’54 Kaiser Takes Cruisin’s Best Of Show
Despite a cloudy start, today proved a perfect day for the 25th annual Cruisin’ Cuse Car Show, held in Syracuse.
Taking home this year’s Best of Show trophy were Mike and Wanda Tiltges with a 1954 Kaiser Darrin. Other special awards were as follows:
- Best Interior and Kiwanis Choice, Ben Banister, 1934 Ford
- Best Paint, Phil Smith, 1973 Galaxie 500
- Best Engine, Ed Thomas, 1966 Chevy II
- Police Chief’s Choice, Mark and Reece Morris, 1963 Galaxie Mayberry
- Best Engineered Hot Rod, Marvin Galbreath, 1937 Chevy
First-place winners included:
- Pre-1935 street rod, Sam Craig, 1932 Ford Roadster
- 1935 to 1948 street rod, Robert Eastman
- 1936 Auburn Speedster custom car and low rider, Phil Smith, 1973 Galaxie 500
- Modified truck, Devoe Hoffer, 1968 El Camino; original truck; Larry and Kay Bechler, 2000 Silverado;
- Youth category, Alex Cadena, 1997 Camaro SS
- Modified tri 5 Chevy, 1955, 56, 57, Mike Myers, 1957 Bel Air
- Classic foreign pre-1988, Matt and Johanna Miles, 1962 Volkswagen Beetle
- Foreign 1988 to present, Linda Minnick. 2005 Mazda RX8
- Original collector pre-1955, Bill Douglas, 1952 Chevy
- Original collector 1955 to 1973, Roger Komendat, 1964 Impala
- Late-model original, 1974 to present, Craig Price, 2008 Mustang Bullit
- Muscle car, original, Harle Cordill, 1965 Buick GS
- Muscle car, modified, Ed Thomas, 1966 Chevy II;
- Mustang, Ray Mullins, 1968 Mustang
- Camaro 1967 to 1992, Jim Hall, 1969 Camaro
- Corvette 1953 to 1967, John Crabtree, 1963 Corvette
- Corvette 1968 to 82, Mike Breisch, 1982 Corvette
- Corvette, 1984 to present, Jeff Showalter, 2011 Corvette
- AMC Mopar 1974 to present, Bill Meade, 2012 Challenger
- Street machine, including Pro Street, Rod Bell, 1969 – 74 Dodge
- Special interest, Tim Stonger, 1965 Shelby Cobra Repl.;
- Pontiac pre-1988, Ellen Slabaugh, 1965 GTO
- Harley motorcycle, Dennis Crabtree, 1941 Harley;
- Motorbike, non-Harley, Kenneth Bennett, 1955 Cushman Eagle
- Jeep Wrangler modified, J.A. Lemcke, 1990 Wrangler.
There were no entries in the AMC/Mopar pre-1974 original category.
Following the awards presentation, participants lined up for the traditional cruise around Syracuse Lake before heading home.