23rd Annual Beam Truck Museum Car Show Honors Cam Beam

5:09 AM EST |April 26, 2024|Wise News Network|Events, History, News Articles

A purple classic car with an open hood displayed at a car show. An elderly person sits on a chair near the car, and several other vehicles are visible in the background. — Best of Show Car – 1940 Mercury Coupe by Don Long (Mason Beam-WNN)

By: Rusty Wise – Wise News Network

CHERRYVILLE, NC (WNN) – The 23rd Annual Antique Car Show was a huge success at Cherryville’s Cherry Blossom Festival on Saturday April 20, 2024, from 9 am to 1 pm. The show and festival drew in many spectators from the surrounding areas on a perfectly sunny day. The car show was held by the C. Grier Beam Truck Museum, located at 111 N Mountain Street. The actual show was hosted across the street at the Andy Hovis Community Skate Park parking areas.

This year’s event was in memory of Cam Beam, who passed away in December 2023. Cam’s 1955 Chevrolet was on display with his family in attendance.

A crowd walks among classic cars on display in an outdoor parking lot with tents and brick buildings in the background. — Entrance to car show with Cam Beam’s red & white 1955 Chevy first in line. By Mason Beam (WNN)

Judging the 74 car contest was one of the harder tasks of the day, according to the judges. One judge, Danny Thomas, said: “It’s really hard to judge all these nice cars and trucks, they are all beautiful.”

Michael Beam, a museum supporter and sponsor of the car show, usually gives out the awards. However, Cherryville’s mayor, H.L. Beam gave the trophies to the winners this year, because Michael was unable to attend.

Stan Bumgardner and his wife Kathy are the co-directors of the museum. Stan was the emcee for the award ceremony. He thanked all the sponsors and all the individuals that helped. After some door prizes were given out, the top prize trophies were awarded.

Receiving the Best of Show award was Don Long for his 1940 Mercury Coupe. Long, who is a Vietnam War veteran, is originally from Kings Mountain, North Carolina, but he now lives in Bessemer City. He has spent thousands of hours working on the car.

“It’s a 1940 Mercury Coupe, its top has been chopped two and half inches, the fenders have been welded in, running a 302 high output ford engine, C4 transmission, nine inch rear end, 373 gears, coil over shocks, and a little bit of everything,” said Long.