All-Chevy Show scheduled for Bridgeville

The Batmobile of 1960s TV fame may have been a Ford product, but Scott resident Perry Minnis does a good job of evoking its appearance with a Chevrolet.

Given his family history, that’s appropriate.

“My dad was a general manager for Ford, and I always wanted a Corvette,” he said about Chevy’s venerable luxury sports car. “But I never had the heart to go out and buy one while he was around.”

His latest purchase of a Corvette, his sixth, landed him a black 2015 C7 coupe with 27 miles on the odometer and a stylistic head start on what he calls the Vet-Mobile.

“Believe it or not, a guy bought this car, put big-dollar options on it and figured out he couldn’t drive a seven-speed manual,” Minnis said.

The automobile resembling what Adam West once drove will be part of the Steel Town Corvette Club’s 42nd annual All-Chevy Show, scheduled for 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. July 30 at Bridgeville Volunteer Fire Department, 370 Commercial St.

Along with Corvettes, the event regularly draws vintage and classic models such as the Camaro, Corvair, Chevelle, Monte Carlo and Nova.

“We take a picture of every car that is registered in the show with the person in the car,” Minnis, the club’s president for 12 years, said. “They get a copy of that picture plus a photo frame.”

His C7 should provide for plenty of photo opportunities.

“Typically for a show, I take the top off and I have Batman sitting in the driver’s seat. And then I let kids get their picture taken with Batman,” he said, and he is stocked up on miniature Corvettes to give to young guests.

“Batman” in this case is a 6-foot dummy that Minnis bought while he and his wife, Gail, were shopping in anticipation of Oct. 31.

“I thought, you know what? I’m in a Halloween store. I could buy a Batman outfit and dress the dummy up in it,” Perry said. “The only problem was that the dummy has a real baby face on it.”

He solved the issue by using a candy-collecting pail that looks like Batman, cutting off the back half and sticking it on the mannequin’s head.

From a distance, the effect is realistic. And Minnis often has fun with the dummy at car shows, such as one he resolutely attends in Ocean City, Md.

“I move Batman over to the passenger seat. As I’m driving down the Boardwalk, I have this going around the back,” he said, referring to a rope, “and I raise his hand. And people actually talk to this thing. I never had the heart to say, ‘It’s just a dummy.’”

Fun is a key component of the Steel Town Corvette Club, which celebrated its 50th anniversary last year. Members meet the Tuesday of each month from April through October, and they often join for spontaneous car cruises and other activities.

“We do a lot of things together as a group,” Minnis said. “It’s the love of cars, No. 1, but it’s also the camaraderie and friendship.”

The club has a charitable side, as well. Proceeds mainly from the All-Chevy Show allowed for donations of nearly $30,000 over the past five years to organizations such as the Bridgeville Area Food Bank Santa’s Kids of Monroeville and Vests for Vets.

Colussy Chevrolet of South Fayette has sponsored the club for decades and partners in sponsoring and promoting the show since its inception. Founded as a Baldwin Street showroom in Bridgeville 105 years ago, Colussy is the oldest family-owned Chevy dealer in the United States.

The All-Chevy Show features free spectator admission, prizes for 18 classes of vehicles, a variety of auction baskets, door prizes awarded every half hour and a disc jockey playing music from the classic era of cars.

Of course, Steel Town Corvette Clubbers will pay close attention to the weather forecast, as precipitation means no show.

You never saw the Batmobile cruising in the rain, after all.

For more information, visit steeltowncorvetteclub.com.