‘By far our best turnout’: Popularity grows for Hartwood Acres Father’s Day car cruise

The annual Father’s Day car cruise at Hartwood Acres continues to grow in popularity as many people gather to celebrate classic cars and family traditions.

“This is either our ninth or 10th year. We lost a year for covid,” said Allegheny County special events manager Bill Deasy.

“Today is by far our best turnout. The last two years, we’ve been lucky to have great weather. This is such a perfect space for it, and we even have the concert at 7:30 p.m., which attracts more people.”

The car cruise is scheduled in conjunction with one of the weekly Sunday concerts held at the Hartwod Acres Amphitheater in Hampton from June through September.

Jimmy Ross and the Jaggerz played after the car cruise, but a list of well-known performances is still ahead, including country artists Marty Stuart and His Fabulous Superlatives, with Pittsburgh legend Joe Grushecky sharing the bill, on July 9 and ’70s funk/rock/soul hit maker WAR the following week.

On Father’s Day, the concert was an afterthought to many of the families who brought their classic and exotic cars out for everyone to see. And for Matt Boyle 49, of Ross, it’s about more than just the cars.

“I let all the kids sit inside my 1972 Chevelle SS. I figure, how else are they going to get the feel of it? I want kids to enjoy these cars. I know some people don’t really let the kids touch the cars, and I get it. But for me, it’s really all about the kids,” said Boyle, who has two boys of his own.

The annual car cruise attracts some unique vehicles, including one van that made a quick appearance on the TV show “American Pickers.”

Greg Luhowiak 54, of Ben Avon brought his 1974 Dodge V200 van that is still customized the way that it was done in 1974 by the original owner. Each side is decked out in beautiful air-brushed murals and the inside still sports a little window into the engine and a CB radio in the dashboard. Luhowiak bought the van eight years ago in Pella, Iowa.

“On one episode of ‘American Pickers, they were picking Harley parts at the original owner’s house out in Iowa. He had a picture of the van hanging on the wall, and the guys asked him about it. Well, at that time, I was the new owner. People started calling me and saying, hey your van is on ‘American Pickers,’” Luhowiak said.

The annual Father’s Day car show is becoming such a tradition to some families that Dan and Vicki Dezort of Indiana Township drove straight back after their vacation in North Carolina’s Outer Banks and came directly to the car show. Dan and Vicki brought three generations of family members and four generations of cars with them.

“This is a 1975 Fleetwood station wagon. It’s one of only six made. The other wagon (a blue 1994 Caprice) was my grandfather’s, but he passed away, so I bought it to keep it in the family,” said Dan Dezort.

Parked next to the Dezorts was Brendan Lane, another member of the family who has his own passion for Volkswagens. He brought one of his three VW buses.

“I’ve probably owned close to 70 Volkswagens in my life. Now, I have three of these vans, one for each of my little girls,” said Lane, who fixes and repairs old cars as a hobby.

The car cruise was filled with enthusiasts and novice lookers alike, but perhaps no one was prouder of their restoration than Mike Quinn, president of the North Hills Historic Auto Club and resident of Allison Park.

Quinn invested 10 years in restoring a 1951 Ford farm truck with an all-wooden bed. The truck has local historic ties, as it belonged to Fretwell Farms on Peebles Road. The red truck was hand-painted with regular paint when Quinn got it.

“It was actually used as a work truck on the farm,” said Quinn.

You’d never know the truck was used for work as it sits today. Quinn keeps the truck meticulous, and his wife, Antoinette, enjoys riding in it when she’s not driving her own 1963 Mercury Monterey.

“We both love classic cars,” she said. “I’d be driving mine today if I wasn’t waiting for a part. But the truck is great. It only has 23,564 miles on the engine, and that’d be original.”

Events such as this one are organized by a local company called carcruises.com. Vito Capaccio started the company to gather like-minded people who loves cars.

“The website is really clean and basic. It tells the people exactly what they need to know, when and where to go, you know,” said Capaccio.

Mike Frazier of 3WS radio emceed the event, handling the music and announcements.

For more information about Allegheny County concerts, visit www.alleghenycounty.us/special-events/summer-concerts.aspx.