The relentless rain didn’t stop spectators from checking out meticulously crafted rides at the Creepers Car Club’s 29th annual charity show Saturday at Jim Miller Park in Marietta.
The show, which included crowning the winner of the 2019 AJC Creepers Car Club Cup, drew a couple thousand enthusiasts and about 100 cars and vehicles from around the Southeast, said Greg Grier, chairman of the show.
Grier said the event normally has about 500 cars and attracts 5,000 to 10,000 visitors. In the event’s 29-year run, this was the first time organizers had to wrap things up ahead of the planned 3 p.m. ending.
“Considering the circumstances, it’s the best we could hope for,” he said. “It’s the best it could have been on the worst situation.”
RELATED: Check out the gallery from the car show
Saturday’s event, also known as Creepers’ Car Club Fun Run #29, raised proceeds for Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, Special Olympics Cobb County and Children’s Miracle Network. The club in 2018 raised $31,000 for the three charities. Grier said he won’t know the 2019 amount until the club’s next meeting.
The Creepers Car Club was launched in Smyrna in August 1960 by members who shared a love of car shows and hot rods. The name comes from "creepers," the flat sliding devices used by mechanics to get underneath a car. The club has grown to include members from all over the state. Membership requires owning a car from year 1972 or older.
This year’s winner of the AJC Creepers Car Club Cup is the owner of a 1932 red Ford 2-door sedan that’s been modified into a street rod. Joe Hatfield of Marietta spent about six years customizing the car, which has 355 horsepower, and includes a 224 crate engine from Chevrolet, a supercharger that can add another 100 horsepower to the car and a 700R overdrive transmission that improves gas mileage.
RELATED: Listen to our accessAtlanta podcast about the car show
Hatfield, who has been attending Creeper car shows for 15 years, has put 77,000 miles on his car over the last seven years, traveling to car shows in Minnesota, Kentucky, Tennessee and Indiana. Of course, the street rod has made an appearance at regional car shows.
Hatfield, 78, said attending Creepers Car Club events have been some of the most rewarding years of his life.
“I’m having more fun doing these car shows with my buddies than anything else in my life,” he said.
For more information, visit www.creeperscarclub.org.
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