KINGWOOD — Mustangs and Cougars were among the pack at Hovatter’s Zoo on Sunday afternoon.
So were Corvairs, Corvettes, Cadillacs — and a powder-blue 1979 Ford Thunderbird (complete with a working 8-Track tape deck) that only took Don Graening about 35 years to finally acquire.
“I was looking at the ’79 when it came out,” said Graening, owner of said T-Bird.
When he was ready to buy, though, the 1980 version just rolled off the assembly lines in Michigan, so he ended up getting talked into the newer model, which he didn’t necessarily want.
Graening grew up Chicago, and he lived and worked in the Pacific Northwest for several years before life brought him to the Mountain State and Kingwood.
Through it all, the now-retiree never stopped chasing what for him was the Holy Grail of Detroit Rolling Iron: The elusive ‘79 T-Bird, with its plush upholstery and throaty V-8.
“I always said I’d buy one if I ever had the chance again. This one came up for sale about three years ago. I didn’t think twice.”
Charity on four (tricked-out) wheels
The occasion Sunday was a cruise-in and show at the zoo near Kingwood hosted by Dream Machines Car Club, a collection of car aficionados that’s been around for 30 years.
It’s not just about chrome and dual overhead cams, said Tom Milam, the club’s president.
The club raises money for charitable events across the region.
Last week, it donated $1,000 to Camp Mountain Heart, a summer camp in Ripley for children and teens who have undergone cardiac surgery.
And that’s just one of many on the altruistic odometer for the club, Milam said.
“Everything we take in goes to a charity somewhere,” he said.
“You get to show off your car,” said Milam, who has been known to pilot a spotless ‘93 Dodge Ram 350 pickup, “and you get to help people at the same time.”
See the USA … in your Chevrolet
While people took in the display, “Get a Job,” the infectious ‘50s doo-wop stomper by The Silhouettes, blared over a sound system.
Which, in turn, made a good soundtrack for Larry Cartwright, an avowed “Chevy man” from Reedsville, who was working that day.
“Working,” in this case, he said, winking, meant walking around and snapping pics of the classic Chevrolets parked and done out for the show.
He’s the proud owner of a 1955 Chevy Bel Air that he left under the tarp at home on this day, but he was looking for similar models that might be at the zoo.
Turns out, he was scouting for his daughter in North Carolina and his brother in Florida. Both are looking to buy, and both are also Chevy people.
“There’s a good-looking one right here,” he said, happening upon another Bel Air of his favored year.
This one was finished in gun-metal gray, and the paint on the hood matched the color of the clouds overhead that threatened rain.
Good luck asking if it might be for sale, he said.
Cartwright gets offers all the time for his ‘55. “I wouldn’t sell it for anything,” he said.
Wild horses (couldn’t drag me away)
Like Graening and his Thunderbird, Charles Donhiser wasn’t going to let that 1965 Mustang he was showing off Sunday get away for anything.
You know: A 1965 Mustang.
A 1965 Mustang convertible.
A 1965 Mustang convertible in candy-apple red with a white top.
“I saw it,” said Donhiser, a retired Morgantown firefighter, “and said, ‘That’s the one.’ ”
Did he check with his wife, first? You know: The woman to whom he’s been married for more than 50 years?
Linda Donhiser stop-ped reading her James Patterson paperback, and looked up with a smirk.
“Are you kiddin’? Sometimes, I just have to let him do what he wants. It’s easier to live with him that way — but don’t write that down.”
Charles, who knows Linda loves the Mustang just as much as he does, tossed back his head and howled like a Hovatter’s resident.
“No,” he said, laughing, “you need to write that down.”
