Cars Will Shine at Props and Rods Show
by Johnny McDonald

Tony Montegna Jr. hopes to make the car show an annual event.

The Ramona Air Show will get some ground support on June 27 with an inaugural car show. So, they’ll call it Props and Rods.

The standards of quality and craftsmanship will be exhibited in customized hot rods, street machines, classics and muscle cars.

Included in the program will be an exhibition between a dragster and Chuck Hall’s plane, raffles, and music by Indian Joe and the Chiefs.

"The car show will be located near the tower," said Tony Montegna Jr., owner of the sponsoring Main Street Auto Care. "There will be cars from the 1930s, ’40s and ’50s to excite the enthusiast.

Hot rods in the Ramona Rodeo parade.

"I was approached by the Air Fair committee about putting something together for a Sock Hop and this show idea was generated from that."

Montegna, who said he is doing this on his own, agrees that it is experimental but hopes to make it an annual event and to build it to more than 300 cars. From this year, he intends to establish a committee.

Judging for Best of Show will be done by the public. Workman-ship, detail, innovation, level of engineering, use of custom components, extent of modification and degree of difficulty can be scrutinized.

Intrigued with the stellar qualities of these automobile, bands of hot rodders spend hours redesigning, painting and polishing to present them.

For years, pre-1948 auto-mobiles seem to acquire more appeal and represent a time when there was a greater love for the automobile.

Ramona’s airport will be a place for raised hoods to expose systems of performance. It becomes a hot rodders’ concourse d’elegance.

Montegna said he has traveled 300 miles, visiting many clubs and attending other shows, to get people interested.

"I’ve talked to members of the Over The Hill Gang, South Bay Cruisers, East County Cruisers, Street Masters and many others," he said. "I’ve been to Del Mar, Perris, Pomona and Phoenix. I’m looking for between 50 to 150 cars."

Montegna has been involved with cars for years in some capacity or another and is an official of Monster Truck and Demolition Derby competitions.