Car shows cruise along in Slater Park

Story and photos
By DOUG HADDEN
Executive Editor

Like feeding the ducks on the pond or taking a ride on the Loof carousel, the weekly car shows in Slater Park have become an annual local rite of spring and summer.

The well-buffed cars and trucks arrayed by their proud owners outside Daggett Delights concession stand also offer a chance to talk about the days when cars had fins, heavy metal was a description of chrome bumpers and you could get three gallons of gas for a buck.

Anthony Walsh, the prime mover behind the car shows as well as the concession stand, says the economy and $4-a-gallon gas has slowed participation this season from what it was when the Tuesday night car shows began about seven years ago. But, as a recent night showed, the vintage vehicles are still quite an attraction, their display accompanied by an oldies-spinning DJ. And -- just as you’d expect -- behind every car is a story.

In one row was Roger Rebeiro’s brilliant red ’56 Thunderbird, powered by a 1987 Lincoln engine; a row away was George Rizzardini’s gleaming white, all-original ’55 T-Bird. Being original boosts the car’s value, as does having the peak year, explained Rizzardini, of Seekonk, noting that “the one that’s bringing the most money is the ’57.”

It’s hard to say why that is, though the two antique car aficionados easily ticked off the differences from year to year: The ’55 did not have the “continental wheel” (spare tire housing on the back), which arrived in ’56, freeing up some trunk space. The ’57 brought a revised body style, a bit bigger in back with a larger trunk and added hot-looking side vents needed to cool off the 12-volt battery, double the prior voltage.

Elizabeth Tremblay sits in her husband Frank's

(he is at left) 1923 replica Model T Ford

“It’s good, we relive the ’50s,” Rebeiro, of Rehoboth, said of the weekly car shows in the park, which sometimes attract more than 100 vehicles.Though as time marches on, he said, the car fanciers’ conversation has turned to other topics. “The operations we’ve had, the meds we’re on,” he laughed.

Rebeiro said the Slater Park venue, which begins the second Tuesday in May and runs to the end of September, is one of many car show stops in the region.

“We kind of make the circuit. There’s a nice one in Easton, Mass. at the Southeast Regional High School, every other Thursday,” which can top 200 cars. “There’s a waiting list to get in there. There’s shows every night of the week, every night of the week you can go somewhere.”

Sundays the Sam’s Club on Route 6 in Seekonk hosts a show; Monday nights there’s one in East Providence outside Standard Hardware. The Wal-Mart in Seekonk and Crescent Park in Riverside, both on Saturday, are other pit stops for the shows.

On this particular night in June, threatening skies did not deter Charlie Matteo of Cumberland from wheeling in his sparkling ’57 Ford Fairlane with its folding roof. “I’ve had it about six years,” said Matteo, who collects only Fords, including a 1915 Roadster and 1928 Phaeton, “the first Model T,” he said.

“I come down every week, just come down and socialize, hang out with the guys,” Matteo said.

Parked near Rizzardini’s white T-Bird was Don Governo’s 1969 Mercury Cougar, featuring a 351 HP engine and the signature grill and tail lights, and sequential turn signals, that made that run of Cougars famous. Except for the top, the rugs and the radio, the car is all original, with just 121,000 miles showing on the odometer.

“I’ve had it 30 years,” since buying it from Mutter Motors in Cumberland “in’70 or ’71,” said Governo, of Attleboro. Though as an antique, insurance rules require the car be driven no more than 2,000 miles a year, he said a good chunk of that comes from his annual drive to Charlotte, N.C. For an alternate stylish ride, he also has a 1940 Chevrolet wood wagon and has completely restored a 1972 Chevy Monte Carlo.

Matteo’s “hang out with the guys” comment notwithstanding, the car shows also attract a female fan element, which this night included Elizabeth Tremblay, resplendent in her drawstring floppy hat for rides in her husband Frank’s canary yellow 1923 replica Model T Ford.

The color choice is not an unusual one for the Pawtucket couple, who live on Lake Street near McCoy Stadium. “This is his favorite color, yellow,” Elizabeth related. “This is the third T-bucket I built,” said Frank. “All yellow.”

Roger Rebeiro (right), of Rehoboth, explains the fine points of his '56

Ford Thunderbird's 1987 Lincoln engine to George Rizzardini, of

Seekonk, who owns a white '55 T-Bird during recent Tuesday night car

show in Slater Park.