BIG RAPIDS — The Bulldog Motorsports Club hosted its annual car show Saturday afternoon with several dozen of the area’s best looking cars from West Michigan.
From classic cars and muscle cars to mud trucks and Italian imports, the Bulldog Motorsports Club spring car show brought in a host of vehicles while raising money for Angels of Action — a non-profit organization in Big Rapids, 200 S. Stewart Ave. With live music, food trucks and spring-like conditions, the event drew rides and many onlookers.
Among the winners for the event was Brian Myers, a Ferris State University student who brought his yellow 1972 Dodge Challenger to the show. It was something that he questioned whether he’d be able to do after the car’s driveshaft was broken the week prior. Spending all week working to make the car able to run, Myers would win best classic for his efforts.
“This is obviously the show to go to for our program, and it turned out pretty good with live music, food,” Myers said. “This past week alone it went from ‘Okay, the car is going to make it’ to ‘Okay the car isn’t going to make it because I don’t have this part and I broke the driveshaft.’ I said to myself that I had to make it to this show since I’m helping set some things up here.”
The day was a culmination of three years of work for Myers, who bought his Challenger at 18 years old. When he saw it on Facebook’s marketplace, he didn’t even have an account. He had to have his mom message the car’s seller. The owner sold it to Myers, wanting it to go to a good home.
Since buying the car, Myers touched everything but the yellow paint job.
“This past winter alone I rebuilt the engine, redid the engine bay, rewired the whole car and added power steering,” Myers said. “Essentially anything mechanical on this car I’ve touched.”
Myers’ car was one of many cars, trucks, and motorcycles that made its way to the Ferris State University parking lot. These cars ranged from 1920 buggies to mud trucks the looked like they could compete in monster truck competitions, a mid-1970s Ferrari was also in attendance. Multiple bikes were on display ranging from a BMW bike to Kawasaki’s.
Category winners were:
Best in Show: 1960 Ford Thunderbird
Best Domestic: Ben Hooper 2007 Corvette Z06
Best Import: Tom Vine 1979 Ferrari 308 GTB
Best Classic: Brian Myers 1972 Dodge Rallye Challenger
Best Off Road: Tim Seipke 2021 GMC 2500 HD Denali
Best Bike: Gavin Rudlaff 2004 Harley Davidson Sportster 1200 Roadster
Best Build: Mark Anthony Custom 1998 Chevrolet 1500
Bulldog Motorsports Club Pick: Jim Smith 1954 International Pickup “Woody”.
Over $700 was raised for Angels of Action, including many non-perishable food items.
“We had nearly 125 vehicles enter and roughly 350 people showed up to our car show,” Bulldog Motorsports Club president Zach Seipke said. “This event was a dream becoming a reality, and for the first year back in over four to five years, it was truly a success. It was amazing to see the vast support from alumni, students, and the local community. Everyone involved was enthusiastic about the entire event. A special thanks to my team for helping make this possible and to all our trophy sponsors who were involved.”