Vintage Aircraft & Custom Car Show

Yesterday’s Vintage Aircraft & Custom Car Show at the Commemorative Air Force Museum was one of the best car shows I’ve been to in a while.

Presented by Southwest Street Rods, the show featured cool custom rods, antique aircraft & WWII war birds, food trucks, and a great crowd. And the weather… perfect!

As with many car shows, this one was a benefit for a charity organization, this time for MAM (Military Assistance Mission), which provided financial and morale support to our current Arizona military, their families, and post-9/11 Purple Heart recipients.

Part of what made this show especially cool was where it was hosted. The mission of the Commemorative Air Force is education, such that generations of Americans will value and support the contributions of military aviation in assuring our nation’s freedom. The CAF is a great place to visit to learn more about America’s military aviation history. Click here for a short virtual tour video. Visit them at Falcon Field, 2017 N Greenfield Rd, Mesa, Arizona.

The show featured dozens of amazing cars, all from 1972 or earlier (though a few were later models), so there was plenty of old-iron eye candy to enjoy, including hot rods, street rods, sports cars, custom trucks, and a few oddities, like rat rods and scratch builds.

Also on display was an AV Harrier II. You don’t see those often anywhere, much less at a car show. I’ve loved these beasts since watching Schwarzegger’s movie, TRUE LIES, years ago. You don’t realize how large these war birds are until you see one up close, but they are huge!

Since this car show was hosted at an airplane museum, there are lots of amazing planes inside, but that’s for another post. I strolled it out of curiosity, and there is so much to see, a few pics here would do it no justice.

Starting at 8 AM and running to 2 PM, I was there with my camera in hand for most of it. There were so many amazing cars that I would be hard-pressed to choose a favorite, although I’m always a big fan of classic Corvettes, and there were more custom Nomads than I’ve seen anywhere. As always, I shot miles of pics to share. Scroll below to find your favorites.