Auto Historica

Woodies, classic American wood-bodied station wagons from the 30s, 40s, and 50s, as well as unique European wooden skiff-bodied touring cars, will be the featured models at the Highland Park Historical Society’s eleventh antique and classic auto show on Saturday, July 23, presented by Duxler Complete Auto Care and also sponsored by Imperial Motors Jaguar, Mile of Style, Hagerty, and Sunset Foods.

Duesenberg, Rolls Royce, Bugatti, and other foreign and domestic car makers will also be represented at the AUTO HISTORICA XI show, which will be open to the public one day only, from 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., in the gardens surrounding the Museum at 326 Central Avenue.

Sometimes referred to as the mini-Pebble Beach car show, past AUTO HISTORICA shows have featured Packard, Morgan, Haynes, Kurtis, and Victress cars, among other rare models. For this year’s show, Joe Bortz , one of the show’s directors, will bring his one-of-a-kind 1955 Chevrolet Biscayne concept car, and collector Russ Rodriguez will offer his 1924 Hispano-Suiza. Several 50s sports cars will be featured, including an Allard, a Nash-Healey, and a Porsche speedster. There will also be a Bugatti similar to the Atlantic model from the Williamson collection that recently sold for $35 million.

Both Bortz and Lou Natenshon, chairman and head of the selection committee, are residents of Highland Park, and declare that AUTO HISTORICA XI will be the finest show, yet. Mayor Nancy Rotering will be on hand to present the Mayor’s Choice award. An award will also be presented for the most popular car owned by a woman. A raffle will be held for various prizes.

Adult visitors will be asked for a donation of $5. Children under 12, who are accompanied by an adult, will be admitted free. The museum, at 326 Central Avenue, is on the corner of Linden Avenue, a block east of the Highland Park business district and about a mile east of the Central Avenue exit from the Edens Expressway.

The Highland Park Historical Society was formed in 1966. Its museum is a 12-room, two-story Italianate Victorian house donated to the Society in 1969, by Jean Butz James. The Society’s mission is to discover, preserve, provide access to, and disseminate the history of Highland Park. For more information, you are invited to call 847-432-7090, to visit the museum’s website at www.highlandparkhistory.com, and to visit Facebook under Highland Park Historical Society.

You can learn more about Duxler Complete Auto Care's drawing for a kid-sized, motorized, red Mustang at www.duxlerautocare.com