PAGE 2 • SHADES OF THE PAST • INDEPENDENT-MARSHALL, MINN. • THURSDAY, JUNE 1, 2017
Shades of the Past Friday Night Cruise The 2017 Friday Night Cruise will start from Runnings at 7 p.m. and consist of cruising Main Street and College Drive. It will end in Runnings parking lot at 8 p.m.
Runnings
SHADES OF THE PAST • INDEPENDENT-MARSHALL, MINN. • THURSDAY, JUNE 1, 2017 • PAGE 3
Next project for Anton: 1947 Chevy Coupe By Mike Lamb mlamb@marshallindependent.com
MARSHALL — Janet Anton has learned to not underestimate her husband’s ability to refurbish old dilapidated vehicles and get them back on the road. “I would say, ‘we will never drive that,’ “Anton said, looking at the 1947 Chevrolet Coupe that was missing the entire front. The rest of the frame of the vehicle was completely rusty. “But lo and behold, we do,” she said. Just as she said that, Curt Anton drove up with his shiny, white 1940 Chevrolet pickup that he converted into a tow truck. He finished that project back in 2000. “We’ve had a lot fun with that truck,” Curt Anton said about the 1940 Chevrolet pickup. They have taken the truck on trips to Upper Michigan and Lincoln, Nebraska. But Janet Anton said it was once in the same shape as the 1947 Chevrolet Coupe that her husband plans on working on soon. “He did most of the work himself,” she said of the 1940 Chevy. “He traded paint work with another guy for engine work. There are a lot of talented people who know a lot about cars.” Back in 1986, there was enough collector vehicle enthusiasts in the area to form a club that is still going strong today. The
Photo by Mike Lamb
Jon and Janet Anton stand in between their 1940 Chevrolet pickup that was renovated back in 2000, at right, and the current restoration project, a 1947 Chevy Coupe.
Shades of the Past Car Club will be holding its annual Marshall car show June 3. “It’s always fun to see what ideas people have to modify them (the vehicles) or whatever,” Janet Anton said. She said the car club members help each other with their projects. “It’s a good family organization. And it’s a good way to keep the old cars people want to see. People enjoy seeing them. They are all made out of Fiberglass now. Not made out of metal anymore. It’s a little nostalgia. Brings back people’s memories when they were kids,” Janet Anton said. Curt Anton’s love for collector vehicles goes back when he was kid. And it has carried over as an adult. “We’ve always had collector cars and stuff. We try to do things on a budget,” Curt Anton said.
“The fun part is finding the parts that you are missing. We go to swap meets,” Janet Anton said.
The Antons are also involved in tractor shows. “A lot of our summer time is spent on threshing shows,” Janet Anton said.
PAGE 4 • SHADES OF THE PAST • INDEPENDENT-MARSHALL, MINN. • THURSDAY, JUNE 1, 2017
Horejsi to do less racing and more show By Mike Lamb mlamb@marshallindependent.com
MARSHALL — Jim Horejsi is branching out after many years of dirt track racing. Three years ago he bought Cars Limited off of Highway 59 in Marshall. Now he’s racing cars less and showing and selling them more. “I stepped away (from racing) when I bought this (Cars Limited),” Horejsi said. “My whole life was racing, but when I bought this, I didn’t want racing to get in the way. This would take a lot of attention and racing is one if you are not 110 percent devoted you don’t run well.”
Horejsi is also spending more time showing off his cars more, such as his 1988 Chevrolet IROC Z and 1990 Chevrolet Silverado. He recently joined the Shades of the Past car club and will be participating in that group’s annual car show in Marshall, along with his wife, Deb. “I’m a sponsor of the show this year and just trying to get super involved with it,” Horejsi said. Getting involved with the Shades of the Past was natural for him. “I’ve been involved with cars my whole life. I was tinkering with cars before I could even drive,” he said.
Jim and Deb Horejsi stand between their 1988 Chevrolet IROC Z and 1990 Chevrolet Silverado outside their business, Cars Limited.
Photo by Mike Lamb
SHADES OF THE PAST • INDEPENDENT-MARSHALL, MINN. • THURSDAY, JUNE 1, 2017 • PAGE 5
Cruising into Marshall for a good time By Mike Lamb mlamb@marshallindependent.com
Independent file photos
MARSHALL — A lot of nostalgia and creativity will be on display during the 2017 Shades of the Past Cruise and Car show June 2-3. “It’s one of Marshall’s larger events,” club President Mark Mather said. “We will actually get people from Nebraska, the Dakotas, some from Wisconsin. All the states around Minnesota. It’s a pretty good size show.” Mather said the club hopes to build on the momentum established from last year’s 30th cruise and car show. He said the club already has 100 entries registered for the two-day event and expects many more entrants to show for both the Friday cruise and Saturday car show. Previous shows have attracted more than 250 entrants. Everything will get started at 6:30 p.m. Friday, June 2, in the Runnings parking lot. That is where the cars will line up for the cruise which starts at 7 p.m. Registration for the cruise is free and registered cruisers will be eligible for a chance at prizes. The cars will cruise down East College Drive, Main Street, East College Drive and Southview Drive. “A lot of spectators will line up along Main Street. If it’s a beautiful night, there will be hundreds and hundreds of people sitting on lawn chairs,” Mather said. Registration for the car show will be held from 8 to 11 a.m. Saturday morning next to Runnings. The show runs until 3 p.m. Classic cars, trucks and more will be on display. As in past years, the show will have divisions for motorcycles, tractors
and “rat rods” — hot rods built to have a less polished look. Starfire, a 1950s band from Brewster, will perform during the show. Mather said the first 300 registrants will
get a mechanic’s jacket, a dash plaque and door prizes. He also said the show will feature food vendors. “It should be a good show if the weather cooperates,” Mather said.
PAGE 6 • SHADES OF THE PAST • INDEPENDENT-MARSHALL, MINN. • THURSDAY, JUNE 1, 2017
Harback enjoys making junkyard rescues By Mike Lamb mlamb@marshallindependent.com
MARSHALL — Jon Harback stood in the middle of his garage next to the shell of a 1954 Hudson Jet. His totally restored 1954 Willys was parked in front of the garage. While describing his past and present projects, he threw his arms up. “Between fishing and cars, life is good,” he said. The Shades of the Past car club member plans to show off his Willys at the group’s annual car show. In the meantime, Harback has been busy working on the Hudson Jet that he found in the snow this past winter. “This was a junkyard rescue,” Harback said. “I came across it and I knew it was rare. The Hudson Motor Co. existed, I believe, it was 1911 to ’57. They made this model only two years, ’53 and 4. It was their attempt at a small compact car. Which is pretty rare in the day.” With just the basic “bare bones” of the car available, Harback said he decided in not doing a “total true restoration.” Mainly because the original car didn’t have much power. “It was typical 1954 technology. I wanted something more drivable. Something my wife (Linn) could drive. She doesn’t care to drive my Willys, because that’s a 400 horse hot rod,” Harback said.
The former technical school auto body instructor said the Willys was “literally a basket case” when he found it. “When I bought it, it was just a body shell,” he said. Other parts for the car were found in plastic containers inside the body. He finished the car five years ago. “This has a highly modified Chevy S10 chassis underneath it. You look at it, you would never know it was a truck chassis. It’s a got a big V8,” he said. “This one is a tire smoker. You got to have toys.” Harback said he enjoys the hunt for the needed car parts and the creativity that is involved in the hobby. “It’s part of the game. It’s a scavenger hunt. On a cold nasty winter day I can sit at the computer, send emails and make phone calls and all that to get parts,” he said. Meanwhile, he’s not necessarily looking to restore cars to the original condition. “To a purist, when you have to restore it, it has to be bone stock original or it’s no good. Well, that’s their vision. This is my vision of it. That’s why this hobby is so interesting.” He also likes the camaraderie. “We go to car shows. It’s kind of an interesting community of people you run into. Every person, whether the guy is a farmer, or a brain surgeon, or an engineer, or could be a baker — everybody loves the old cars.”
Photo by Mike Lamb
Jon and Linn Harback stand next to the latest collector car restoration project in their garage. Jon Harback has been busy since this past winter restoring the Hudson Jet.
SHADES OF THE PAST • INDEPENDENT-MARSHALL, MINN. • THURSDAY, JUNE 1, 2017 • PAGE 7
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