Autofest muscles in to Oshawa’s Lakeview Park
Published August 22, 2023 at 9:13 am
Oshawa’s love affair with classic autos returns this weekend when Autofest muscles its way to the city’s lakefront.
It’s the 30th anniversary of the show, which is a showcase for classic muscle cars, modern muscle cars and vintage autos of all descriptions, with 1,500 classic cars, customs, trucks and tuners expected at Lakeview Park for the long-running and always popular Autofest Nationals.
From Corvettes to Corvairs to Camaros and from Dusters to Daytonas and Mustangs to Model Ts, oh my, Autofest will have it all, with car owners making the trek from all over North America to show off their vehicles to thousands of visitors.
This year features an Old Skool Reunion (hot rods, rat rods and custom rods of every variety), Tunerfest (showcasing cars from a different side of the enthusiast community) and the Modern Muscle event (contemporary Mustangs, Camaros and Chargers and all their high-powered cousins).
Registration begins Friday with the first event on the schedule the annual Kars on King event when hundreds of vintage autos take over the streets of downtown Oshawa.
The gates open at Lakeview Park Saturday at 9 a.m.
Some of the attractions at the show, presented by the Motor City Car Club, include a poker run, a silent auction of collectibles, the Women’s World gift and craft show and, of course, the Show & Shine all weekend long.
There will also be a vendors’ row, food trucks, product demos, a kids zone and a Classy Classics fashion show to keep attendees entertained all weekend.
There will be cash prizes for the category winners and the Parade of Winners Sunday afternoon will close out the show.
The popularity of Autofest has never waned over the years, with organizers printing t-shirts commemorating the COVID-cancelled 2020 show as “the greatest show that never happened” and presenting a modified drive-thru show in 2021 to keep the spark alive.
Nearly $10,000 was still raised during those two lost years for the Grandview Children’s Centre, the charity of choice since the inaugural event at General Motors headquarters in 1994, and the event has raised about $400,000 for the charity in all.
Autofest returned to all its glory in 2022.
Admission is $15 for adults, and children under 12 are free.
