Forty Ford Day has been around for nearly four decades. There is a good reason for this – it’s an outstanding show. From the name, you might think that the show is a celebration of the Forty Ford and it is – but it is much more than that. While there are a lot of Forty Ford’s in attendance there are also a whole lot of non-Forty Ford’s parked in LaPalma Park in Anaheim, California.
A row of ’40 Fords
Forty Ford Day is put on by Forties Limited and the first Forty Ford Day was held in Mile Square Park in 1976. Twice it was held in Mile Square Park and the other 35 times it has been held in LaPalma Park. Lee Kelly, a member of Forties Limited, came up with the idea of having a car show – clearly it was a good idea. This year 223 cars filled LaPalma Park and 119 of those cars were Forty Fords (1939, 1940 and 1941 commercial vehicles are lumped in with Forty Fords). The show officially opened at 9:00 a.m. but a line for entry formed around 6:00 a.m., however, since the Park offers plenty of parking, there is no need to wait in line. At 9:00 a.m. with no line it took about two minutes to drive in and park. Below are a few of the nice cars that were at the show.
In the morning cookies, muffins, coffee, soda and other good things were on sale and around 11:00 a.m. lunch went on the grill.
Hamburgers, potato salad, chips and soda was a great lunch and sitting in the grass under the shade of a tree made for an enjoyable picnic.
Dylan Kline showed off his Dad’s 1966 Mustang Coupe.
When Dylan wasn’t drawing raffle tickets he was close to his Dad’s Mustang
Forties Limited was selling raffle tickets for both 50/50 cash prizes and various merchandize prizes. There were two 50/50 raffles. The winner of the first drawing in the morning took home $363 and $363 was given to Children’s Hospital of Orange. The second drawing held in the afternoon yielded $250 to the lucky ticketholder with $250 going to CHOC.
Throughout the day raffle tickets were drawn and merchandise prizes given away. The raffle ticket for the Premium Prize was drawn around 2:00 p.m. and Betty Buzzelli was the lucky winner of a 42” Samsung Flatscreen TV.
Betty Buzzllei won the ’42” flatscreen TV
Ty Owing (center) drew the afternoon winning 50/50 raffle ticket
The judges were busy throughout the morning choosing the 15 cars to win awards. The awards given out were Best of the ‘60’s; President’s Choice; Best ’40 Coupe; Best of the ‘50’s; Best non-’40 open; Kid’s Choice; Best non-’40 Commercial; Ladies Choice; Best non-’40 Sedan; Best ’40 Commercial; Best ’40 Sedan; Best Survivor; Best Original ’40; Best non-’40 Coupe; and, Best ’40 Open. The winning cars lined up around 1:00 p.m. so everyone could take a look and talk to the owners. At 1:30 the awards began. Each winner received a unique trophy hand made by club members. A few of the winning cars are shown below. Click here www.timingtower.smugmug.com to see all the award winners.
The day started out overcast, but the marine layer burned off in the afternoon letting the sun shine through. It was a perfect day and no better way to spend Sunday. This show is always held on the Sunday after Father’s Day. The folks in Forties Limited work hard and they put on an excellent show. Next year will no doubt be another great show. Check the Forty Ford Day Facebook page next year for info on the 38th Forty Ford Day.
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