The 41st annual River Tales Classic Car Show revs up downtown Cape Girardeau

With $125 of pig-raising money, Larry Webb bought his first car at 17: a sky blue 1951 Ford Club Coupe.

Six decades later, though he doesn�t still have that original car, Webb uses an identical one to enter car shows like the 41st annual River Tales Classic Car Show on Sunday in downtown Cape Girardeau.

Fellow classic car owner Joe Corso said plenty of owners look to their previous rides for inspiration, including himself.

�This is my third one like this,� he said, polishing his 1957 Chevrolet Bel-Air. �It�s just playin� with cars, man. All these old guys still playin� with cars.�

That nostalgia is what keeps owners like Roger Niswonger on the local car show circuit.

Classic cars are seen Sunday during the 41st annual Rivertales Classic Car Show on Main Street in downtown Cape Girardeau.TYLER GRAEF

�When I met my wife, she was 14 and I was 16, I was driving a truck exactly like this,� he said, sitting in the shade on the running board of his 1950 Ford pickup.

�I could pick her up and I could drive her to church,� he said. �We went to church together and then I could drive her back home.�

For four years, he and Debbie took the truck out on dates before they married.

�It�ll be 44 years in January,� Niswonger said. �And she�s still my little sweetie. We still get in my red truck and go out for a date from time to time.�

That is, of course, when they aren�t going out in Debbie�s black 1966 Ford Mustang.

�She said, �You have a toy, so I want one too,�� Niswonger said. �I guess we both like the same things, so it works out great.�

Some of the owners� showpieces, however, were too old to have been their teenage rides. John Hall�s Ford Roadster was a 1909 model, complete with termite-bitten wood-spoke wheels, a hand-crank motor and kerosene headlamps.

�For driving at night,� he said. �They�ve got two settings: dim and dimmer.�

A former police mechanic, Hall said he built the Roadster piece-by-piece after buying the frame and motor about 30 years ago.

�I wanted something that could be 100 years old,� he said. �And we�ve passed that now.�

But having such an old model means dealing with its quirks. Since the Roadster�s design predates conventional gas, brake and clutch controls, Hall said the vehicle is almost as much horse-buggy as it is automobile.

�It�s not like driving a car,� he said.

But, he added, it�s surprisingly reliable for its age.

�We�ve taken it all the way to the Bald Knob cross before,� he said. �But I didn�t feel like pushing it too far past that.�

And half the fun happens in the garage anyway, he said, even if it looks like work to his wife, Deborah.

�She says she�s never seen someone work so hard to have fun,� he said.

tgraef@semissourian.com

(573)388-3627