Old Cars Weekly – 05 September 2019

22 ❘ September 05, 2019 http://www.oldcarsweekly.com

O

nce wordgotaroundthatChrysler

productsmightbethefeaturecars

at Das Awkscht Fescht, interest

grew quickly.

“I don’t know how it hap-

pened,” said Bill Schimeneck, one

of the organizers, “but there were people

coming up to us and saying, ‘I heard

you’re going to do a Chrysler show.’

‘Well, we’re talking about it.’”

It didn’t happen quite that smoothly,

as Schimeneck said that he and Dwight

Heinzman learned during the 2016 show

that the Macungie, Pa., event might be

in a jam when it came to the follow-

ing year’s feature car. They reasoned

that Chryslers had not been featured

for some time and that their own con-

tacts and experience in putting events

together could enable them to do so for

MoPars in 2017.

“We just started asking questions of

the right people that morning,” Schime-

neck recalled, “and said, ‘We can do

this. We can meet your requirements.’

We talked to people we know ... Then

we talked to some other people about

getting money to pay for the tent and we

talked to the Fescht people.”

It brieÀ y looked as if Chryslers

might indeed be featured for 2017, but

the problem that had the Das Awkscht

Fescht’s committee concerned never

materialized.

“So they said, ‘We need somebody

for ’19,’” Schimeneck continued. “‘Can

you do it for ’19?’ ‘Absolutely.’”

They did, and he estimated that

about 200 Chrysler products participat-

ed in the Saturday show on Aug. 3 and

300 to 350 in Sunday’s show on Aug.

4. Those numbers were about what he’d
   hoped for and he said that the range of
   vehicles provided a good representation.
   “Dwight and I both own Road Run-
   ners,” Schimeneck said, “so that’s our
   interest, but we enjoy a variety of cars.
   We looked to get a variety and we got
   cars from the ’20s to the ’80s. We have
   cars that are driven to an event and we
   have cars that are trailer queens. We
   have two race cars. We have an assort-
   ment of big old trucks from ’62 to ’70 ...
   and a Li’l Red Express. For comparison,
   we have a 2018 Cummins crew cab on
   display there as well.
   “The point is that we wanted a
   variety.”
   Out of that variety, he singled out
   one example.

Starringher‘sweet16’Dart

“Ithinkthestar-attractioncarthat’s

here is a ’64 Dart GT convertible,”

Schimeneck said. “It’s a slant six, it’s

automatic, it’s not a concours-correct

restoration.It’sa cartheownercanhave

funwithanddrive, andsheisa young

woman andshe’s thrilled tobeunder-

neaththe(feature)tent.That’swhatwe

wanttodo.Wehavetogettheyoung

peopleandif wecangeta youngwoman

involved,that’sjustgreatforthehobby,

sothat’sa signi¿cantcartohaveunder

there.”

LONG-RUNNINGEVENT

FEATURESCHRYSLER

CORP. VARIETY

STORY AND PHOTOS

BY BOB TOMAINE

MoPars at Macungie

The Dart GT’s dashboard is unclut-

tered. The aftermarket radio is a step up

from the boombox that once substi-

tuted for the original.

Dodge Darts were popular cars when

new. This 1964 GT convertible’s owner

wasn’t born yet, however.