MANATEE — They are the muscle cars, those high performance, drag-racing beauties of the 1960s and ’70s that stole hearts with their flashy exteriors and souped-up engines.
A group of 150 attracted hundreds Sunday to the Pride & Joy Car Show at the Sarasota Classic Car Museum.
Automobile aficionados strolled among the rows of classic cars looking at engines, talking about the spotless interiors and chatting with owners.
Jim Stickley, of North Port, displayed his 1969 Ford Mustang with a big Boss 302 engine. What makes the car so special, he said, was that it was among only 1,628 of them the company built.
A car enthusiast, Bonnie Gorsuch, of Sarasota, was interested in a shiny red Muntz built by the Muntz Car Co. of Glendale, Calif. The company built only 400 cars between 1951-54.
“It’s really beautiful,” Gorsuch said.
There were trophies for show winners, plus pony rides, homemade lemonade, hot dogs, even a car wash put on by a Boy Scout troop. Attendees could also see the museum’s collection for a discounted price.
The museum, 5500 N. Tamiami Trail, opened in 1953. It is the second oldest car museum in the U.S., with an exhibit of about 100 cars including a 1956 Bentley SI designed by Beatle John Lennon, said musuem Director Martin Godbey.
The car is painted in psychedelic colors. A colorful drawing graces its hood and it has whitewall tires. It was a familiar sight in London during the band’s heyday, said museum Manager Don Walters.
The museum also displays another Lennon car, his first Mercedes, a blue beauty that he customized himself, said Walters.
Godbey pronounced the show “wonderful. It’s more than we hoped for — so many interesting people.”
“It’s just been a total success,” said Joe Mammina, a salesman at Vintage Motors, a business next door to the museum with an inventory of 60 antique and unusual cars.
Part of the show’s proceeds were earmarked to help Sixteen Hands Horse Sanctuary, of Myakka City, which rescues, rehabilitates and provides sanctuary for abused, abandoned or neglected horses.
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