Western-Star

What brings 1,000 cool cars to Piqua on a Saturday? The ESPN/Mothers Car Polish Cruise-In at Aesthetic Finishers. The 25 trophies up for grabs were one draw, but the chance to be on TV was probably the stronger attraction. A crew was to tape the event for airing on ESPN at a later date.

They must have started arriving early, because by 1 p.m. a spot to park was at a premium and cars were still rolling in. Antiques, hot rods, street rods, daily drivers, customs, trucks, 4x4s — they were all there.

Dave King of Tipp City was a late arriver, but still nailed a great parking spot for his '27 Ford roadster hot rod. "This is huge; there's everything here," he said.

King, 60, works for Honda's engine division and spends time at quarter midget races all over the United States. But when he's home, he's in the garage, working on one of his two hot rods.

"My grandfather got me hooked on hot rods in the '50s," he said. "He always had a cool hot rod, and I want my seven grandkids to remember me as the grandpa with the cool hot rod," King said.

King bought his hot rod five years ago. "It was literally a piece of junk; everything was wrong with it. So I tore it all apart, repainted the chassis and body, and then started putting it back together. I started putting it together on June 6, and I finished it in September for the Tipp Mum Festival Car Show. There were a lot of late nights in the garage. It was a mad scramble, but it turned out OK."

King's Ford, honored as one of the Top Ten Street Rods at the recent GoodGuys Nationals in Columbus, features the classic black paint with orange flames and a Corvette 350-cubic-inch engine with six Holley carbs sitting atop the manifold.

Gary McWain of Lewisburg had his 1976 Pro Street Chevette on display. The bright-red subcompact car drew a second glance from spectators, as they noticed the chrome 6-71 blower and air intake sticking out of the engine bay of the car.

"I just love the Pro Street cars, with the big engines and the blowers. I wanted something different; everybody has a Chevelle or a Camaro. Nobody stuffs that much engine into a little Chevette, so I did," McWain said.

"It's got a full race 355 engine, with Comp Cam, a blower and a pair of 650 Holley carbs. It's streetable, since I spin the blower a little slower, but it'll run," he added.

McWain has snagged 55 trophies with the car in the past three years, so it's clearly a crowd pleaser.

Aesthetic Finishers, at 1502 S. Main St. in Piqua, does powder coating in virtually any color on metal pieces such as chassis and engine parts, and also coats exhaust headers with Armor Coating, a ceramic coating that not only makes the header look good, but helps dissipate the heat in the engine compartment.

Learn more about Aesthetic Finishers at www.afipowder.com.