Valparaiso Car Show returns Sunday

Cars, bikes and more will be on hand the weekend before Memorial Day at the Porter County Fairgrounds.

The Valparaiso Car and Motorcycle Show and Swap Meets are from 9 a.m.- 2 p.m. on Sunday and on Aug. 28 at the Porter County Expo Center in Valparaiso.

Car registration is at 8 a.m. The swap meet area opens at 6 a.m. Space is $10 if preregistered, $15 on the day of the event. The show runs rain or shine.

Food vendors will sell hot dogs, hamburgers, funnel cakes and refreshments. There will be a DJ and beer garden.

Mark Halliar, of Valparaiso, took the car show over in 2019, he said.

“It’s been going really well,” he said. “I have a lot of people who still come because it was Mario’s show, but I’m trying to get more and more people interested in it.”

A swap meet has vendors who sell anything car-related, he said, including new- and used-car parts.

“I have a vendor who comes out and does a wax demonstration,” Hallier said. “You can buy anything from engine blocks to body panels, interior bits, license plates from the ’50s or ’60s or … brand-new stuff too. Even collectibles like yard signs or road signs, like man-cave garage stuff too.

“The swap meet is a pretty big draw. We usually have around 250 to 300 swappers and about 300 to 400 vehicles that show up for the car show.”

Sometimes interesting items turn up in the swap meet, he said, such as antique bicycles, mopeds and even a rebuilt engine.

“We had a guy from the Rust Belt Rebellion (car show),” Hallier said. “What they do every year, they do a raffle for a vehicle. So he will showcase a vehicle to be raffled off and all the money goes to a veteran’s organization.

“If you want to come out and sell your wares, you are more than welcome, but you have to realize the fact that this is a car show audience. So a jewelry vendor might not do as well as, say, someone who brings out antique bicycles.”

There will be all kinds of cars and all makes and models (are) welcome at the show, he said.

“I wanted it to be all-inclusive; not just hot rods and old cars,” Hallier said. “I wanted it to be all-inclusive because that’s kind of how Northwest Indiana is — we are a melting pot of different cultures.”

Hallier doesn’t discriminate based on a car’s age either. There’s a vast difference between ages of vehicles, he said.

“Last year we had a couple of brand-new Chargers, a couple of Challengers, but then we also have one guy who shows up every year with his 1912 Buick,” he said. “It has been in his family since it was brand new. So the car’s over 100 years old and he shows up with it every year because he likes to show it off.

“It’s in immaculate shape. He usually gets a trophy because he’s got the oldest vehicle on the fairgrounds.”

Cars are judged and the top 50 get an award.

“We do Best Paint, Best Engine, Best in Show and a Best Bike,” Hallier said. “It’s a total of 54 trophies overall. We want everyone to feel like this is a fun show to come to.”

It helps that to show your vehicle or to get in is only $5. For those selling wares at the swap meet, it’s $15 for a spot.

Halliar said he would love to get more motorcycles in the show.

“I think if you’re bringing your motorcycle out, you’re going to be showing something really nice,” he said. “I would really like to get more motorcycle guys to come out to the car show. I would really like to include the motorcycles in it.”

Hallier thinks people like car shows because of the camaraderie

“As a car guy myself, you put blood, sweat and tears into a vehicle … when you’re working on something like that, you want to show it off,” he said.

“You go to these car shows and you start seeing people you know and then you start making friends, and before you know it these friends become car clubs.

“There are actually quite a few guys I know that have been in car clubs since they were kids because that’s how they grew up. Now they’re older guys and they’re still in the same car clubs, standing around talking about cars.

“It’s a very, very cool community.”