According to an article recently completed by the Napa Valley Register, the recent Father’s Day Invitational Auto Show was a particularly powerful experience for two repeat participants standing for the first time at the event without their fathers. The display, which was Yountville’s twenty-fourth annual car exposition, featured a variety of vintage vehicles; over one hundred and fifty cars were on show including everything from Jaguars to Ford Mustangs. The display drew in at least three thousand spectators.
Three particular cars were noted in the article. First, a rare red Dodge Charger Daytona was in attendance, one of only five hundred copies made of the onetime NASCAR racer. This car, in its rare quality, was naturally a big pull for spectators.
However, the article focused far more on two annual participants who stood alone by their cars for the very first time. In the case of a 1929 Ford Model A, Bob Simons stood by, looking upon the picture of Bill Simons, his father, which he had placed on the windshield. Bill Simons acquired the Model A and, together with his son, renovated the vehicle from a wreck to perfection. Ever since the completion of the project over a decade ago, father and son have attended the annual car show together to proudly display their efforts. Bill Simons, a high school teacher at schools in Napa Valley and Vintage for over three decades, passed away last year. His memory, however, remains intact, as several repeat spectators approached Bob and spoke fondly of his father and of his work on the vehicle; several of Bill’s previous students even approached Bob, and told stories of how they owe all of their success to his father’s dedication to his students and his job. It was a heartfelt goodbye to the memory of his father.
Jim Finch and his daughter Nicole Hardy bought a 1957 Chevrolet Bel Air in 2012. Almost immediately, they set it as their goal to acquire the far more valuable 1956 model. However, unfortunately, Finch passed away before they could achieve this goal. A mere three days after her father’s passing, Hardy found the exact car they had been looking for. The car was purchased and renovated to include a motor from a 2007 Corvette LS1. Looking stunning in powder blue, the car was a big hit at the show and allowed Hardy to remember her father fondly.