There are car shows, cruise-ins, swap meets and other car events that I look forward to every year. Unfortunately, so many historical events were cancelled this year. Some organizers tried to re-schedule, revamp or otherwise change to comply with some new regulation that came down from on high. Others just couldn’t make the changes work so some favorite events just didn’t happen this year at all. It’s sad for a lot of reasons.

Some of our annual events are for charity. Some are for profit and those organizers have relied on that once a year paycheck to get them through the winter months. Still others, like participants, have waited sometime a whole year to be able to show off their latest or newest creation in pursuit of that trophy they wanted to add to their collection of trophies or maybe just get their first trophy.

Others just want to be able to get out and enjoy the summer, friends, looking at cars, swapping parts for the project that’s underway in the garage. The year of 2020 had a different idea!

A very small number of promoters and organizers were able to figure out a way to allow their annual show to continue for this year, and we’re lucky they figured it out.

One of those annual shows that I try to attend every year is the Medford Rod & Custom Show put on by Rich Wilson. It used to be held and the Jackson County Fair Grounds as did his annual fall swap meet. This year neither of them could happen. Not the car show in the spring or the swap meet in the fall.

In this year of the Chinese Virus, they weren’t going to happen as usual. Rich came up with a new plan, new venue, and by combining them together Rich and company were able to pull off a whole new event at the 7 Feathers Resort and Casino in Canyonville Oregon. There was social distancing going on, mask wearing, parts swapping, car showing and the turn out was great even though it all had to come together very quickly which limited advertising.

The swap meet was both Saturday and Sunday and the car show was Sunday only. The weather tried to be a pain on Saturday but hey, we’re Oregonians! We won’t let a little rain dampen our fun. Though it was smallish, the parts swapping was brisk and on Sunday cars to show showed up from all over.

Maybe 2021 can get back to something more normal and I know Rich is already planning… Stay tuned.

Most Awesome Mopar went to Janice Sutherlin and Larry Snow for their beautifully restored 1969 Dodge Daytona out of Red Bluff California.

Rich’s Pick went to Robin and Angie Guzman for bringing out their oh so much fun Radio Flyer wagon and their Lusse bumper car from Salem Oregon.

Cruiser Chevy went to George Edwards out of White City Oregon for his gorgeous 1955 Chevy Nomad.

The Seven Feathers Pick went to Geoy Ogh for his peachy 1940 Chevrolet coupe out of Grants Pass OR.

Kool Kustom award went to Darrel Womack out of Scio Oregon for his way cool 1960 Ford Falcon.

Trick Truck award went to Kris Nace out of Glendale Oregon for his Hemi-powered 1934 Ford Pickup.

Taking home the ‘Cause It’s Cool award was Eddie Montgomery from Roseburg Oregon with his very radical 1927 Chev roadster.

Dare to be Different award went to Curry County Cruisers member Nick Orcutt out of Brookings Oregon for his 1929 Rolls Royce.

Favorite Ford award went to Renee Woodard out of Glendale Oregon for her very nice 1931 Ford Vicki.

The I’d Drive That award went to Louise Sasser for his very rare and very nice 1932 Buick Coupe out of Myrtle Creek Oregon.

Considered ugly by some, the Sparks/Weirick “Catfish” was claimed to be America’s first racecar designed using wind tunnel testing. Stanford University aeronautics professor Elliott Grey Reid (assisted by Ulysses Arnold Patchett) drew up the plans for the groundbreaking vehicle and former Harry Miller metalworker Clyde Adams executed the construction. Beneath the bulbous bodywork which featured a large dorsal fin on the tail tank, was a state-of-the-art 220 c.i. Miller racing engine, wire wheels and a chassis built of recycled Miller, Ford and Chrysler parts. Los Angeles based Gilmore Gasoline agreed to sponsor the racer.
Owners Art Sparks and Paul Weirick hired California hot-shoe Stubby Stubblefield to pilot the car and promptly headed to Muroc Dry Lake(beds). Equipped with Moon disk wheel covers, Stubblefield set new records at four different kilometer and mile distances. When they arrived in Indianapolis for the 1932 Sweepstakes, their reputation preceded them. The Catfish was indeed quick on the straightaways and had a faster average going during qualifying than the pole winning car until the fourth lap. (A rear tire began to separate so Stubby backed off.) They easily made the show but would start twenty fifth in the thirty three car field. On the third lap of the 500, Stubby was sideswiped by his teammate Al Gordon and the collision ruptured his fuel tank. He nursed the Catfish back to pits where his crew spent over an hour making repairs. Stubby returned to the race and was flagged in the fourteenth position; a full hour behind the winner.

At the following race in Milwaukie the Catfish qualified second and finished fourth. Two weeks later at Roby Speedway (near Chicago) the Gilmore team totally redeemed themselves with Stubblefield first and Gordon second. In his last ride for Sparks/Weirick (July 2nd) Stubblefield placed second at Syracuse (NY). Indy winner Fred Frame was impressed enough with the car to purchase it from the Gilmore team and made it part of his two car effort. He barnstormed around the country with the futuristic looking Catfish which always drew a crowd. In October Frame set up a three heat match race in Abilene (TX) in which he put George Souders in the car and drove his own Miller powered Duesenberg. The promotion was a huge success as Frame won all three heats over the favored Catfish.

In March of 1933, Frame and Indy entrant Harry Hartz hauled the car back to Muroc intent on beating all of Stubblefield’s Class C world speed records. The Catfish now bore sponsorship from Union 76; the #15 was removed and under the hood snarled a 255 Miller marine engine. With relative ease Hartz broke the records for one kilometer, one mile and ten miles. He then proceeded to shatter the five kilometer record by twelve and one half miles per hour. Not to be outdone, Frame then jumped in the car and smashed the five mile mark by fourteen mph!

The Catfish was absent at Indianapolis that year but returned in 1934 as part of a three car team with Johnny Seymour up. Frame wrecked his car in practice, Rex Mays qualified the Duesenberg twenty third and Seymour just squeaked into show in the final spot. In the Memorial Day Classic the Catfish (now numbered #33) lost the rear end on the twenty second lap.

Meanwhile a closed cockpit Mercedes driven by Italian Rudolf Caracciola (and supported by the Nazi party) had eclipsed all of the Catfish’s land speed records. The car returned to California and became a popular entry on the dirt track circuit. Stubblefield even returned to share in the driving. Eventually Frame sold the car to a Charles Worley.

In 1936 the Catfish reappeared at Indy as “Abel’s Auto Ford Special”. The power plant was a Model B Ford (shown as a Cragar); numbered #52 with Frank McGurk listed as the driver. McGurk out qualified his predecessors and started the race from the twenty second spot but snapped the crankshaft at quarter distance and was scored twenty sixth.

Before the ’37 Classic Worley sold the car to driver Frank Brisko who procured sponsorship from Elgin Piston Pins and renumbered the Catfish #21. The Ford Model B was replaced by a six cylinder boasting 271 c.i. but rookie Duke Nalon couldn’t get her up to speed. Nalon was replaced by veteran Dave Evans who wasn’t able to complete his qualifying run and for the first time, the Catfish failed to make the show. (Interestingly, Wilber Shaw won the race that year in a car sponsored by Gilmore Gasoline and clearly inspired by the Catfish’s aerodynamic styling).

Brisko installed conventional coachwork on the car for 1938 and entered it as a second with Emil Andres driving. The Catfish (with six seasons under its belt) set its fastest qualifying time which by now was only good enough for twenty eighth on the grid. On the forty fifth circuit, a wire wheel collapsed and Andres crashed out. When interviewed at a later date Andres didn’t hide his disdain for the Catfish. He called it “a monstrosity” and accused it of nearly killing him. He then went on to say that the car was totaled at another venue and subsequently scrapped.

When I met Speedway historian Donald Davidson I asked him about the Catfish specifically. He confirmed that the car no longer exists.

If you are a car guy or girl, you probably feel the same way I do-lost! Missing car shows, cruise-ins, and races. This is not about what you see on TV. You can watch races on TV and that is just about the only thing that is getting me through this pandemic crap.

I am talking about going out and entering your hot rod, muscle car or classic in a real live car show or cruise-in. You know, a chance to show off your pride and joy. When I would go to shows I had a chance to talk to people and show what I have done to my car and how we built it. You could go with friends and show your cars together. You can’t with the pandemic crap. You would sit around under the pop-up shade tent and shoot the bull, then walk around the show to see if there is anything new or maybe someone has done something new to their ride. Not with this pandemic crap. I know that there have been cancellations of cruises and shows, but, there have been shows that have been put on with a drive- through theme. You can, at least, see the cars this way.

Locally, the biggest race, the Portland Grand Prix Indy car race was scheduled for September 11-13. They canceled it back in July. I hope the race comes back in 2021 if this plague is over with by then. I was really looking forward to seeing that race.

Some of the local dirt tracks are racing, but with no spectators. You can buy a pit pass and walk through the pits and watch the races from the pit stands. You can at least get your racing fix that way, through the pandemic crap.

In case you have not noticed in the story is I really do not like this pandemic crap. Now, don’t get me wrong, I obey the new rules and I wear a mask faithfully. I appropriately do the social distancing- 6 feet apart. I know it’s a really serious disease and not a hoax and it could be fatal to me if I were to get it. BUT- I don’t have to like this pandemic crap.

One last thing that I really miss is the swap meets that I would go to and participate in. I love walking through swap meets and seeing what people have for sale- cars, car parts, posters, books, clothing. Like I have said before if you are looking for something you could probably find it at a swap meet, whether you are a buyer or seller. You have time to chat, see friends, make a new friend and, again, shoot the bull. Pandemic crap! I guess I am just a car guy and a people person. I like talking to people especially about cars and racing, not pandemic crap! So, let’s get together, mask up, wash your hands (especially after working on your car!), and keep 6 feet apart so we can beat this pandemic crap and get back to the stuff we love!

One of those one day cruise-ins that I try to attend annually is the Cutsforth Cruise-in the park, in Canby Oregon. The park is right in the middle of town, it’s small and people park along both sides of the streets surrounding the park and adjacent blocks. It’s usually held in August so the weather cooperates most years, it’s relaxed and picturesque.

A very small number of promoters and organizers were able to figure out a way to allow their annual show to continue for this year, and we’re lucky they figured it out.

This year of the Chinese Virus, it wasn’t going to happen as usual. They came up with a new plan, new venue, still in Canby, but they moved it to the county fairgrounds and changed it to a “drive thru” show. It worked out pretty well too. I’m not sure how many cars showed up but there were quite a few and from the smiles and friendly conversations I saw and heard it was a success.

Some of our annual events are for charity. Some are for profit and those organizers have relied on that once a year paycheck to get them through the winter months. Still others, like participants, have waited sometime a whole year to be able to show off their latest or newest creation in pursuit of that trophy they wanted to add to their collection of trophies or maybe just get their first trophy.

Others just want to be able to get out and enjoy the summer, friends, looking at cars, swapping parts for the project that’s underway in the garage. The year of 2020 had a different idea!

Hopefully in the coming months we’ll be able to resume planning for 2021 events. At present though the Virus has been winning. I’m hoping that by early spring we might have a vaccine and we can get back to normal. I for one am tired of this lock-down stuff and i’m crossing my fingers that 2021 will be different and some where close to normal.
Photos by Dave Jothen