WINONA LAKE – Exotic cars from as far away as Cleveland and Detroit parked at The Village at Winona Saturday for the Exotics on Winona car show. Nearly a thousand people from cities like South Bend and Fort Wayne came to take a look. Roy Hauth, 86, Winona Lake, was showing his 1954 Jaguar XK-120 that he’s owned for 20 years. “I bought it up in Michigan. It was in a restoration shop. A local attorney out of Detroit had it. Everything he did to it was wrong. I had it torn apart from front to back,” Hauth recalled. “I got a lot of books on it. I learned by doing.” He said he recently threw away 320 trophies he had won in car shows for his Jaguar because he moved into Grace Village and didn’t have room for them anymore. “The only time I drive it is if I go to a show. My youngest son drives it usually,” the retired NIPSCO employee said. Karl Nelson, South Bend, brought his 1999 360 Modeno Ferrari. As of Saturday, it only had 5,200 miles on it, and Nelson said he bought it new. He said it drives “incredible. They’re incredible cars.” Ever since he was a kid, he said he’s always been a Ferrari fan. Before his 1999 car, he owned a 1977 308 but sold it to get the 1999. “I’ll keep it awhile,” Nelson said. A 2016 Ford Shelby GT 350 with only 800 miles on it was being displayed by James Whiteman, Lakeville. He said he ordered it in January and got it June 3. The exotic car show Saturday was the car’s first showing. It’s not a garage queen, but it’ll only come out on nice days,” Whiteman said, noting his Mustang GT is his car for daily driving. “It’s a very limited production car,” he said of the Shelby. Ford only made 500 of the 2015; 5,000 of the 2016s; and then will make 5,000 of the 2017s before discontinuing the model, he explained. It has a flat plain crank engine, hand built by Ford. It’s very unique with that engine, and it will run up to 8,500 RPMs, he said. “It really revs,” he stated. It was built to keep up with all the exotics. “Ford did a good job with this car.” Dream Makers Automotive, 6393 Cross Creek Blvd., Fort Wayne, brought the exotic car show to Winona Lake and had three cars on display. Jared Lencke, marketing and customer experience manager with Dream Makers Automotive, said he had 40 cars registered for the event. He said the cars came from “all over,” including South Bend, Valparaiso, Fort Wayne and a group of four were coming at about 1 p.m. from Detroit. There also were a couple of guys from Cleveland with their cars, he said. “There’s not a whole lot of exotic car shows. They want to go where a dealer is putting them on so that they know it’s going to be a good show and worth the trip,” Lencke said. The three vehicles Dream Makers had there Saturday – which were for sale – included a 2001 Lamborghini Diablo VT 6.0 for $450,000; a 2012 Lexus LFA, one of 499 in the world, for $449,9000; and a 2012 McLaren MP4-12 for $147,500. Dream Makers’ Facebook page later estimated that over 650 people attended the car show. Adam Atherton, Fort Wayne, brought his 2000 Fiat 124 Spider that he purchased two years ago. Asked why he bought that particular type of car, he replied, “Number one, it’s more affordable than the other cars here.” Being that he and his wife are both over 6 foot tall, he said it’s also a convertible that both of them can fit into. It drives “wonderful. It just floats down the highway,” he said. He also drives it regularly. “It is a driver. Cars are meant to be driven,” he said. Tommy Figa, Warsaw, had his 1999 Porsche 911 on display that he’s owned for 5 years. It has 74,000 miles on it. “She’s a driver,” he said, adding that during the summer he drives it about once a week. It drives “perfect, amazing,” he said. “This is a keeper.” When he bought it, he said it was pretty much in perfect condition but he had to do some minor work on it like fix the cam timing. “It sounds like a beast. It’s a beast,” he said. Village at Winona Managing Director Jeremy Marsh was happy with Saturday’s turnout. “We’re blessed that the clouds parted, the sun came out and the weather is nice today,” he said. “We’re glad that everyone was able to come out Father’s Day weekend and enjoy it.” The 2017 event is already planned for 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. June 17.
