VALLEY HORSEPOWER
Owners flex their muscle cars at area exhibitions R1 Indoor Karting All-Makes Super Car Show a nice mix of vintage vehicles, Vettes and V6s
LINCOLN — When Bellingham resident George Pennington drives to the grocery store, he’ll often find he’s spending more time in the parking lot than inside the store. That’s usually because he ends up chatting with gawkers and curious shoppers who are fascinated by his 1954 Chevrolet 3100 pickup truck.
Sometimes, he says with a laugh, he has to cut the conversations short because he’s just bought ice cream and he doesn’t want the frozen treat melting inside the truck’s cab. But these are conversations that Pennington enjoys, because it means that people are fascinated by his truck, or, as he calls it, “my baby.”
Pennington on Saturday was showing off his blue pickup among a crowd of gearheads at a car show at R1 Indoor Karting on Higginson Avenue.
Pennington has owned the truck for nine years and said he’s put a “lot of work” into it, from rebuilding the motor and brakes to repainting it from a bluegreen hue to a brighter shade of blue that he calls “Bud Light blue,” because the color is similar to that of a can of Bud Light beer.
“It was almost like you see it but it needed a lot of TLC,” Pennington said of his truck. “It’s treated me good. This
is my 14th show and I’ve finished top in 10 of the 14.”
The truck was a birthday present from Pennington to himself. Nine years ago, he was driving on Cape Cod when he came upon the truck. He bought it on his birthday, July 26, and the truck was made the same year he was born, 1954.
“I’ve loved it ever since,” he said. His love for the vehicle extends to ensuring it is safe and warm during the winter months, saying that as soon as meteorologists begin forecasting snow, he puts the truck in the garage for the season.
When he drives it around the Blackstone Valley, Pennington says, he gets plenty of attention in the form of waves, thumbs-up, and honks or beeps from fellow motorists. He says one of his favorite reactions comes when tractor-trailer drivers slow down and get his attention by using their air horns.
“They know what this is all about...” he said with a smile. “It makes you feel good.”
The car show at R1 Indoor Karting was a fundraiser for the John Martins Foundation, named after prominent local businessman John Martins, who passed away on Sept. 27, 2015, from injuries sustained in a truck accident in Connecticut earlier that month. He was the owner and founder of Sterry Street Towing, East Coast Collision Center, Courtesy Auto Group, and the owner of the Checker Club.
Among the rows of vehicles, from classic cars to newer models, was Paul Correia’s 1972 Chevrolet El Camino. A Tiverton resident, Correia said his father bought the car when it was brand-new and he inherited it from his father about 10 years ago. To get the car in the shape it was in for Saturday’s show, he said, took a great deal of work.
“It was a different color, I upgraded the leather, all the chrome was redid,” he said, noting that the El Camino was originally red but was now “viper orange.”
“I drive it all over,” he said. “I drive down the road and people are filming, giving me the thumbs-up. I can’t go anywhere without attracting a crowd. It feels good.”