Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
The 16th annual City of Lakes Car Show, presented by the Warsaw Breakfast Optimist Club, had at least 176 cars, trucks and motorcycles on display downtown Warsaw Sunday.
Ken Shamblen, co-chair of the car show committee with Tom Tearney, said it’s a fundraiser for the Optimists to serve the youth of Kosciusko County.
“We have direct support like the Santa House, the oratorical contest, the essay contest. Indirect, through grants we provide local philanthropic service organizations like CASA, Big Brothers Big Sisters. We just awarded a grant to the Leesburg Drama Department so they could put on their first play. There’s probably 25 a year that we do. There’s a lot,” he said.
While there were 176 vehicles in the car show around 2 p.m., he said they had 197 in 2025.
“It’s still a full house, the weather is good and we had, I think, over 140 by noon, which is incredible. We had people here by 9:30 in the morning - we didn’t open until 10:30, so they were anxious to get here, so they’ve been here a long time,” Shamblen stated.
The show was scheduled for noon to 5 p.m. Sunday along Center and Buffalo streets, with registration from 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. and judging from 2 to 3 p.m. The awards ceremony was scheduled for 4 p.m.
Chris Cage was the music DJ for the first three hours, with the Lake Area Community Band performing at 3 p.m.
There were nine categories for the car show, including car pre-1950, car 1950-1966, car 1967-1980, car 1981-2003, car 2004-present, Corvette, imports, truck and motorcycle.
Participants for the annual car show have come from Indianapolis and Ohio, with the Corvette Club coming from Fort Wayne. Shamblen said some of this year’s participants came from Brownsburg and “an expanded area.”
The Warsaw Breakfast Optimist Club meets at 7 a.m. Wednesdays at the Shrine Building at the Kosciusko County Fairgrounds.
“Beyond serving the youth of Kosciusko County, we want to make this a community and family event,” Shamblen said.
On hand Sunday was a racing simulator. The Optimists also partner with the Warsaw Bands and the Leesburg Scout Troop 3729, Shamblen stated, so they had their fundraisers on hand.
“Just get the car enthusiasts out here, families, community and just celebrate. There’s a lot to celebrate with all these cars here,” he said.
Some of the vehicles on display ranged from Model As to 2026, an Army truck, a 1970s Honda, a Fiat 500, a Ferrari, a NAPA work truck from 1929 and more.
For more information, visit the website WarsawOptimist.org/fundraisers/CarShow
To see photos and videos from the car show, starting Monday, May 18, Shamblen said people can visit https://nh-creative.com/2026-wboc-car-show/?utm_source=qr_code&utm_medium=print&utm_campaign=2026-wboc-car-show-qr-code&utm_id=2026-wboc-car-show-qr-code
