Birthplace of Route 66 Festival: Hundreds of classic cars line downtown Springfield

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (KY3) - Ahead of the rainstorms Friday night, hundreds of classic cars lined downtown Springfield for the Birthplace of Route 66 Festival.

“You show your own car off, but you get to see and meet a whole bunch of other guys that are kind of doing the same thing as you are, fixing up an old car and keeping the old stuff going,” said Springfield resident Mark Penticuff, who has been bringing his 1972 Pontiac Lemans to Route 66 celebrations over the last 10 years. He says getting to answer questions about his car, and seeing inquiring kids take an interest, makes it worth coming back year after year.

“You just get to meet people that are, especially younger people that have never seen these cars, and seeing these old ones, they’re intrigued,” said Penticuff. “And I get to answer questions for them; and maybe they’ll keep these old cars going too.”

“It’s neat, you know, you run into people that just love Route 66,” said Ozark resident Greg Vescuso. “One 100 years later, it’s still bringing everyone together.”

For Ozark residents Nutt and Greg Vescuso, they love showing off their 1967 VW Beetle that’s decked out like it’s the summer of love. It’s taken them across every last mile of Route 66, and helped them meet new people everywhere they go.

“We decided to get stickers on where we were going. So all the businesses that we go to, we have the owners come out and put the sticker on,” said Nutt. “It’s a step in every part of the journey that we’ve taken, and so we’ve talked to every person that’s put those stickers on.”

“The best thing about it is just meeting people,” said Greg. “Like I like to say, it’s not the destination of where you’re going around 60, it’s not even the journey. It’s the moment in time that you spend and who you run into and the experience you share with them. And that’s really what it is.”

There are more than 800 vehicles registered for the car show Saturday, which goes from 10 a.m. through 5 p.m. An open cruise takes place at 6 p.m.

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