Each year, the team at Evolution Performance invites local enthusiasts out for a car show, both in the Spring and in the Fall. This year’s Spring event was postponed once due to rain, and moved to the summer, finally taking place on June 30th. Despite near-record-high temps and a brutal late-June sun cooking the attendees, nearly 100 cars parked for the day. How does 97-degree high temperature with humidity above 50-percent grab ya? Like you’re taking a shower while fully dressed, that’s how. Near-zero cloud cover had everyone searching for shade all day.
Ultimately, the most important aspect of the event is that all of the proceeds raised at the event—both entry fees and raffle earnings—went to a worthy cause: a healthy donation to Joshua’s Juvenile Avengers, which is dedicated to raising awareness for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. Joshua Barksdale, a local 12-year-old car enthusiast, spent the whole afternoon talking to show attendees about the battle he fights every single day. Joshua gave an exceptional speech discussing the challenges that he faces while living with Type 1 Diabetes. He often has to stick himself up to ten times a day, to monitor his blood sugar and ward off any sort of preventable health issue from occurring—when he gets up in the morning and again before bed, after eating, strenuous activity, and at other times daily.
“I was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes when I was seven years old. That means that I have been fighting this autoimmune disease for five years,” says Joshua.
“It sounds like a lot, and my friends and family call me a superhero for fighting every day just to live and be as normal as possible. Mostly I just feel lucky. I am lucky because I am here. Lucky because every day I wake up, I have a chance to fight for a cure for this disease. Thank you to Evolution Performance and everyone involved for helping me fight against this monster year after year by hosting these amazing car shows. It means so much to me and my family to have all of your support. It tells me that I am not alone in this fight. I have people around me who will help me fight and that I don’t walk this path alone. One day I believe I will be T1D-free. Thanks so much for listening to my story, thank you for being here to support me, and for your donations!”
The Best of Show award went to Clare and Ellen Bingman’s ’38 Ford 5-window coupe. The super-clean car is all-steel and based upon a Total Cost Involved Engineering chassis which uses Mustang II front suspension, four-link rear suspension attached to a 9-inch Ford rear, and Wilwood brakes. INTRO Twisted Matrix wheels, Yokohama tires, and a set of coilovers complete the car’s underpinnings.
The whole interior of the car has been modified, with a custom dash, chrome ididit steering column, and a Colorado Custom steering wheel which matches the wheels on the car. A JVC audio system offers all of the modern touches like Bluetooth and satellite radio. A set of eight-way power Cadillac bucket seats have been finished in leather.
Underhood was the biggest surprise: an LT1 engine from a 1997 Corvette, complete with accessories from well-known rod shop Street & Performance.
Lots of turbo-boosted cars on display, like Juan Fernandez’s super-clean S550. The silver machine wears a Hellion Turbo twin-turbo kit underhood.
Last year’s Best of Show winner belongs to Courtney Fromal. I stopped and talked to her for a while about her beautiful ’69 Camaro SS, which runs a 383-cubic-inch 500 horsepower engine underhood. She and her father have spent years perfecting this car, and it certainly shows. The small-block four-speed car was turning heads all day long.
More turbo goodness in the form of Matt Francis’ twin-turbo ’13 Boss Mustang. Power comes from one of Fluid Turbo Concepts’ dual-snail kits, which features Precision turbos. These kits are relatively rare; I’ve only seen a couple over the last few years. They use cast stainless exhaust manifolds and feature OE-level engineering and performance. This is the way the S197 Boss Mustang should have been from the factory.
This Grabber Blue Maverick is owned by “Skeeter” and has certainly attained its driver status. How can you not love the rubber stuck to the quarters? There’s no doubt that this car gets driven and enjoyed to the fullest.
Virtual racing for the kids—and the big kids too. This trailer was full of people all day long going head-to-head on the road course.
Carl’s 2017 GT350R is yet another of the twin-turbo machines that was on display. The car runs a Hellion Turbo system to make tons of real-world horsepower. I was able to see the buildup of this car when Evolution tech Steve Schecterly was working on it a few months back; let’s just say there are a ton of good parts on it, and I’d be extremely happy to have it in my garage.
Just some of the raffle prizes that were offered through donations from a number of local businesses, with all of the proceeds going to Joshua’s Juvenile Avengers.
I almost walked right past this S10 on my way around the show, before I did a double-take and looked under the hood. The LS1 looks like it should have been there from the start. I’ll never understand why GM didn’t offer one of these back in the day.
Dalton Winkler’s 2016 Mustang GT sports one of Edelbrock’s newest E-Force supercharger kits, based around the 2.65-liter Eaton TVS rotor pack. He recently upgraded the car with a ton of mods, including new L&M Engines intake camshafts, a new fuel system from Fore Innovations, Injector Dynamics ID1300x injectors, a complete exhaust system including American Racing Headers long-tubes, and a full BMR suspension package. This car puts down 770 rwhp and 686 lb-ft of torque—strong numbers for a car that’s driven quite often.
At the track, this 2014 GT-R knocked down a 10.44 at 134mph on street tires. The car uses 3-inch intakes, catless downpipes and midpipe along with an Ecutek tune to run those numbers. 1,300 cc injectors, bigger fuel pumps, and new blowoff valves contribute to the 650 horsepower and 635 lb-ft of torque the car has put down on an all-wheel dyno.
Fred Frieze’s ‘65 Mustang Coupe is the epitome of clean. The understated Wimbledon White exterior combines with the inline-six engine in one of the most popular cars of all time: 559,451 Mustangs were sold in 1965, second only to 1966’s 607,568 cars in terms of all-time Mustang sales.
Perhaps you’ve heard of the 727 HP Mustang for $40,000 offered by Lebanon Ford Performance? Well, Chris Speciale did, and picked one up to drive every day. These cars were originally outfitted with Roush supercharger systems by Lebanon Ford, and Speciale has since upgraded his Mustang with a number of other items to improve its performance even more. From the McLeod twin-disc RXT clutch and lightweight steel flywheel to the Tremec Magnum XL six-speed transmission to the mixture of Steeda, BMR, and Roush suspension parts, Speciale has made changes to lock the car’s performance down during his daily commute. With a tuneup from Rob Shoemaker, he has run easy low 11s with the car at the track.
A number of different car clubs turned out to help support Joshua and the Evo gang; from Pig Vicious Racing to Hostile Street Cars and the PA Chapter of the Venom Outlaws. At the end of the day, awards were handed out and a good time was had by all, despite the overbearing heat. At the end of the day, the donation to Joshua, and the smile on his face, tells the whole story. Kudos to all, especially the entire Evolution Performance team who worked tirelessly in dreadful heat to help this young man’s cause.
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