Flint Township View

Auto Fair honors city of Flint’s history


GENESEE COUNTY— The 47th annual Sloan Museum Auto Fair is set to take place at the historic Crossroads Village & Huckleberry Railroad this weekend, on Saturday, June 22, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday, June 23, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. The annual event serves as a fundraiser for the Sloan Museum to preserve and restore their many unique and culturally significant automobiles, while also honoring the City of Flint’s history and its impact on the nation’s automotive industry.

This year’s Auto Fair will include a wide array of fun, family-friendly activities, events and exhibits, while also introducing a number of new attractions. The setting of the event, at Crossroads Village & Huckleberry Railroad, has proven in the past two years to offer attendees a wonderful and scenic venue, with plenty of built-in activities, as well as a clean, dustless environment in which more than 600 vehicles are showcased.

“This year, we added more bounce houses – four total – in an effort to make this event as family-friendly as possible,” said Thomas Self, General Chairman of the Sloan Auto Fair Committee. “We’re continuing the Make & Take model car program, where a kid can build a cool car with help of their parents. Or a local model car club, and take it home with them for free. There will be all kinds of food available, such as hot dogs, hamburgers, elephant ears, candy, ice cream, cotton candy, tacos and barbecue.”

“We typically have more than 600 vehicles, and, of course, we also have the Village for people to check out, and it’s all one price, so you can see a lot at the Auto Fair,” said Cathy Gentry, Director of Business Operations for Sloan Museum and Longway Planetarium. “We also have a really cool 1956 Buick X, which is a prototype, so there’s not many of these, and it’s in pristine condition. For people who are interested in the history of stock cars, we’ll have a 1970 Plymouth Superbird that actually raced in NASCAR, which is coming all the way from Milwaukee…”

As in years past, all of the proceeds from the annual event will support the acquisition, restoration, maintenance and promotion of the Sloan Museum’s unique collection of vehicles and archives. This collection is a significant record of the important historical position Flint and Genesee County hold in the development of the American automobile industry.

“With the Auto Fair, we raise awareness of this collection, raise money to preserve the collection, provide a venue to educate the youth of our region on the importance of the automobile and, just as importantly, we provide a very low-cost weekend of enjoyment for families and car enthusiasts,” said Self.

Each year, approximately 50 awards are presented to registered vehicles, from Best in Show to Best Foreign, and everything in between. Vehicle registration is $20 for display-only and $25 for judged vehicles. Only vehicles that are registered to be judged are eligible to win awards. Vehicles registered to be judged are asked to be at the event by 11 a.m. on Sunday in order for awards to be presented at 3 p.m. Online registration is closed. Please register at the show.

This year’s Sloan Museum Auto Fair is presented by Genisys Credit union, with sponsors including Attentive Industries Inc., View Newspaper Group and ABC12.

For more information, including a list of events and available prizes, visit www.sloanautofair.com.

Alex Petrie