LeTourneau University car show raises funds for student mission trip

Classic cars can get their drivers a long way down the road — and help LeTourneau University students get to where they want to be.

The 48th annual LeTourneau University Automotive Society Car Show on Saturday on the school’s Longview campus featured classic cars and trucks. The event raised money to help some LeTourneau students go on a mission trip.

The automotive society was formed in 1953, and proceeds from its annual springtime show always have supported mission trips, said Justin Corwin, the automotive society’s secretary. For the second year in a row, a group of LeTourneau men will head to the Broken Arrow Bible Ranch in New Mexico during spring break to serve at the camp for a week.

The annual car shows draws car-curious students, alumni who want to show off their rides and other community members who enjoy fraternizing with fellow automotive enthusiasts.

James Buie of Diana brought his gold-and-black 1979 Pontiac Trans Am, which fans of the 1977 film “Smokey and the Bandit” would recognize. Several years ago, the late Burt Reynolds himself signed the glove box of Buie’s car as well as a brown cowboy hat that Buie placed in the cab.

Buie has driven the car in past installments of The Bandit Run, an annual convoy of Trans Ams driven by fans of the movie. That’s how he got to know Reynolds and got his signature. Buie said Reynolds was a “really nice guy.”

Corwin said the car show is a fun way to bring the community to the LeTourneau campus.

“We want people out here,” he said. “We take pretty much anything: trucks, muscle cars, classics, whatever someone wants to show off. So, bring them out, pay the entry fee and just know that it’s going somewhere good.”