A treat for aficionados of all things automotive will take place on Sunday afternoon, Sept. 15, when classic car collectors from the island and beyond rev their engines for Vashon’s Cruise to the Club.
The cruise, organized by Paul Engels, will start at 1 p.m. when owners of approximately 80 classic cars will fill the parking lot of Chautauqua Elementary School. At 2 p.m., the roadsters will depart and weave through a route that includes downtown Vashon, Cove Road, Westside Highway down to the Tahlequah Y, back up the highway to Burton, around the Harbor Loop and finally, to the Vashon Golf & Swim Club, where there will be a hamburger barbecue and luncheon on the deck.
Engels, who also produces Vashon’s popular summer Engels’ Car Show at his family’s vintage gas station on Dockton Road, is billing the Cruise to the Club as the last chance to see many of Vashon’s most tricked out old cars before the rainy season sets in.
“They’re going to hibernate after this event,” Engels said.
Engels said he will be fielding his own 1960 Impala and 1964 Stingray, and also hopes to see his friend Bill Graham’s Maserati, as well as two 5.0 Mustangs owned by Alberto and Luis Ruiz. He’s also excited to see Emmett Sherman, a seventh-generation islander who is the son of Jim Sherman, behind the wheel of his father’s 1966 Chevelle Supersport 396.
“I applaud the kid because he drives it like he should,” Engels said. “You like to see teenagers get involved in this kind of stuff — you’ve got to get the next generation involved.”
Like the Engels’ Car Show, the Cruise to the Club is a free and open event, though there will be a $10 to $15 charge for the hamburger luncheon at the club.
Rain or shine, the cruise will take place, though Engels said on Thursday that he’s hoping for improvement in Sunday’s current forecast for a 50 percent chance of precipitation.
But even in the case of rain, he’s still urging participants to come.
“If you can’t bring your show car, just bring your everyday car and take part in the cruise the lunch,” he said.
Engels can be reached with questions about the cruise at 206-300-4114.
