BASS LAKE – Millers Landing at Bass Lake hosted their 3rd Annual Car and Boat Show this past Sunday and were rewarded with a great turnout of both cars, boats and spectators for the event.
Nice warm “Bass Lake” weather welcomed everyone to the event which benefited the Children’s Museum of the Sierra.
Michelle Miller was happy to report that they had the maximum number of cars (50) entered along with 23 boats. Why 50? Limited parking for them.
Many of the cars were shown by members of the Cam Twisters Car Club of Fresno. The car show was run by Steve Runge of Fresno who did a outstanding job of organizing and utilizing the PA system to keep everyone informed.
There was no charge for the public to view the show and spectators did the voting for Best of Show, both car and boat, best engine and best paint. Fred and Terry Ede from Sanger took home the top car trophy with their two tone orange 32 Ford Coupe, a popular choice, while Wayne Herbert from Laguna Hills claimed the top boat hardware.
There was a wide variety of cars show, from Model Ts to mid-sixties trucks. There was even one top fuel dragster built around 1964 and updated in the 70’s (lengthened). When it fired up at 11 a.m., it got everyone’s attention!
When a supercharged 393 Chrysler Hemi running on nitro lights up, the ground shakes! Anyone close had to cover their ears, it was that loud. Brought back a lot of memories as I was on the pit crew of a top fuel dragster back in the day before I went into the army.
At 1 p.m., the boats got their turn to show off their motors as each boat in turn fired up. The supercharged engines made the biggest roar of course, much to the delight of the gathered spectators.
I was especially attracted to the 1927 Bucket T built by North Fork Resident Dan Morris. While it was powered by a 4-cylinder motor, it obviously wasn’t a stock 4-banger. Dan informed me it was a very special rare Miller overhead valve head that he had located in a ad years ago.
He bit the bullet (so to say) and sent a check for $2500, and got the head soon thereafter. Now the engine showcases the car which was pretty much hand built by Morris.
Morris built it to showcase pretty much how a “hot rod” would have been built in the 1950’s. It has a ’33 Ford Tranny with ’38 gears, 40 Ford Hydraulic Brakes, a home built frame and period Firestone Tires. The rear license plate has vintage turn signals mounted over it for a nice “closer look” item.
Dan figured he put over 3200 hours in building the car and loves to show it at area car shows. He said it cruised the road nicely up to 60 mph, fast enough for a “vintage” hot rod.
All in all, it was a nice day to spend at Bass Lake, great hospitality by Millers Landing, and the burgers were pretty awesome too! Miller’s covered all the expenses so all money raised went to the charity 
so good on them!
