More Than 500 Vehicles To Roll Into Doylestown Borough

DOYLESTOWN, Pa. — After holding a virtual show two years ago and staging a scaled back show last year, it’s full throttle for this year’s Doylestown At Dusk Car Show.

Staged by the Doylestown Rotary Club and nine months in the planning, this year’s show is back and better than ever with about 500 classic rides expected to roll into town on Saturday, July 16 from 5 to 10 p.m.

The free outdoor show will stretch from West Street to Main Street with cars lining West State and West Court streets with show central located where State, Court and Clinton streets come together.

“The best thing about this show is that it’s a family show. It’s not just for car enthusiasts,” said show chairperson Helen Amelsberg. “And it’s not just cars. We have motorcycles, we have dragsters, we have trucks and fire trucks.

“And this is not your standard car show,” adds Amelsberg. “It’s not in a field where you have the same kind of cars in one area. With this show, because they are parked on the street, you have to walk down the entire street to see everything because we just park them the way they come into the show. So you could have a Ferrari parked next to a fire truck and you could have a Mini Cooper parked next to a Model A.”

The other cool thing, says Amelsberg, is there’s plenty of opportunities to meet with and talk with the drivers. “They are very passionate and excited to have their car seen in the show,” she says.

“You also get to see and experience the streets of Doylestown. You get to see the restaurants and the retail shops that are there, too,” she adds.

“You get a double whammy. You get the car show, you get the restaurants, you get the shops and, if it’s a beautiful day, you can’t beat it. The atmosphere at the show is just phenomenal," said Amelsberg.

Mayor Noni West is scheduled to officially open the show at 5 p.m. during ceremonies at show central at the five point intersection. And the National Anthem will be sung by the Bucks County Gentlemen.

For five hours, the public will have a unique opportunity to view a century’s worth of automotive history parked on the streets of town.

“There is a vehicle that almost everyone will connect with," said event co-chair Rick Millham. "If you’re a truck lover there will be amazingly restored trucks. If you’re a muscle car person, there’s lots of muscle cars. If you like Model T’s and Model A’s, they will be there. If you’re British and like British cars, we have them.

"There will be cars there worth a half a million dollars," he continued. "And if you grew up in the 70s and remember the pea green Ford Pinto chances are there will be a Pinto in the show. It’s going to bring back so many memories for so many people. There is something for everyone in this show.”

In addition to the vehicles, there will be lots of things to do for the kids, opportunities to cool down with water ice and ice cream, vendors selling t-shirts and toys, plenty of food available at Doylestown restaurants and music by two live bands - Then Came Man and Wineskin.

“When you put a car show in the middle of Doylestown it’s pretty awesome,” said Millham. “It’s a great night to enjoy Doylestown.”

One of the best parts of the show is that all the proceeds raised from registration fees and sponsorships are donated back to the community by the Doylestown Rotary Club, which is motivated by three simple words, “Service Above Self.”

“The vendor, the sponsor and the car owner can feel good because this is not only good for them, good for their business, but they are also giving back to the community and helping people. And that’s pretty cool," said Millham

For many years the show was held on the baseball fields at Central Bucks West High School and was called “The Heart of Bucks.”

About 12 years ago, the late Bruce Rutherford had the idea of moving the show to the streets of Doylestown and creating more of a cruise-like atmosphere.

“He had the great wisdom and foresight in seeing that by bringing the show to the streets of Doylestown would blow the show up in a good way,” said Millham. “He also knew that by bringing it under the Rotary banner would be a huge benefit to the car show.”

Rutherford passed away in 2020, but his legacy lives on with the show. And he will be remembered on Saturday at 9 p.m. when the Rotarians present the Bruce Rutherford Memorial Award to the best car of the night.