A 1932 Ford truck is the oldest vehicle in Mike and Melanie Rigsby’s collection.
KALIDA — For Mike and Melanie Rigsby, the choice was an easy one.
“We skipped lunch in high school and instead used our lunch money to help buy a 1947 Ford Club Coupe,” Mike Rigsby said.
They still have that vehicle today. It is one of 11 classic cars owned by the couple, who were married right out of high school 55 years ago.
Rigsby worked two jobs to build that collection — at the Lima tank plant and as the owner of Rigsby Performance in Lima. In between work, he found time to put together car shows.
He started The Pioneer Days Car Show in Kalida in 1985, moving a show he hosted in Lima to the Putnam County village. It is held each year on the Saturday after Labor Day.
“Back when the car show started, they were looking for something to boost attendance to the festival on Saturdays, so we decided to give it a try. We were hoping to get 50 cars,” Mike Rigsby said.
That number was easily exceeded and continues to grow today.
Next Saturday’s car show will see 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 thousands of spectators. It’s not so much the number of cars, but the quality of the vehicles that impresses me. Every year the quality gets better and better. There are some really nice vehicles,” said Mike Rigsby.
Touting itself as the oldest festival in Ohio, Kalida’s Pioneer Days will mark its 150th anniversary this year. Fittingly, the car show is also the granddaddy of area car shows, being the region’s biggest and longest-held car show.
As for Mike Rigsby’s own car collection, it includes five muscle cars, each being factory four speeds. Two of them are 1967 Nova SS — “the same color twins from the factory,” Mike Rigsby said. The other three are a 1968 Firebird, a 1966 GTO and a 1969 GTO. The 1966 GTO is a convertible and the 1969 GTO was featured in Hot Rod magazine when the Rigsbys drove it from Lima to the West Coast and back.
Rigsby’s favorite vehicle to drive is one of the 1967 Novas. He calls it the “family car.”
“A man from Cherry Point, North Carolina who was working at the tank plant sold it to me in 1970. We took it on many family vacations when the kids were younger. Now we go cruising with our friends, typically ending up at a restaurant for dinner. It’s been a good car,” he said.
Mike Rigsby also has a 1932 Ford pickup that is a California vehicle. He bought it in 1991. It has a jaguar suspension and “rides as smooth as can be.”
Rounding out his collection is a 1947 Ford Sedan delivery, a 1983 Pontiac Monte Carlo SS, which they bought new, and a 1955 Chevrolet old custom lead sled which was done in 1959 or 1960.
Rigsby, 73, is now retired. He has a home on Indian Lake but continues to tinker with vehicles.
“It’s a labor of love,” he said.
GET YOUR CAR FEATURED
The Lima News publishes photographs of vintage cars, 20 years or older, free of charge in Real Wheels. It is easy to get your car featured:
• Mail: Real Wheels, Newsroom, The Lima News, 3515 Elida Road, Lima, OH 45807.
• Email: [email protected]
• Include: Photograph of your car; year of car, make and model; how many years you have owned the vehicle; car’s history; best memory of car; your name, address and telephone number (the phone number will not be published).
If you have further questions, contact The Lima News newsroom at 419-222-6397 between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. weekdays.
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