Classic cars show for charity

Lindsay Sandham

Car collectors and fanciers alike gathered in the parking lot of

Harbor View Car Care in Corona del Mar Sunday to admire the many

classic and antique beauties on display.

Mike Bennett of Laguna Niguel organized the first Mike the

Mechanic Car Show, which raised upwards of $2,500 to help the South

Asia tsunami victims.

“We’ll be contacting the Red Cross,” said Bennett, who is a

mechanic at Harbor View Car Care. “If they’re not available, [the

money] will go to Mariner’s Church.”

He said he plans on having the car show as an annual event, and

each year money raised will go toward whatever organization or cause

is in need.

Local antique car owners donated their vehicles for the day and

several sponsor companies donated prizes for a raffle. Someone also

donated a 1994 supercharged Mazda Miata, which sold for around

$2,000. Trophies were awarded to car owners in different categories.

David and Marti Cutler of Newport Beach took home the Best of Show

trophy for their baby blue 1954 Chrysler New Yorker Deluxe

convertible, a car that was purchased by David’s mother more than 50

years ago.

“Mom bought it new. This is exactly the way it was when she bought

it,” he said. “She just took one look at it, and she just wanted the

car.”

Marti Cutler said the vehicle has been featured in four magazines.

Only 724 were made, and only three are still believed to be in

existence.

“We take it to car shows, and we’ve been fortunate to win best in

show a couple of times,” she said “It’s a lot of fun. It drives

beautifully.”

They even have the original owner’s manual that came with the car.

“It’s fun to drive -- people wave and honk,” David Cutler said.

“It’s a member of the family that lives in the garage.”

While some, like the Cutlers, are fortunate to have had rare

classic cars passed down from family members, many people spend years

finding the perfect antique car and then spend an even longer time

restoring it.

George Namkung of Newport Coast, wanted a pink Cadillac

convertible after seeing one in Elvis Presley’s car show.

“It took two years of traveling around the country to find this

car,” Namkung said of his 1959 Series 62 pink Cadillac convertible.

After purchasing the car, he spent four years restoring it. He said

he’s been offered a lot of money for it but has no intention of

selling it.

“He stops traffic on PCH,” said Victoria Namkung, his daughter.

Newport Beach’s Michele Hall had always wanted a 50s Ford

Thunderbird. Her dream finally came true with the purchase of a 1957

pink Thunderbird convertible.

“I’ve wanted one since I was a little girl. Her name’s Lola,” she

said. “There’s a saying -- ‘What Lola wants, Lola gets.’”