Classic day in the park

A 1956 Chevy Bel-Air convertible took home the best of show award at Sea Cruise in Beachfront Park on Saturday. The Daily Triplicate/Bryant Anderson

Some 366 classic and newer cars covered the area along with hundreds of browsing spectators during the 18th annual Sea Cruise car show.

“We were down a car or two from where we were last year, but we’re still very pleased with that,” said Everett Young, president of the Crescent City Car Club.

Spectators, car-owners and even family dogs showed up to inspect the unique vehicles.

“The economy is even more depressed than it was last year, but the participation from other communities — Brookings, Ore.; Washing­ton; Eureka — has been great,” he said.

The pristine sunshine and breezy 65- to 70-degree weather helped, too, said Young.

“The weather has been wonderful. Everything went really well out there. I can’t complain. This has been a really good show,” he said, stopping to snap a shot of Don and Karen Glassner’s red 1956 Chevy Bel-Air convertible, which had just won best of show for 2009.

The Grants Pass couple has been coming to Sea Cruise since 1990.

Shandra Hull of Lucky 7 Casino presents the best of show trophy to Don Glassner. The Daily Triplicate/Bryant Anderson

“This is all about Doug right now,” said Don Glassner, clutching his glass redwood trophy and wrapping an arm around his wife.

He said he had also won best of show in 1990 and then in 1991, with a different car each time.

“We’ve been to a lot of car shows and this has kind of been one of our favorites; we met a lot of friends here and the hospitality has been wonderful,” he said.

“We had an event in Fortuna and we had a lot of people come down from Crescent City that told us to come up,” said Bill Jeffries.

He said his fascination with classic cars began with a ride when he was 14 in a 1969 Camaro — back when it was a “new” car.

“Bill had an older friend when he was 14,” said Deb Jeffries, smiling as her husband jumped at the chance to finish his story.

“He took me for a ride, and that was it, I was hooked,” he said. “I even had my son help me build it; he drives a ’65 (Camaro).”

 Last year’s winner, a ’48 Divco Model II milk truck. The Daily Triplicate/Bryant Anderson

“I wanted to show him how to do it,” said Jeffries. “It means a lot more when you do it yourself.”

He said he had achieved a first and two second places at the other three events he entered, but winning is not what it’s about.

“We just come here to show it off,” he said.

Kevin and Chick McPhillips of Arbuckle brought their 1947 Cadillac to the event for the first time, but have been attending car shows for more than 40 years.

“I started doing this in 1969,” said Kevin McPhillips. “Back then, street rods were the only thing you could buy, and they were affordable.”

His wife was going to the events too, but had a different take.

“You were always out there working on your cars; we’ve had a new car every six months,” said Chick McPhillips, laughing.

Kevin said the work paid off for his wife though,—the ’47 Cadillac he actually built for her.

“She had a back injury awhile back, so I wanted to get her something sturdy,” he said, adding that the Caddy weighed in at 5,400 pounds.

This has been their sixth car show this year. They said friends at Oregon car shows told them about Sea Cruise.

Kevin McPhillips was pleased with the weather.

“As a kid, coming up here to see my grandparents, I could never remember a sunny day in Crescent City,” he said, reclining back into the shade.