A large contingent of Dodge Vipers cruises through a rainstorm on State Street in St. Ignace during the Down Memory Lane Parade Friday, June 27. When the downpour began, midway through the parade, spectators took cover under awnings and umbrellas. Vipers were featured this year at the St. Ignace Car Show. More Car Show photographs, pages 14, 15, 16 In a colorful display of style and power, more than 50 Dodge Vipers roared down Mackinac Trail for Kewadin Cruise Night, leading the 33rd annual St. Ignace Car Show, which brought hundreds of featured cars, corporate automotive displays, and thousands of spectators to the streets and side lots of St. Ignace Thursday, June 26, through Saturday, June 28.

About 880 cars were displayed as registered entries this year, compared to just under 1,000 last year, and many more were paid participants who showed their cars off the main display area. For the main display Saturday, cars were parked solidly from Marquette Street all along State Street to near the Northern Lights Restaurant at the other end of town.

The 49th Field Regiment Pipe Band from Sault Ste Marie, Ontario, braves a heavy downpour without missing a beat, continuing to play during a storm that drenched the Down Memory Lane Parade in St. Ignace Friday, June 27. Rain soaked much of the 27th annual Down Memory Lane Parade Friday evening, preventing some participants from marching, but it did not dissuade Vipers, show cars, some floats, and clowns from the State Street procession. In defiance of the weather, the 49th Field Regiment Pipe Band from Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, pierced the air with bagpipe music during even the heaviest downpour, playing for the crowds of spectators who took cover under awnings and umbrellas to watch them. The rain began midway through the parade.

"This morning I wouldn't have given you ten cents for the show, but things turned out great," said show organizer Ed Reavie at the awards ceremony, noting that ominous clouds Saturday morning gave way to blue skies and a hot day for the main exhibition, where cars, trucks, and motorcycles gleamed downtown for the thick crowds to enjoy.

Rick Litzner of St. Ignace admires one of General Motors featured vehicles just before the Down Memory Lane Parade in St. Ignace Friday, June 27. The vehicle includes an engine capable of burning ethanol, exclusively, rather than gasoline. The St. Ignace Car Show is dominated by inspired mechanics, many of whom rebuild their own cars and drive them long distances to display.

In St. Ignace, "I meet people who do a lot of the work on their cars themselves. They take pride in what they do. It's different from paying someone to build you a million dollar car," said Ron Vanzytveld of Hudsonville, who won Best of Show Original, the Winkelman Award, for his Ludington green 1940 Pontiac Coupe.

It was the second time he has won Best of Show in St. Ignace.

Seven years ago, when trucks were less common entries at car shows, Mr. Vanzytveld searched for a pickup to restore. With his wife, Elaine, he found a 1948 GMC, and over three years, he painstakingly restored it. In 2006, it won Best of Show in St. Ignace. Saturday, the couple turned heads again with their Pontiac.

D'Ann Rauh of Taler, Texas, stands next to her rare Dodge Viper, just before Kewadin Cruise Night Thursday, June 26, in St. Ignace. The vehicle is one of two painted by Marvel Comics to promote recent Spiderman movies. The car is very popular with children, Mrs. Rauh said. "It's a fun hobby," Mr. Vanzytveld said.

Not only does he enjoy the work of transforming old vehicles into showpieces, it leads to the ultimate satisfaction of driving and displaying them, he said.

Not far away, also parked on State Street, stood the vehicle that won Best of Show Modified: a midnight blue, 1939 Ford Convertible owned by Dale and Sharon Surber of Marion, Ohio. They drove their masterpiece 410 miles to St. Ignace to display.

Mr. Surber and his friends transformed the once-ragged vehicle into what it is today. A nurse in Columbus, Ohio, Mrs. Surber said she worked hard to pay for much of the restoration. Now, she encourages her husband to attend car shows to display their convertible.

The vehicle has a steel body, Mrs. Surber pointed out, rather than a fiberglass body common to newer cars. The car has been chopped three inches and the top has been altered, creating a contoured, "swoopy looking" elegance showgoers enjoy, she said.

Elaine and Ron Vanzytveld pose next to their prized possession, an original Ludington green 1940 Coupe, which won the Best of Show Winkelman Award at the St. Ignace Car Show Saturday, June 28. The Surbers enjoy the St. Ignace show, she said, because participants not only have the chance to bump elbows with other gearheads, they get to drive in Kewadin Cruise Night, take part in the parade, visit shops, and take in the Straits scenery. Few other shows have so much to offer, she said.

"If I don't drive it, there's not much point in going," said Glen Linton of Hemlock, standing next to his gleaming red 1961 Chevrolet Impala, which he took down to the frame, sandblasted, re-chromed, and rebuilt, a process that took him 1.5 years of steady work.

After about seven years of attending car shows, he said he likes the moderate size of the St. Ignace event. At larger shows, he said, he feels "lost in the shuffle."

Kyle Campbell of South Haven displays his 1971 Chevrolet Nova at the St. Ignace Car Show Saturday. To set it aside from others at car shows, he custom mixed his own paint for the car's color scheme. "They've got the ideal place to do this," he said, looking down State Street and across the bay.

The Impala "floats," he said. The weight of the 4,000-pound vehicle enables it to pass over bumps smoothly, compared to lighter cars that get jostled by imperfections in the road.

One of the younger entrants at the show, Kyle Campbell, 23, showed off his 1971 black and green Chevrolet Nova.

At his home in South Haven, Mr. Campbell did the body work and painted the vehicle. He works at a body shop, so he knows how to get a car to shine, but he wanted uncommon colors. He mixed the green himself to get a hue that could not be duplicated easily. No other car in sight in St. Ignace had its color scheme.

"I drive it all the time," he said. "I have all kinds of things to drive around."

At left: Gilbert Meltvedt of Mount Clemens stands next to his 1964, heavily modified, Chevrolet Nova station wagon Saturday, at the St. Ignace Car Show. The vehicle's acceleration capacity will give you "quite a thrill," Mr. Meltvedt said. He is the son of Henry Meltvedt of Cedarville. "It's a totally different feeling than driving a new car," he said. "I get a lot of respect driving a car I worked on myself. It's something I'm proud to show."

Restoring it with his friends is an ongoing process. After replacing the suspension system, "it goes down the road better than a new car," he said, and the best things about the Nova are its power and capacity for speed.

"I can bury the speedometer at 125 miles per hour." It can hit 113 miles per hour within a quarter mile, he added.

Down the street, the "tuners" displayed vehicles much newer than most in the show.

Steve Howard of Rose City, standing next to his 2003 silver Nissan 350Z painted with blue flames, explained that the smaller engines common to the model are not lacking in the capacity for speed, and they get good gas mileage. He has been clocked at 178 miles per hour, and the 360 horsepower still engine gets 32 miles per gallon, he said.

Sharon Surber of Marion, Ohio, stands next to a midnight blue, 1939 Ford convertible, which her husband, Dale Surber, restored. The modified vehicle won the Best of Show Seabrook Award Saturday at the St. Ignace Car Show. The Nissan was built for the Autobahn in Germany, he said.

Tuners are car enthusiasts who focus on modifying newer vehicles, an advantage if you want to "jump in and go to California without breaking down," he said.

Mr. Howard believes there is a growing interest in "tuners" and their cars among the traditional car show crowd.

"I thought St. Ignace was all old classics," he said. Shortly before the show, two Rose City youths approached him, asked him what he was doing for the weekend, and invited him to the Car Show.

"Older people are getting interested in what I've got," he said. Car show people "are opening up to new vehicles...It's neat mixing old school and new school."

Mr. Howard usually displays his car at Number One Parts Incorporated (NOPI) shows, huge shows that focus on newer vehicles. At a NOPI show in New York, his car was featured on the Speed Channel.

He drives it everywhere.

"I won't trailer a car. They weren't made to be trailered," he said.

Mr. Howard has old cars, too, including a 1986 Monte Carlo SS, and a 1969 Mustang.

"In the morning, I get up and think, 'What do I want to drive?'" he said.

Corporate displays, including innovations and historical replicas by General Motors, drew attention at the show, and at the far end of town, the Viper clubs displays impressed the crowd. Dodge began Viper production in the early '90s, creating Vipers that now range in price from about $30,000 for an early, used model, to more than $100,000, said Alex Ristanovic, president of the Illinois division of the Viper Club of America.

The Viper owners had great time at the show, enjoyed touring the area, and took in a dinner cruise on the Straits of Mackinac, Mr. Ristanovic said.

"Everything went seamlessly and our group walked away with some very fond memories," he added. "It was billed as one of our best multi-day events ever, and we delivered. It's going to have a four-page spread in the national Viper magazine and will likely make the cover."

Sunday at 10 a.m., the Vipers took to the highway again, heading out just as they arrived: in style.