Classic cars and camaraderie

John Talley is proud of the fact that his 1946 Mercury Coupe is not a "trailer queen."

"We wanted something we could drive," Talley said Friday in downtown Carson City at the 15th annual Silver Dollar Car Classic. "We drive it to every show we go to."

But sometimes, that type of commitment comes at a price. When the drive is nearly four hours long in the July heat, as the Talley's was from Martinez, Calif., Thursday, car troubles can happen.

"It was the trip from hell," said Patti Talley. "The carburetor went out and we sat in Placerville for hours, then it set us back more than $700."

The gleaming black-cherry car with pink and purple graphics and pin-striping looked no worse for the wear as it sat in the Nugget parking lot prior to the start of the street dance.

And it was worth it, said Patti Talley, who lived 32 years in Carson City before moving to Martinez.

"We can sit around and meet new people, look at cars, talk about cars and see a lot of old friends," she said.

The Talleys, who went to high school together in Richmond, Calif., met up again at their 40th class reunion, and have been married for seven years.

Six years ago, they bought the Merc, their first classic car.

"We'd been looking around for awhile so I started looking online," Patti Talley said. "He was watching TV in the family room, and I said, 'You gotta come see this.'"

They paid $18,000 and put another $15,000 into it, but still have dreams of tweaking things a bit more here and there, like maybe a new paint job, said John Talley.

"This is our hobby," he said. "It's more fun than golf. All the people who are into cars are nice people, and we get to see some of the fanciest cars you've ever seen."

John Rowan, of Minden, said he's been attending the Silver Dollar Car Classic for 10 years, and always enjoys looking over all the cars as well as the camaraderie of like-minded people.

His baby, a red 1949 Oldsmobile Rocket 88, is also accustomed to being on the road.

"I drive it a lot," he said, "especially this time of year. This is the same car I had when I got out of high school."

Rowan bought the car in Omaha, Neb., for $20,000, put another $15,000-$20,000 into, but it's now valued at $50,000-$75,000, he said.

"It's worth it," he said. "It's real rare."

Another reason the Olds is priceless to Rowan, he said, is that he won the Winternational drag races in it in 1962 and 1963 in Pomona, Calif.

Bob Davies, promoter of the Silver Dollar Car Classic for the past eight years, said he's expecting about 300 cars over the course of the weekend.

"Our pre-registrations were right even with last year's, while most car shows are down this year, so we're pretty ecstatic," he said.

The event continues today in Mills Park with a Kiwanis pancake breakfast from 8-10:30 a.m., a Show & Shine from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. and about 40 vendors.