Pontiacs gathered with vintage Buicks, Oldsmobiles, Cadillacs and GMCs on March 22 at the Valley of the Sun Pontiacs chapter #107’s 28th annual BOPC-GMC Car Show and Swap Meet. The event was held at the East Valley Institute of Technology in Mesa, Arizona, a tech/trade school that offers dedicated automotive skills programs.  A donation is made to this program annually from show proceeds.

Chapter member Carl Bylander assumed the Chairman’s role again this year for our annual show.  Multiple committees were established and staffed by club volunteers that encompassed registration, raffles, vendors with a variety of products, food trucks, Day of Show registration, parking, judging, membership, swap meet and t-shirts.

This year’s show had many “firsts.”  An online registration process, coordinated by the chapter and car show vendor CarShowPro, was used for the first time.  It worked well with pre-registrations, reaching 216 cars.  The iCloud system made car show judging very organized and efficient. Volunteer judges used their cell phones to scan QR codes, specific to each participant’s window card, to open a judging form, then tallying results using a scale of 1-20 for areas such as interior, engine compartment, paint and wheels/tires. The cleanliness of the undercarriage was used as a tiebreaker for 1st and 2nd  place trophies. The show offered trophies in 48 classes.

Another first for our show was the highly unusual March heat. Efforts were made to lessen the effects: gates opened early, a 20’ by 40’ tent was rented and set up for attendees, plenty of water was supplied, and the award presentation was moved up an hour. 

Volunteers assisted the 40 entrants who came that morning and entered for Day of Show using the online registration. There were some pre-registered attendees that did not bring their cars because of the heat. 

Total number of cars on the show field was 205, with strong representation from Fieros and a record setting GMC field. These cars joined an increasing numbers of Buicks, Oldsmobiles and Cadillacs.  Pontiac representation was strong with many beautiful cars ranging from pre-50s Pontiacs to the big bodies of the 60s and on.  The GTO presence was solid with 56 across the classes, followed by 38 Firebird/Trans Ams and 10 Tempest/ Lemans to name a few.

It was a great day to celebrate the beautiful cars we drive, the car hobby we love, and friendships built over the years.  Here’s looking forward to next year.

BOPC SHOW PROCEEDS BENEFIT EVIT AUTO TECHNOLOGIES PROGRAM, GET YOUTH INVOLVED IN CLASSIC CAR HOBBY 

Over the past three years, the Valley of the Sun Pontiacs club has donated $9,000 to the Automotive Technologies Program at the East Valley Institute of Technology to help fund class computers, mechanics tools, and other resources for its program, which enrolls high schoolers interested in working in the automotive field – including on classic cars. 

 (top, l-r) Carl Bylander, Valley of the Sun Pontiacs member and chair of the club’s Buick-Olds-Pontiac-Cadillac + GMC Car Show, handed over a check for $3,000 to instructors John Wilbourn and Carlos Mata Tinoco last year to help the school buy tools and supplies for the Auto Technologies program. (bottom) Students work on diagnosing a problem.

“EVIT offers students the chance to come in to our program not knowing anything about repairing cars, and work their way towards a career in the automotive industry,” Said John Crook, an instructor for the Automotive Technologies Program, which is located on EVIT’s Mesa campus on Main Street.

Students enrolled in the program receive scholarships to learn about automotive repair over a 11-month session in addition to continuing their regular high school classes.

“This is a 2-year program where students earn ASE certifications A1-A8 on completion,” Crook said. “They split their day between high school and the EVIT program.”

Established at EVIT in 1991, the Automotive Technologies program in Mesa offers a student garage/classroom setting fully equipped with lifts, diagnostic equipment and tools, and uses vehicles donated to the program to help students learn auto repair skills. “Students have a great chance to learn fundamental vehicle basics and work in hands-on labs designed around real world repairs and procedures,” Crooks said.

For more information on EVIT’s Automotive Technologies program for high school students, visit https://www.evit.edu/programs/automotive-technologies-high-school, email the staff at auto@evit.edu or call 480-461-4000.