool, rainy weather was disappointing, but didn’t seem to keep people away from the show.

“Even with the conditions, people were very enthusiastic,” Johnson said. “I don’t think anybody was going to allow the weather to dampen the excitement about the 50th anniversary.”

He said just more than 500 cars were preregistered for the show.

The highlight of the day for Johnson was seeing the way people of the community turned out to show support for the GM plant and its workers.

Jack and Kathi Susko of Howland braved the rain, mostly because Jack had signed up to show his 1965 Chevrolet fire squad truck.

“I thought about not coming, but I’d pre-registered, so I had $10 invested,” Jack, 69, said, laughing.

But he’s also a car buff, and the head of a similar annual car show in nearby Hermitage, Pa., so he was still all about seeing the cars.

For her part, Kathi, 63, said she liked seeing the Chevy Vegas that had been built at the plant, and saw a 1957 Pontiac that she thought was sharp.

Vern Proctor, 61, of Lordstown, never worked at the GM plant, but said he’s driven trucks that hauled cars from the plant for the past 38 years.

Like Turner, Proctor said he’s drawn more to the older-model cars, especially 1957 Chevys. He was disappointed that the weather was so miserable Saturday.

“I was hoping the rain would let up because I didn’t get to see all the cars I wanted to look at,” he said.

Scott Brubaker, shop chairman of United Auto Workers Local 1714, which is the fabrication plant at the GM complex, attended the car show to show support for his union brothers and sisters of Local 1112, which represents the assembly workers.

Brubaker said the turnout for Saturday’s car show, and the fact that some 10,000 people attended a tour of the assembly plant on Friday, shows just how much the GM plant means to the area.

“It was impressive to see so many people come out here,” he said.

His 8-year-old son, Brody, said he enjoyed seeing cars that his dad helped build, but his real interest seemed more focused on the French fries he’d gotten from one of the many concession stands.