This time of year is magical in a sense for us hot rodders, especially those of us that live in cold weather climates and have just endured 5-6 months of Winter. Gone is the snow, ice and cold; Spring has finally shown Winter who's boss which has given way to more sun and warmer temps. Ahh, this is such a great time of year. For those that attend Vintage Torque Fest in Dubuque, Iowa it means it's time to get the cars out of storage and prepare for a road trip. My 12 year old son looks forward to this just as much as us diehard hot rodders. He knows I'll be pulling him from school for a trip to Iowa for a fun filled weekend. As luck would have it our weekend of hot rodding got an early start as our small town also had its first cruise-in Thursday evening. The weather was great and we decided to take the Model A as it sat most of last season. The trun-out was great. Here are just a few photos of some HAMB friendly cars. Friday morning and we're off to Vintage Torque Fest Friday morning we awoke to sun and warm temps. It was time to jump in the '63 Chevy II wagon and head to Iowa. My son commented that he was very excited to have some father-son time. With the open road ahead of us, the music cranked, sun shining and the purr of the 400 small block we were both smiling ear to ear. After several hours of cruising we approached the bridge that leads into Iowa with the mighty Mississippi below. We made our way to the Dubuque County Fairgrounds and to the staging lanes. The gates don't open until noon on Friday so that gave us time to get the car registered and an opportunity to check out some of the cars waiting in line. There is so much to see and do at Torque Fest. It's so much more than just a car show...it's an event! There's live bands all weekend, racing on the dirt track, a great swap meet, art auction, pin-up contest, mini bike racing, an enormous wet bar, vendors, demolition derby, flame throwing exhibition and a car cruise. There's so much to take in it makes time pass far too quickly! Soon the gates were open and cars began filing into the fairgrounds. Our first stop was the swap meet. My son had a list of his own and of course I was looking for some unique scores as well.
After some great times and cool scores in the swap meet area, all I heard was...dad..dad...dad..dad...dad, lets go look at all the cars! So with that we made our way to the car show area for some more eye candy.
The purpose of Vintage Torque Fest is to raise money for the families of children with congenital heart conditions. There is a large hot rod art auction that takes place Saturday afternoon. Here are some of the items that were in the auction. There are numerous buildings on the grounds, all of which have vendors and bikes & cars that are part of the show. After lunch at the 4H building we went outside to take in all the cars that were filling the fairgrounds.
The variety of cars that participate in Torque Fest is vast. There's definitely something for everyone. Vintage camping is encouraged and many old school campers can be found.
Vintage Torque Fest is a celebration of traditional hot rods, customs and car culture... Throughout the day there was plenty of action on the dirt track. The day started with flat track motorcycle racing, then some minibike heats. Later in the afternoon it was the warm-ups for the dirty drags. Some fun grudge match drag racing for anyone that wanted to bring their car on the track...
One of my favorites from Torque Fest was this '55 Porsche Spyder! James Dean had impeccable taste! The time sure flew bye as we were having a tremendous amount of fun! When it was time to leave my boy was sad. We'll definitely make plans to attend next year as the dates have already been set. A quick stop for fuel on the way home and we were still smiling. Although my boy missed a day of school the educational benefits of our "field trip" were not lost on him. He traveled to another state, was able to see some beautiful old iron from a bygone era, participate in a fund raiser for children with heart defects and spent some quality bonding time with dad. Needless to say Vintage Torque Fest 2023 was a hit!!
Nice report. Great event for a great cause. Really like your wagon too. I have a Chevy II 2-dr. sedan project that I haven't done much with lately, I should consider "trading up" to something that runs..... and then have the good sense to NOT tear it apart! Thanks for posting!
Thanks for the coverage and the commentary, much appreciated. I saw lots of visors, is that because you like them, or pretty common in the area? Thanks again.
You're very welcome for the coverage. It's a fun event and perhaps beneficial to get the word out. Especially if someone is looking for an incredibly exciting and interactive car show to attend. Hopefully someone can post more photos of all the excitement I missed, such as the flame throwing exhibition, bands, pin-ups, etc. @daylatedollarshort that is a very great observation on your part. I did not notice the frequency of visors until you mentioned it. To that I'd say, yes visors are quite commonly used on hot rods & customs in the upper Midwest. One would think they'd also be common in Texas (??) with the hot bright sun.
Thanks for posting the pics. Wish we could have made it on the run down to the motorcycle museum. I thought it was on Saturday.
Your coverage and photography is like your SW gauge collection....bloody awesome , great time and experience for your son as well
Yep it was a great show. The wagon I built and donated got a $1000 for the heart family. If you have a chance to attend this show do it,you won't regret it!
...this is the first time I've missed T-Fest since the beginning in Farley, Iowa. Been waiting for some coverage on the HAMB and you just did a great job describing and showing what's there, thanks so much,...and I like your Chevy wagon!
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