WEST FRANKFORT - Cars were bumper to bumper in West Frankfort on Saturday, but nobody cared.

A car show to kick off the Old King Coal Festival drew a large crowd with over 70 entries of fancy vehicles from across Southern Illinois.

"This is a '69 Rally-Sport Camero," said Tom Vandzandt of West Frankfort.

Tom and a friend sat in law chairs a few feet away from his prized car, although he hadn't collected any wins having showed the car only twice, including Saturday.

"I just bought it about 3 months ago," he said. "I had a '69 Camaro when I was 16, and I loved it and regretted getting rid of it. I have two kids now so I had to get one a little bit more ready to go."

Vandzandt's Camaro was definitely ready to show Saturday with a shiny red exterior and the hood propped open to show off the car's muscle.

"I'm really hoping I'll win something today," he said. "It's the only Camaro here."

Dennis Reuter of Pinckneyville and Robert Edwards of Mount Vernon examined what Reuter had under the hood of his self-built '32 Ford 3-window coupe.

"We were just discussing this front end," Reuter laughed. "I've had this car for about 4 years. I built it between May 2003 and July 2004."

Reuter said he has shown the car quite a bit in the last four years but is most proud of a recent award he took home from the National Street Rod Association.

"They only picked two out of 3,700," he said. "So that's pretty good. It was the merit award for involvement and dedication to the hobby."

Edwards said it is the love of the hobby that attracts him and most other car enthusiasts.

"You have something a little bit different than everybody else," Reuter said.

Edwards said he believes a car represents a driver.

tara.fasol@thesouthern.com / 351-5824