Spiffed-up vehicles shine at Ramona Senior Car Show

Car enthusiasts were eager to swap stories with spectators about the vehicles they drove to the Ramona Senior Car Show on April 12.

The event held in the parking lot of Grace Community Church of Ramona culminated with trophy awards for the top 11 vehicles displayed that day. The Best of Show Award went to Ronnie Johns for a candy apple red 1926 Model T Ford.

Johns of Valley Center purchased his Model T about a decade ago and invested $50,000 into refurbishing it with a 350 Chevrolet motor with a turbo 400 transmission, among other other upgrades.

Johns said he got his start in auto mechanics when he went into a garage in Carlsbad for the first time when he was 15 years old in 1964.

“I asked them if they needed somebody and they laughed,” said Johns, 78. “They said, ‘What do you know about cars?’ I said your floors are greasy and your windows are dirty. I said I’ll mop that up for you now. That’s how I got involved in mechanics and they started teaching me about cars.”

Now Johns is a hobby car rebuilder who spends most of his time repairing and renovating cars including 1929 and 1934 Ford sedans, a 1938 Ford pickup truck, and a Model A Ford.

“That was a real privilege to win the award,” said the retired construction grader and professional car rebuilder who owns his own hot rod shop in Valley Center. “I’ve been going to the Car Show for more than eight years. I have bragged about this so many times. I’m a member of five car clubs and I’ve told so many people that this is a fundraiser for the Ramona Senior Center.”

The one-day event raised a record $17,000 for the senior center, said Car Show and Ramona American Graffiti Cruise Nights organizer Leroy Clubb.

“It was a great show,” Clubb said. “There were a lot of people and it turned out really well.”

Another vintage car owner who displayed his rustic light green 1953 Ford F-100 pickup truck was Dennis Sprong. The Ramona resident said he’s spent 15 years upgrading the Ford with engine and transmission rehabs and custom additions. He also spends time working on a 1954 Ford F-100.

“It’s a work in progress,” Sprong said. “It’s been a labor of love.”

Sprong adds that he enjoys meeting people and talking about his hobby in addition to just driving his Fords around and cruising Main Street on the Thursday night Ramona American Graffiti Cruise Nights.

“It takes you back to a simpler time,” he said.

Lakeside resident Jim Cowan brought a white 2005 Ford Mustang GT to the Car Show.

“I’ve had this car for about a year and it’s been detailed,” said Cowan, a member of the East County Cruisers Car Club.

Cowan has modified the Mustang with a shaker hood, K and N cold air intake, headers, shift kit in the transmission, and 3/73 rear gears.

“I grew up with muscle cars,” said Cowan, recalling when his dad, Porter Cowan, worked for a car dealership and later owned his own dealership in Pennsylvania. “My father was a car dealer and we used to go to the car auctions two to three times a week to buy muscle cars for his dealership. I got to drive most of them – at least for a little bit before they were sold.”

Cowan said he spent some of his childhood growing up on a farm and learned to drive on a John Deere tractor when he was 12.

“The older folks got to do the hard work and the young ones drove,” he said.

Fellow Lakeside resident and East County Cruisers member Jason Chappelear brought an orange 1968 Chevy C-10 to the car show.

Chappelear said the car had already been painted when he bought it but he buffed the paint and added a ceramic coat to it.

“The engine wasn’t already done so I dressed up the motor and got it tuned,” he said. “I did the mechanic work myself.”

Chappelear has been building cars since he was 18, starting with a 1970 Volkswagen Bug that he bought when he was in the U.S. Air Force. He said the Bug was featured in VW Trends Magazine in the mid-1990s based on his display of the vehicle at a car show with the Las Vegas Volkswagen Club.

The hobbyist is also a member of the Corvette Club of San Diego.

“It’s a passion to repair cars,” Chappelear said. “It might be a disease, too. It’s an ongoing project that never stops.”

Poway resident Ed Van Laningham, who lived in Ramona from 1986 to 1998, brought his teal green 1965 Ford Falcon Futura convertible to the car show.

Over the past decade, Van Laningham said he’s painted the vehicle, added new seat covers and carpet, replaced the front disc brakes, and upgraded it with a new master cylinder, rims and tires. He even replaced the convertible top.

“It’s a never-ending battle,” he said. “You do one thing and then something else goes wrong.”

The member of Poway Cruisers and Pickups Limited in Santee said he owns two other cars – a 1949 Ford F-1 pickup truck and a flashy 1967 Ford Mustang Fastback painted pewter with black racing stripes.

“It was a lot of fun until I started to get too old to do it,” he said. “Now my son, Michael Van Laningham, helps me.”

Richard Dinnen drove his black 1956 Ford F-100 pickup to the car show from his home in Dehesa.

“I come to the show every year to support the fundraising for the Ramona Senior Center,” said Dinnen, who helped found the Christian Rods and Customs Car Club 25 years ago.

Dinnen treasures his pickup, which he bought in 1968 for $700. The Ford was his work truck for 35 years while he helped build bridges and high-rise buildings, he said.

Before he retired, Dinnen said he tore the truck completely apart, all the way down to the frame and then built it back up.

“I had it completely apart – every nut and bolt,” Dinnen said. “I had the frame sitting in my garage and I built it from the ground up.”

Afterward, he said he completely refurbished the interior, added air-conditioning, and overhauled the engine.

“It won Best of Show here last year,” he said.

The Ramona Senior Car Show is the kickoff to the seasonal Ramona American Graffiti Cruise Nights. The new season starts Thursday, April 17 with cruises down Main Street starting at 6 p.m.

Each year, a Car Show held in the spring and another Car Show held in the fall typically raise a combined $15,000, Clubb said. The proceeds have grown substantially since the first Car Show held in 2017 raised $2,200, he said. The next Car Show is scheduled for Sept. 27.

For more information about participating in the Car Show or Cruise Nights, call Clubb at 619-980-3647.