Main Street was lined with polished chrome, custom paint and classic cars Sunday, July 19, as the True Impressions Car Club wrapped up the annual Harvest Days celebration in Battle Ground with its sixth annual car show.
The event marked the first time the club hosted the show along Main Street after outgrowing previous venues, drawing more than 125 registered vehicles and earning an invitation to return to Main Street next year.
"The weather is great. I can't ask for any more," he said. "The four years before that, we were at Playmakers and Margarita Factory, and we were too big. We needed some bigger space, and that's where the city got involved and they gave Main Street this year and invited us back, and I think that we're having a great turnout. I think it turned out great."
While hundreds of spectators admired everything from lowriders and hot rods to military vehicles and lifted trucks, Ramirez said the event's purpose extends beyond showcasing classic automobiles.
"The proceeds that we do, we helped out over 30 families the last six years with the proceeds that we get from this car show," Ramirez said. "So, this is kind of a big event for us."
The club had registered 125 vehicles by Sunday afternoon and was hoping to reach 150 before the show's end. The show featured a wide variety of vehicles, something Ramirez said is central to the event's appeal.
"We like variety. We don't like just to see one type of car," Ramirez said. "We like to see every type of car from the 4x4s to the mini trucks to the military cars to the hot rods. We like them all."
Lowriders remained a focal point, though, with intricate customizations ranging from candy paint and pinstriping to engraved metalwork and gold plating.
"We got a lot of candy, a lot of graphics, a lot of paint striping involved with our lowrider stuff," Ramirez said. "The big new thing for the last few years is engraving. A lot of metal work is done. Gold plating, striping, pin striping, gold leafing, gold wheels. It's the lowrider culture."
Ramirez also said the local car scene has experienced renewed energy in recent years, thanks to several active clubs hosting events and raising money for charitable causes.
"I think that the culture has been a little dormant, if I would say," he said. "There's a lot of very active car clubs. We all have our own benefits and proceeds that we like to do and help out. I just think it's gotten a little bit more active the last five or six years."
He added that younger enthusiasts have also become increasingly involved.
"I think it's getting more active and more popular. I really do," Ramirez said. "Even with the younger kid generation, they all do their own things. They're getting out and they're being active and what we call active is throwing a car show, throwing a meet, throwing something. Get people out looking at cars."
Although organizers are already planning improvements for next year's event, Ramirez hopes the show continues growing into one of Clark County's premier automotive gatherings.
"I wish the festivities would have stayed from Friday to Saturday through Sunday. It would have been nice to have the carnival and stuff still going and the vendors still going," he said. "That's something that we're going to bring up for next year. It's in the works."
Ramirez believes Battle Ground's Main Street has the capacity to host a much larger event in the future.
"I think we got enough room to probably host probably 250 cars. We're at 125," he said. "Our goal is to make it like — I'm going to compare it to Kalama or Le Center. Those guys have 400 to 500 cars every year that are there. If we can have Battle Ground do something like that, it's going to be amazing."
