Real Wheels: First car bought with lunch money

KALIDA — For Mike and Melanie Rigsby, the option was an quick just one.

“We skipped lunch in significant school and as a substitute applied our lunch money to support purchase a 1947 Ford Club Coupe,” Mike Rigsby stated.

They still have that automobile currently. It is 1 of 11 typical automobiles owned by the few, who were being married correct out of significant college 55 several years back.

Rigsby worked two employment to build that selection — at the Lima tank plant and as the proprietor of Rigsby Functionality in Lima. In between do the job, he discovered time to place together car or truck shows.

He started off The Pioneer Times Car or truck Demonstrate in Kalida in 1985, transferring a demonstrate he hosted in Lima to the Putnam County village. It is held each calendar year on the Saturday immediately after Labor Day.

“Back when the vehicle display commenced, they were seeking for some thing to boost attendance to the pageant on Saturdays, so we resolved to give it a consider. We were hoping to get 50 automobiles,” Mike Rigsby explained.

That quantity was quickly exceeded and continues to increase currently.

Up coming Saturday’s motor vehicle display will see far more than 300 entries from Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Illinois and Kentucky lining the streets of Kalida from 9 a.m to 4 p.m.

“It attracts countless numbers of spectators. It is not so a lot the number of cars, but the high-quality of the autos that impresses me. Each individual 12 months the good quality will get superior and much better. There are some actually nice autos,” reported Mike Rigsby.

Touting by itself as the oldest competition in Ohio, Kalida’s Pioneer Days will mark its 150th anniversary this 12 months. Fittingly, the vehicle display is also the granddaddy of area motor vehicle reveals, staying the region’s biggest and longest-held car show.

As for Mike Rigsby’s individual car or truck assortment, it includes 5 muscle vehicles, just about every staying manufacturing unit four speeds. Two of them are 1967 Nova SS — “the exact coloration twins from the manufacturing facility,” Mike Rigsby claimed. The other a few are a 1968 Firebird, a 1966 GTO and a 1969 GTO. The 1966 GTO is a convertible and the 1969 GTO was featured in Sizzling Rod magazine when the Rigsbys drove it from Lima to the West Coastline and back again.

Rigsby’s most loved car or truck to drive is a single of the 1967 Novas. He calls it the “family motor vehicle.”

“A gentleman from Cherry Issue, North Carolina who was working at the tank plant sold it to me in 1970. We took it on numerous household vacations when the young ones were youthful. Now we go cruising with our close friends, generally ending up at a cafe for supper. It’s been a good motor vehicle,” he reported.

Mike Rigsby also has a 1932 Ford pickup that is a California car. He acquired it in 1991. It has a jaguar suspension and “rides as easy as can be.”

Rounding out his assortment is a 1947 Ford Sedan delivery, a 1983 Pontiac Monte Carlo SS, which they acquired new, and a 1955 Chevrolet outdated personalized direct sled which was finished in 1959 or 1960.

Rigsby, 73, is now retired. He has a residence on Indian Lake but continues to tinker with automobiles.

“It’s a labor of like,” he reported.

GET YOUR Vehicle Featured

The Lima Information publishes photographs of vintage cars and trucks, 20 a long time or older, free of charge of demand in Authentic Wheels. It is uncomplicated to get your auto showcased:

• Mail: Authentic Wheels, Newsroom, The Lima Information, 3515 Elida Street, Lima, OH 45807.

• E-mail: [email protected]

• Incorporate: Photograph of your auto 12 months of auto, make and design how several several years you have owned the car or truck car’s background most effective memory of auto your identify, deal with and telephone number (the cell phone number will not be released).

If you have even further issues, speak to The Lima News newsroom at 419-222-6397 concerning 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. weekdays.

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Arrive at The Lima Information at 419-222-6397.