Weather played a big role in this year’s Trapper Car Show because it seems the show was under adverse weather conditions from the get-go! Still, even with the threat of bad weather, 42 cars total were on hand to show and shine. This was a lower number of cars from previous years but that is what the threat of bad weather brings to a car related display!  

With the cars parked in the mall area across the street from new Student Center, the show got underway at 10 a.m. It was cloudy and overcast somewhat kind of a defused light, but no rain so it was a good start.

The first car I spied was one that was new to me as I had not seen it here before. In talking to the owner who went to school here in Powell, I learned he brought his 1965 Chevy SS Impala. For me this was your basic classic car with the SS emblems, a four speed, bucket seats and a console and the engine was a 327/300 hp. The owner is Richard Hostetler who is from Billings, and his car is exactly what the early classic muscle cars were like, so it was nice to see this one in this year’s show.

The second car I ran across was a car that was just completed and brought to this year’s Trapper Show. Keith and Elise Sande from Powell brought their 1932 three window coupe, complete with suicide doors. As I looked at it, my thought was how could you not want one of these. With a great red paint job, wonderful handmade interior, complete with a gauge package that kept tabs on the engine and those suicide doors, this was just plain a great looking car.  

Another great eye catcher was Glen Loomis of Powell’s 1955 Ford Crown Victoria glass top two door coupe. For power the engine is a 292 coupled to a three speed, but I was also told the paint was a rare two tone color called tropical rose and snowshoe white and there were lots of people looking at this car everytime I went by it.

One of the things I like to look for are the oddball cars that show up, and while they are in the show they are just plain different. This year I found a car called the “Calypso,” which turned out to be a 1955 Packard Clipper Custom. It’s another car from Powell and owned by Jesse and Savannah Layland with an engine that sported a 352/348 hp engine along with a twin V-Hydramatic. This car boasts of a torsion auto-leveling suspension, which when demonstrated was still working after 71 years. I fell in love with the Clipper steering wheel badges present in multiple places on this car.  

Another Powell resident, Trent Greenwald brought his 1966 Chevy C10 pickup which for me was a total head turner. Trent told me it has taken eight years to build his dream pickup. His pickup is powered by a Chevy 350 with an unknown hp rating but it’s up there somewhere high. This was coupled to a Muncie four speed, and 3:73 rear gears, making for quite the grocery getter!  

Voter ballots are usually counted by 2 p.m. and then the three winners are announced, but around 1:15 p.m. the weather started off in the distance to let us know it was going to bring an early end to this year’s rendition of the Trapper Car Show as we heard thunder first followed by lightening. About 1:30 p.m. the winners were declared as the rain moved in helping to end this year’s car show, but mark my words, the Annual Trapper Car Show will return next year.

This year’s winners were Bruce Wolff and his immaculate 1967 Ford Ranchero taking the Best of Show Trophy, Larry Parker got the Best Classic Trophy with his 1942 Buick, and the People’s Choice Award was won by Troy Schatz with his 1966 Chevy C10.