Drive your classic cars to Elma

Heat on the Street Aug. 4 and 5

Wes and Karen Crate of Tumwater believe classic cars, especially ones that have countless hours of work put into them, are meant to be driven and not coddled in driveways or show rooms.

Unlike some who are concerned about what day-to-day traffic could mean for their classic cars, the Crates are all for driving their 1957 Plymouth Suburban to car shows and on extended trips.

“For the fun of driving,” Wes said when asked why they drive the vehicle as opposed to putting it on a trailer.

“Why spend all this money working on a car and making it all legal and then turn around and put it on a trailer?” he asked.

The Crates put the finishing touches on their Plymouth in 2003 after just nine months of work and a helping hand from a family friend.

“Both of us are retired, so we worked everyday, 10 hours a day and got it done,” Wes said.

The car’s maiden voyage saw it travel 2,200 miles to Alberta, Canada for a car show, and the Crates said aside from some smoking through town when traveling at lower speeds, the car performed spectacularly.

The Plymouth is different from what car enthusiasts may be used to seeing, which was Wes’s plan all along.

“I wanted to build a hot rod, but wanted to do something different when I stumbled upon this station wagon,” he said.

The car is not considered a restoration, but rather is custom made because of everything that has been changed.

“There’s not a thing stock on it, we changed everything on it,” he said. “I mean you name it and its been changed on there. I’ve only got about 5 feet of the original frame.”

The Crates say that unless someone is really into cars, they wouldn’t be able to tell all that has been done to the car. From the firewall ahead it’s all made from a Dodge Dakota, meaning the frame, steering and motor. The back is put together using a Nissan 300 Z. The Crates also added dual sun roofs to the vehicle.

“When you start a car, and I think this is with everybody, you keep all the records of what you want to do to it and all of a sudden that file starts to get pretty thick and you realize that you’re probably over your limit, so you put everything away and kind of don’t add it up,” Wes said with a laugh.

That being said, Wes said the car is valued at around $40,000. He bought the car from its previous owner for only $750.

“I wanted certain things on the car, and the project just started to come together as we went along,” Wes said.

The Crates drive their Plymouth whenever they get the chance, and have driven it to 11 states and multiple provinces of Canada for vacations and car shows. They entered it in last year’s Heat on the Street and won the award for Best Custom Truck.

“I don’t know if they had an award for best custom car, or if they classify it as a truck, but that’s the award I got,” Wes said.

The Crate’s will again this year take their Plymouth to the 9th Annual Heat on the Street in Elma, Aug. 4 and 5.

The event kicks off Friday night with a cruise-in and people can attend for a night of free music and food. Registration for the car show, $15, will continue throughout the night. Registration gets participants a goodie bag filled with items from local businesses, Grays Harbor Raceway tickets and a Heat on the Street shirt.

“It’s pretty cool everything you get for $15,” said Elma Chamber of Commerce assistant director Paula Jones.

The Main Street show on Saturday runs from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. and along with classic cars on display will be numerous vendors throughout the area. The Elma VFW will provide corn on the cob and baked potatoes, Semper Fi Concessions will have snow cones, hot dogs and pickles on a stick. Grave Diggers BBQ from Spanaway will be at the event selling pulled pork and Philly cheesesteaks.

The event will include the Kids Carnival where families can take their children to enjoy puppet shows, a dunk tank, a bouncy house and carnival games.

Both Wes and Karen said they enjoyed Heat on the Street last year, and recommended that people stop by and check out the classic cars.

“We felt it was very friendly. You know, a lot of times you go and you don’t feel real comfortable with the people around, but Elma people were so nice,” Karen said.