Town will celebrate 150 years with 10 days of activities
Ask Ron Spencer the top speed of his hot rod, and he’ll say he’s “not brave enough to find out.”
Spencer, 63, Fishers, gave up racing sailboats a long time ago because he likes his hot rods more.
The Canadian-born car enthusiast, who raced on drag strips in Canada when he was young, no longer races, but he still loves hot rods.
“If it’s got wheels, I like it,” said Spencer, who says he’s been a hot rodder since high school. He liked to drag race against friends in his family’s 1937 Singer, 1958 Ford sedan, 1960 Chevy Impala or 1962 Volkswagen.
“Depends on what car I had that day,” said Spencer, who also fixed up a couple of other old Fords to drag race.
Spencer is president of the Indianapolis-based Cluster Buster Hot Rod Club. In conjunction with the 10-day Sheridan Sesquicentennial celebration, the club will host the Lucas Oil Wheels & Wings Fly-In, Cruise-In Plane, Car and Motorcycle Show on Saturday at Sheridan Airport.
Established in 1948, it’s the second-oldest continuously operating club in the nation, starting as a drag race club, he said.
The club was instrumental in the development of Indianapolis Raceway Park, now O’Reilly Raceway Park, and annually hosts Ray Skillman’s Classic Car show in Greenwood in July.
Spencer said owners of planes, hot rods, street rods and motorcycles are invited to register by noon to participate in the show. Admission is free to spectators. Shuttles will run from downtown Sheridan.
He owns a 1929 blue Ford roadster he built from the ground up. It sits on a 1932 Ford frame and has a 350 Chevy V-8 engine.
Spencer built the car just the way he wanted it. “A lot of car parts I made right here on my workbench with a hacksaw and a grinder.”
He used old switches he’d saved in a toolbox from his grandfather, fog lights from his grandfather’s car and a gearshift made from an old door handle.
Spencer also owns a 1946 red Ford convertible that he disassembled down to every nut and bolt, and put back together, making changes he wanted.
“I’m not a trophy hunter, though I’ve certainly won my share of them,” he said. “I’m just more comfortable in my garage than in my kitchen, messing with cars.”
He said Saturday’s show would draw about 200 cars.
