Thursday, June 22, 2017
By GUY D’ASTOLFO
CANFIELD
Ryan Sheridan is still a kid at heart. He just has some adult-size toys now.
Sheridan, who owns Braking Point addiction recovery center, also has amassed a small collection of cars that were made famous on the big and little screens.
He has a replica of the Batmobile from the Michael Keaton-era Batman films.
Sheridan also has a replica of the original Ghostbusters vehicle, the General Lee car from “The Dukes of Hazzard” and the time-traveling DeLorean from “Back to the Future.”
All of them will be on display in the kid zone area of the Hot Rod Supernationals, which return this weekend to the Canfield Fairgrounds.
The Supernats, as they are known, will attract huge throngs of people from many states who want to revel in the fields of muscle cars, hot rods and other high-powered street machines.
Gates are open from 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily, and there will be an after-party each night at 6 p.m. (5 p.m. Sunday) in the Southern Park Mall parking lot til midnight. And of course, the hot rodders will parade the U.S. Route 224 strip through Canfield and Boardman each evening.
All of Sheridan’s special vehicles are re-creations of the ones used in the movies or TV shows. The DeLorean and the Ghostbusters vehicles were owned by MGM and were built by the same people who made the originals.
For his next purchase, Sheridan said he has his sights set on “Eleanor,” the a1967 Shelby Mustang fastback from the 2000 film “Gone if 60 Seconds.”
Sheridan does not collect muscle cars or antiques; his interest lies solely in movie prop cars, which he usually buys from other private collectors.
“I’m just a giant kid,” he said.
This is his first year as part of the Supernats, and one of the first opportunities the public will get to see Sheridan’s collection.
“I had the Ghostbusters car in the Christmas parade downtown this year,” he said, “and I’m also having them in a fundraiser for the Rich Center in July.”
Sheridan said he will display the cars mainly for charity events.
At the Supernats, he’ll get in on the act by dressing as Batman or a Ghostbusters character, as he has also acquired those costumes for his collection.
“I will take pictures with kids dressed as the Michael Keaton Batman,” he said. “I also have the Ghostbusters jumpsuits and we might come out in them.”
Sheridan is sponsoring the kid zone, which will be housed under a 40 by 80-foot tent. The zone will include a bounce house and other fun attractions for children — and quite likely, for adults, too.