A day of rock 'n' roll, cars and bikes...

Wednesday, October 7, 2015
"There were only 242 of these cars made during its production cycle and only 131 made in 2005 and that's why I like it so much," said Russell Yates as he stood a nickle on its edge while his BMW's 452 horsepower, V-12 engine was running. "This demonstration proves how smooth it runs," he added. The BMW went on to win first place in the import car category.

by Tim Bondy

Mountain Home News

Car and bike aficionados met in a parking area just off Airbase Road on Sunday during an inaugural Rock and Roll Car and Bike Show.

"It was a great show with a great turn out and whole lot of good people... it was a fun show," Brenda Ellis said after winning second place in the best import motorcycle category with her 2002 Honda Shadow.

With DJ Bobby Ray Eckley playing classic rock, a food shack serving hot food and cold drinks, the crowd mingled with the owners of the vehicles.

The show vehicles ranged from huge 4-wheel drive trucks to dune buggies and classic motorcycles. With 13 show categories, the organizers said event went off better than expected.

Plans for the show took root after organizers found out the local Lion's Club wasn't planning to host their annual car show event at Carl Miller Park this year. The Doerr family decided to fill that gap.

Muscle cars and motorcycles dominated the categories at Sunday's Rock and Roll Car and Bike Show. "I try to go to all the car shows in the area and the Rock and Roll show has been a pretty good car show," said Kevin Bower, while explaining this year's location is better than the previous Carl Miller Park shows because cars need to be shown in full sun. Bower's 1968 Pontiac Firebird won three awards, including the people's choice and best interior honors along with a second place in the muscle car category.

"This is the first but hopefully not the last annual Rock and Roll Car and Bike Show," Ron Doerr Jr. said

Most of the Doerr family were involved in bringing this show to Mountain Home.

Ron Sr. and Jodi Doerr, Ron Jr's mother and father, took on a large part of the show's organizational efforts while working full time jobs, he said.

Tim and Dee Sallee are the owners of the 2000 Harley Davidson FatBoy.

"My Mom and Dad lost a lot of sleep getting this thing together and so did a lot of other people, I think," Doerr Jr. said while explaining a friend created all the leather tags on the 50 or so trophies that were later awarded at the show.

The Doerr's wanted to keep the local community in mind while organizing the event. It turned out all 12 of the show's sponsors were small businesses from the Mountain Home area.

One of the biggest concerns for Doerr Jr. was not only drawing a big crowd but also getting local car and motorcycle owners to enter into the contest.

"We wanted to provide enough show categories so we could draw in all sorts of car and bikes into the show," Doerr said while letting on he was happy with both the crowd and all the bikes and cars on display.

The winners from this year's show and their entries are as follows:

People's Choice Award -- Kevin Bower with a 1969 Pontiac Firebird.

Best of Show Car -- Bill Ruby with a 1945 Chevrolet Tour Bus.

Best of Show Bike -- Doug Wilson with his Hodaka Vintage Bikes.

Best Engine -- Cody Vaughn with a 1931 Ford.

Best Paint -- Bill Fuller with a 1937 Ford.

Best Interior -- Kevin Bower with a 1968 Pontiac Firebird.

Antique -- Dave Maxwell with a 1964 Buick.

Classic -- First place, Bill Fuller with a 1937 Ford; second place, Irene Heckathorn with a 1965 Buick.

Hot Rod -- First place, Cody Vaughn with a 1931 Ford; second place, Theron Fiscus with a 1937 Plymouth.

Muscle Car -- First place, Crag Hanson with a 1971 Dodge; second place, Kevin Bower with a 1968 Pontiac.

Off Road -- First place, Roc Cox with a buggy; second place, John Booth with a 1952 Willys; third place, John Booth with a Rock Crawler.

4 x 4 -- Monty Green with a 1961 Ford Truck

Rat Rod -- Robert Cox's Rat Rod

Import -- First place, Russell Yates with a 2005 BMW; second place, Maek Rainere with a 2013 Ford Fiesta

Truck -- First place, Barry Nye with his 1985 El Camino; second place, Chuck Thomson with a 1964 C10 Chevrolet.

Special Interest -- First place, Bill Ruby with a 1945 Chevrolet Tour Bus; second place, Sara Miller with a VW Bug.

Under Construction -- First place, Ron Cox with a 1979 dune buggy; second place, Mike Kleinwachter with his VW Trike.

Imported Bike -- First place, Josh Lamanna with a 2011 Yamaha; second place, Brenda Ellis with a 2002 Honda Shadow; third place, Doug Wilson with his Hodaks

American V-Twins -- First place, Tim and Dee Sallee with their 2000 Fatboy; second place, Bob Ashcroft with his 2006 Panhead; third place, Charlie B. with his 2007 Heritage.

Organizers with the Rock and Roll Car and Bike Show extended their personal thanks to all the sponsors and vendors that supported their debut event.