Beautiful late-July weather greeted a large, festival-like atmosphere for Northampton Area School District Student Council’s annual car show, held July 25 at East Allen Township’s Bicentennial Park. Vintage oldies music played in the background, vendor tents offered an array of items, food and refreshments enticed attendees, crafters showed off their products, and 270 new, old and vintage cars were shined up and ready for the event. Some vehicles on display dated back to pre-1930.

The 11th annual car show could only be described as a shimmering success — a large crowd of attendees, people proud of their well-maintained, shiny classic cars, excellent weather and much more.

Northampton Area High School Student Council members present were Sophia Titano, Xuan Lam, Madison Michael and JosMarie Mateo, who assisted wherever needed.

Co-leaders of the car show Roy and Sue Maranki were excited at the amount of cars and other vehicles present and the high attendance. Roy Maranki noted about 255-plus vehicles entered into the judging contest. Numerous trophies were awarded. Proceeds from the car show go to Student Council to support its activities.

A large basket raffle and gift card raffle were also part of the day. Mary Beth Lloyd, from Mount Cobb in the Poconos, was cheerfully placing tickets in the cups for the baskets she hoped to win.

The deejay for the day was “T Bucket Tom,” of Macungie, who played 1950s through 1970s music.

There were food trucks selling the standard festival fare like funnel cakes, and another truck was selling various foods like burgers, hot dogs, pulled pork sandwiches and other items. There was also a lemonade stand squeezing out fresh lemonade.

There were vendors selling handmade kitchen items and another selling a wide array of baseball hats, with other vendors offering jewelry, antiques, old-car collectibles, car stickers and more.

Jillian Shuey, a young entrepreneur from Northampton, with her mother, Christina, staffed her Jillian Jems vendor tent. She sold attractive craft items with gems.

M&B Sales operator Maggie and her associate Brenda offered homemade towels/potholders, necklaces, bracelets, key chains, charms and delicious-looking baked goods. Call 610-393-3357 for information about the items for sale.

Donald and Diane Schwartz represented Zinc City Motorcycle Club. Call 610-570-8411 for more information about the group.

The vintage vehicles at the car show, nearly all of which run on gasoline without computer chips and current technology, guided one back in time when nearly all cars’ components were mechanical. As new cars continue to advance with computer chip and AI technology toward electric power, these old cars may be more cherished and garner increased public interest in the coming years.

There were more than cars at the event; vintage motorcycles and even tractors, including a 1923 Ford T Bucket and a 1941 Alley Cat, delighted attendees. The 1923 Ford T Bucket is an iconic, highly customized hot rod featuring a lightweight bucket-shaped Model T body and an exposed massive V-8 engine.

With 270 vehicles to view, there was surely something for everyone’s taste.

The car show was a great place to spend a few hours immersed in yesterday’s auto technology. The vintage rock ‘n’ roll music, socialization with many interesting people, games of chance and delicious food kept the event a raving good time.