Looking for a fun weekend activity for the whole family? Utah Valley University’s annual auto show features food, live music and over 700 hot rods, classics cars and motorcycles. And proceeds benefit students!
Ray Campbell, shows off a 1967 Camero, just one of the 700 cars featured at the 24th Annual UVU Auto Expo.
More than 700 vehicles will get their place in the sun at Utah Valley University’s 24th Annual Auto Expo and Swap Meet on May 21. This year’s stable features everything from classic roadsters to modern muscle, with plenty of elder statesmen, like a 1912 Metz, rounding out the field.
Any patrons inspired by the gleaming horsepower can also wheel and deal at the state’s largest automotive swap meet, where more than 300 vendors will sell auto-related wares, including old cars.
Every “ooh” and “ah” counts — by simply showing up and slapping a friend on the back while admiring a 1967 Mustang, patrons are contributing to automotive education, as all proceeds of the show are donated to scholarships in automotive training. This goes to studies in everything from diesels to collision repair to alternative fuels. Nine students have received such scholarships in the last three years.
“We need to make sure we have upcoming generations trained to take care of vehicles,” said Kim Chiu, assistant director for Career & Technical Education at UVU. “There is such a demand for them. Fewer and fewer kids are going into automotive areas, but we still need them.”
Apart from fundraising, the University’s Department of Automotive Technology hosts the show to prepare future automotive workers and preserve automotive tradition. Rolling out the classics — especially those from this year’s featured collectors Lynn Miller, Jay Page, Ardell Brown and Dr. H. DeWayne Ashmead — keeps people interested in the automotive industry, Chiu said.
“I am not a car person and don’t know much about them,” she said. “However, to see these restored vehicles is amazing. Some of the cars have themes, and the paint jobs are amazing.”
Special attractions this year include special guest Charley Hutton, an award-winning automobile painter, the Utah Hot Rod Hall of Fame Presentation and musical band Plan B. Utah Gov. Gary Herbert and UVU President Matthew S. Holland will also be in attendance.
All events take place at Thanksgiving Point Electric Park in Lehi, Utah. The Auto Expo and the Swap Meet run from 7 a.m.-5 p.m. on May 21, rain or shine, and the swap meet will also open from noon-5 p.m. on May 20. Admission is $5 per person, or free for children 5 years and younger. Parking and admission to the swap meet are free.
For more information and directions to Thanksgiving Point’s Electric Park, visit www.uvu.edu/autoexpo
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