IMPERIAL—The Sunrunners Car Club of Imperial Valley held the 39th annual Carne Asada Run car show on Saturday, March 22 in Eager Park. Twenty car clubs attended the event, including the Mustang Club of San Diego, Desert Cruisers of Yuma, and Cab Drifters Coachella.
Car owners checked in at Eager Park in the morning from 8 a.m. to noon and showed cars between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m., with the carne asada feast starting at 11:30 a.m. Raffle prizes were awarded throughout the day, and the official awards ceremony was held at 2:30. Cappy and Jerry Taylor from El Cajon, sponsored by Axis Metal Design, won the Best of Show trophy for their orange 1956 Chevy Bel Air.
One of the many cars on display was Arizona Sunshine, Bill and Linda Haney’s bright yellow 1929 Ford pickup. The Haneys, who are from Yuma, Arizona, have attended the Sunrunners event for the past five years. Haney explained that he bought the pickup 10 years ago with the desire to redo the classic car. He takes Arizona Sunshine to a variety of shows now that he’s finished the renovation.
Brian Mould was also at the car show with his black 1967 Ford Mustang convertible, which he finished building 19 years ago. “I built it right from the ground up,” Mould said of his convertible, explaining that grass was growing through the floorboards of the old car parts when he started reconstructing it.
Mould described himself as an “old car fanatic” who has been fascinated by muscle cars since he was a teenager. He said that he and his wife are Canadians who came to the Imperial Valley to spend the winter in the desert and attend the car show.
Kurt Leptich, president of the Sunrunners Car Club, has been leading the club for three years. He explained that the car show first started 39 years ago when Richard Alford from Alford Distributing had a museum full of classic cars. Leptich said that the car club continues to meet at the late Alford’s facility in Imperial and continues the club effort in his honor.
He said that several car owners return to show off their vehicles at the Carne Asada show year after year, but there were also other old cars on display this year for the first time. Leptich noted that some enthusiasts are currently working on building their vehicles to be displayed in future years, saying, “Everybody’s always working on the new one.”
“We have a really good reputation in the car community because of how long we’ve been doing it,” Leptich said about the Carne Asada car show. Leptich said that this show is the Sunrunners’ big event of the year, but the club also displays cars at Pioneers Museum during the yearly Pioneers Day celebration.
Leptich thanked the event sponsor, One World Beef, who provided food so that everyone participating in the car show could get a free lunch of carne asada. Other food vendors included PK’s, Baja Shaved Ice, The Rolling Cones, and KS Lemonade, where Andrea Betancourt sold lemonade and cotton candy.
For more information about the Sunrunners Car Club, visit ivsunrunners.com.
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