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1 of 3 Premium Clicks used this month SUBSCRIBE Print + Online Subscriber Activation | Register x Forgot Password | Need an Account? e-edition | subscribe | newsletter | deals Classifieds Jobs Autos Real Estate FEATURED » NEWS NOW Medford council wants to add 4,400 acres to urban growth boundary ... Jackson County library director receives Mover and Shaker Award ... Robbery reported at Subway on Crater Lake Avenue ... Medford council wants to add 4,400 acres to urban growth boundary ... Jackson County library director receives Mover and Shaker Award ... Robbery reported at Subway on Crater Lake Avenue ... COVER STORY Classic cars, rat rods and lowriders at Medford Rod & Custom Show Comment By Vickie Aldous Mail Tribune Follow @@VickieAldous MailTribune.com By Vickie Aldous Mail Tribune Follow @@VickieAldous Posted Feb. 11, 2016 at 9:00 AM Updated Feb 11, 2016 at 11:16 AM Classic cars, rat rods and lowriders to be showcased this weekend at The Expo. By Vickie Aldous Mail Tribune Follow @@VickieAldous Posted Feb. 11, 2016 at 9:00 AM Updated Feb 11, 2016 at 11:16 AM » Social News Ray Rosa's 1949 Plymouth Business Coupe began its surprising transformation when he sandblasted it to remove rust and then coated it with primer that turned out to be military green. Instead of serving as a base coat for a shiny paint job, the primer became the foundation for Rosa — known as Rat Rod Ray — to turn the car into a custom creation honoring the history of World War II. He added a white general's star and an artistic scene of a WWII-era pin-up girl riding a bomb. In true rat-rod fashion, Rosa also pirated a roof, rear windows, side windows and other parts for the Plymouth from a hodgepodge of other vehicles that ranged from a Chevy truck to a Dodge Charger. "With rat rods, basically you're taking stuff people would scrap and using your artistic ability to create a car all its own," Rosa says. The owner of 18 automobiles, Rosa will display some of his contraptions during the 2016 Medford Rod & Custom Show from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 13, and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 14, at The Expo, 1 Peninger Road, Central Point. Admission is $10, $8 for seniors, active military members and kids 12 and older. Kids 11 and younger get in free. Many of the cars and trucks will be the meticulously restored, shiny autos typically found at car shows. But with 14 area car clubs teaming up this year to put on the event, the range of vehicles will be wider than ever, with rat rods and lowriders taking their place alongside the more traditional finds. Rosa says rat rods are more accessible. "A lot of it boils down to money and the economy," he says. "A lot of people don't have $100,000 or $200,000 to put into a car. Anyone can do a rat rod." The vehicles are often expressions of their owners' personalities. Rosa knows a plumber, for example, who outfitted his Studebaker with hot and cold plumbing fixtures for handles. Car show organizer Rich Wilson says it's acceptable and even desirable for rat rods to have a rough, weathered appearance. "They're somewhat of an anti-show car. They don't have bright paint and shiny chrome. Often they are an anti-establishment type build," he says. "The techniques used are quite fascinating. I've heard of people actually shooting a car's panels to give it more character. They're often rusted, or some people will put acid on it to rust it. They're virtually the opposite of show cars." While restorers of classic cars often search heaven and earth to find original replacement parts, a rat rod can be made up of many makes and models of vehicles, Wilson says. He says another exciting new addition to the show will be lowriders created by members of the local Familia Unida — "Family United" in English — lowrider club. "We're really happy to have them there," Wilson says. "Lowriders are a very unique genre of automobile. They have their own look. They're very detailed and very cool." Familia Unida member Rico Gutierrez says lowriders have hydraulics or air bags that allow them to rock up and down and side to side. The aesthetic for lowriders leans toward lots of chrome and custom paint jobs that often use metallic flake for extra sheen. "It takes about three to five years to restore and modify a lowrider from top to bottom," says Gutierrez, who spent three years perfecting his lowrider. Club members are getting kids involved by working with students at six local elementary schools to build 10 custom lowrider bicycles. The bikes will be displayed at the car show, where a local artist will paint them in school colors. Wilson says he's glad to see kids getting involved in the car show. "These kids are the future. Ten to 15 years from now, they will have cars in the car show," he says. Also at the show, Eagle Point photographer Michael Campanelli will exhibit some of the 1,100 photos he took along Route 66 and share tales from his 74 road trips along the historic highway. Campanelli, who has exhibited his photographs across the nation, said Route 66 has become an international attraction. He once gave a presentation about the highway to 30 tourists from Finland at Meteor Crater in Arizona. "I talk to them about the road, and it ends up being me talking about America," he says. Campanelli says whenever he exhibits his photographs, people tell him their own travel stories about Route 66, which stretches from Chicago to Santa Monica, Calif. "It brings up their memories from the past. A lot of their stories start with, 'When we were kids, every year we traveled Route 66.' Veterans have traveled the road during and after wartime, and they tell me what it meant to them," he says. "For me, Route 66 is about my love of driving and being free to drive all over America." Other activities at the car show include pinstripe and graphic artists painting metal panels fabricated by Eagle Point High School students. The panels will be auctioned at 2 p.m. Sunday. Visitors can have their cellphones and laptop custom painted by the artists during the show. A pin-up girl contest will be held at 3 p.m. Sunday, along with a vehicle awards presentation at 4 p.m. Auto, clothing and food vendors will be available Saturday and Sunday. A portion of the show's proceeds benefit United Way of Jackson County and a Skills USA program for local high school shop students. Call 541-973-9889 or see www.medfordrodandcustomshow.com . By Vickie Aldous Mail Tribune Follow @@VickieAldous MailTribune.com By Vickie Aldous Mail Tribune Follow @@VickieAldous Posted Feb. 11, 2016 at 9:00 AM Updated Feb 11, 2016 at 11:16 AM » Comment or view comments Reader Reaction » STAY INFORMED Email NewsLetter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. Southern Oregon Directory Featured Businesses Loading... 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