Car collector Mike Stowe of Boyne City has been coming the the St. Ignace auto show almost every year for the past 20 years. This year, Mr. Stowe will be the host and chauffeur to a friend, car show guest of honor Ken Gross. The two met on a foundation board that provides grants and scholarships to young people, and they have become friends.

Although he has an impressive collection of show cars at his workshop just outside Boyne City, Mr. Stowe has not yet decided which one of his cars to bring to the show.

His interest in cars stems from an experience he had when he was a young man. At age 15, he and his father started talking about cars and eventually bought a 1949 Chevy convertible they spent a year rebuilding together. Once he received his drivers license at 16, Mr. Stowe hopped in the car he and his dad had built, took off, and has never looked back.

"After that, my dad got the bug, too," he said. Since then, Mr. Stowe has been able to reclaim four of the cars his father built through the years, including a 1936 Ford Roadster and a 1935 Chevrolet Coupe.

The '36 Roadster was probably the most important to him of all the cars he owns, mostly because of the story behind it and its sentimental value.

"Every car I have, there is a story about it," he said. "That is what creates the passion."

Just seven years after buying that first car, at only 22 years old, Mr. Stowe started Industrial Magnetics in Boyne City, a company that still operates there today.

In 1994, he opened Great Lakes Motor Works off M-75 southeast of Boyne City, which he has run ever since. While the company built cars for customers at one time, it now focuses on Mr. Stowe's personal collection, although some maintenance and restoration service is also offered.

"I decided the best thing to do is to build cars for myself," he said. The love of working on cars has lasted this long, he said, because he enjoys the process even more than the final result.

"It's starting something from the beginning and following it all the way through to completion," Mr. Stowe said.

As to the debate between classic car restorers and hot rod enthusiasts, he sees the value of both sides of the argument.

"I love cars," he said. "I appreciate the fact that you can take a car back to exactly how it came off the assembly line. Modified cars are much more driver-friendly."

With a garage splitting the difference between custom hot-rods and immaculately restored vintage cars, Mr. Stowe said he sees the value of both disciplines, and they are very different. Restoring cars focuses on a lot of research and meticulous work, while hot rods allow builders to be more creative, he said.

"Thank goodness we have both," he said.

Whatever car he brings (which may or may not be his 1940 Ford Coupe) will likely be a featured car at the St. Ignace show.

Even though he's been to the St. Ignace show so many times, he always enjoys the cars and the people, some of whom he doesn't get to see anywhere else.

"I enjoy the chance to talk to old friends," he said, "and it's always interesting to see what new cars come each year."

The annual show is a positive thing for the local community as well as the car community, Mr. Stowe said, and it has his full support.

"I hope this continues for a very long time," he said.