VERMILION RESERVATION - “It is kind of like a disease,” said Dennis Oberloh, who traveled up to the Tower area from Redwood Falls for the InterMarque Car Club’s annual rendezvous. He and his wife Theresa proudly displayed their little green MG convertible, a 1958 British-built model. It came mostly disassembled in six different pieces, and they hired some other vintage car enthusiasts to help restore it to road-worthy condition.
His car was one of about 75 on display at Fortune Bay on June 11. The club hosts their rendezvous one year in the upper Midwest, and the next year in Canada, which explained the large number of license plates from both Ontario and Manitoba. The event had been canceled the last two years due to the pandemic.
“About four times a year we will do a longer trip,” Dennis said. The couple also owns a 1950 MG TD, a 1970 MGB, and about eight other MG’s they use for parts.
Ken and Diane Merrill were some other MG enthusiasts at the show. This time the couple had driven their newest vintage car, a forest green 2001 Toyota MR2 Spyder, a 5-speed manual, up from St. Paul. This was the first time they had taken this car on a road strip. The only tricky part, Diane said, was the size of the two-seater car’s tiny trunk, located under the front hood, which wasn’t even large enough to fit a standard-size carry-on suitcase.
Parts are a central concern for many of these vintage car enthusiasts.
“We usually ride in packs,” said fellow foreign car enthusiast Steve Greenstein, who had his 1974 Triumph TR6 on display. Greenstein said, with a grin, that preferably you ride in groups on these longer trips with people who are better mechanics than you are. Greenstein said owners usually travel with spare parts, which can come in handy.
In fact, one participant in the car show had a clutch go out in their car while up in Ely and ended up renting a U-Haul to tow their car back home.
Greenstein bought his TR4 back in 2014.
“It was sad looking,” he said, “and the motor was frozen.” Greenstein had the engine rebuilt, a new fuel system installed, new suspension, and new brakes, which made the car road worthy. Some work he was able to do himself, the rest he had to hire out. The next step was new upholstery and a paint job, which transformed the car back to its original glory.
The InterMarque is a central gathering place for more than 40 foreign car clubs in the upper Midwest. Greenstein belongs to the Minnesota Triumph Club, which has about 150 members.
“Our club started back in 1985,” he said, “and some of the original members are still active.”
The club not only connects people with a love of vintage cars, but also builds lifelong friendships.
The Minnesota Triumph Club helps newer enthusiasts with their restoration projects. Members can host “tech sessions” at their homes, Greenstein said, where people come with their own expertise, parts, and tools to help fix a problem with a car.
“These people can do just about anything,” he said.
The club really works to bring in younger members, Greenstein said, because the hobby historically has attracted people “with plenty of gray hair.”
Triumphs are a more affordable vintage foreign car than others that were on display. Greenstein said many sell in the $20,000 range, whereas some of the others on display are worth well over $100,000.
Many of the cars on display were unique and not models normally seen in the Midwest.
Michael Barone drove his 1971 Citroen DS 21 up from St. Paul. The car had a unique central hydraulic system and the back tires were set in narrower than the front tires.
A longtime collector, Barone has owned this car for six years, but has had one or another Citroen for close to 30 years. He said he wasn’t the one to do the mechanical work on his collection.
“I let people who know what they are doing work on them,” he said.
The event proved a popular outing for area residents.
“This was so unique for our area,” said Brian Anderson, public relations manager at Fortune Bay. “It wasn’t just old Chevy’s. There were so many unique vehicles that people really enjoyed looking at.”
Learn more about vintage car clubs:
• http://intermarque.org/
• www.mntriumphs.org