April 13, 2024 – It was a car lover’s delight! Beautiful, colorful, and restored cars of yesteryear decked-out in their shiny best and parked majestically on the streets of Old Town Clovis for the enjoyment of one and all—especially for families!
The eye-catching event was the Tower Classic Car Show organized by Hot Rods of Fresno and held in Clovis for the first time after many years of being in Fresno’s Tower District.
“It was awesome—a great event!” That’s how Dennis Prieto of Clovis described the car show. Having been awarded a Top 50 trophy for his 1940 Chevy Sedan, Dennis smiled from ear to ear as he carried his trophy home.
According to Connie Faught, one of the event organizers, a total of 227 cars participated. “Considering the rain forecast, we did very well; lots of people called us to let us know they wouldn’t be able to participate due to the rain.” She added, “All downtown was open—Clovis was really good to us. They went out of their way to help us!”
The Legends Award
Taking two trophies home were Buddy Palomo and his grandson Gavin both of Clovis. Along with a Top 50 trophy, Buddy was awarded the prestigious Legends Trophy. That award is presented to a person who has restored lots of cars over many years and is well known within the hot rod and vintage car community. Buddy participated in the car show with his 1963 split window corvette—one of only 10,600 manufactured that year.
“It was a great show, we really enjoyed it—too bad about the bad weather, though,” Buddy observed.
The car show and the weather
Though under threatening gray clouds that morning, all was well until just before 1 PM. That’s when the weatherman’s forecast became a reality—sort of. While the rain did not materialize–till later that afternoon—strong gusty winds swayed tree branches around like toys and chased people, and most of the featured cars, home. But, while it lasted, the show was very much enjoyed. Parking could not be found in the downtown area for several blocks around.
‘We kept an eye on the forecast every day for a week—hoping we wouldn’t get rained out,” Connie stated, “We thank the City of Clovis and everyone who attended. We ask people to mark their calendars for the second weekend of April next year—so they can bring their families out to enjoy the show.”
