Automotive enthusiasts paused dabbing sweat off their foreheads Saturday to ogle over Dan Duffy’s ride.
His sunset orange 1956 Chevrolet 210 won the AJC Creepers Club Cup out of the more than 300 cars at Jim R. Miller Park in Marietta for the Creepers Car Club's Fun Run.
Duffy, 73, of Marietta, said completing the car included cutting the body in half from one side to the other before it premiered at a car show in Detroit.
“It was like the birth of a child,” he said of the car, which took about 11 trimesters to customize.
READ | Last year Cornelia's Mike Garrett won the inaugural cup with his black 1933 Ford coupe.
The Creepers Car Club started in August 1960 in Smyrna for folks to gather around their shared interest of show cars and drag racing.
“Creepers” are those sliding devices used to get underneath a car and as instruments of comedic timing in road trip movies.
Credit: Steve Schaefer
Credit: Steve Schaefer
Saturday’s event was the 28th Fun Run show, all proceeds of which will benefit Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, Special Olympics Cobb County and Children’s Miracle Network.
Gregg Cofield is the reason the club gives to Miracle Network. Actually, it is his 11-year-old daughter Greer.
A horse kicked her in the face when she was 5 year old at the family’s ranch in Adairsville.
A helicopter rushed Greer to a hospital in Chattanooga where doctors said she might not talk for six months. She spoke the next day.
“If we can give one dollar, it’s a dollar more than they had,” Cofield said.
In the last three years, he said, the Creepers have given $30,000 to the Miracle Network.
And on Saturday, Greer announced raffle winners into a microphone for hundreds of people.
READ | Atlanta Classic Cars: 1966 Shelby GT is stunning
Credit: Steve Schaefer
Credit: Steve Schaefer
One of them was Mike Phillips.
The 62-year-old South Fulton County man was there with friends showing off his 1966 Chevelle Super Sport 427.
The car, like Phillips, has been in metro Atlanta its whole life, assembled at the General Motors plant that was in Lakewood Heights.
He bought the car for $650 in 1975 and met his wife two weeks later.
Phillips said he remembers driving her around downtown Atlanta in his new ride. Since then, all three have made memories together.
“She won’t let me get rid of it,” he said with a smile.
The AJC created a video series named "Atlanta's Classic Cars" that showcases metro Atlanta's fantastic collector car scene, telling the stories of the people who put in the time, sweat and resources to keep the tires rolling and the engines humming.
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Get a better look at the show from The AJC's Facebook Live:
And listen to our AccessAtlanta podcast delving into the show:
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