New Hope Automobile Show Celebrates A Year Of Anniversaries

NEW HOPE, PA — Thousands flocked to New Hope over the weekend for another successful auto show.

Sunny and warm temperatures greeted this year’s New Hope Automobile Show, which did not disappoint with a century’s worth of automotive history on display on the grounds of the New Hope-Solebury High School.

This year’s show celebrated a year of anniversaries.

Saturday featured all American-made rides and the 70th anniversary of the beloved Corvette while Sunday’s show spotlighted the foreign models and the 100th anniversary of the MG and the 75th anniversary of Porsche and Lotus.

Both days also featured this year’s poster car, Kyle Kaulback’s 1971 Lotus Type 69 Formula 2 race car, which was on prominent display at the heart of the show.

Kyle Kaulback’s 1971 Lotus Type 69 Formula 2 race car. (photo by Jeff Werner)

Turning a lot of heads in the Lotus section of the show was a rebuilt 1962 Lotus Super 7 owned by Karl Darby of Stockton, New Jersey.

“It’s definitely a lot of fun to drive and it’s a showstopper,” said Darby. “You can see people walking by. They say, ‘Holy mackerel.’”

Darby bought the car in 1976 and has gradually rebuilt the vehicle. He finally completed the work about eight years ago and has shown it throughout the area.

“It doesn’t look comfortable,but it really is,” said Darby. “It’s definitely fun to drive. And I love coming to this show. It’s a great show. It’s for a good cause and it’s what you need for New Hope. New Hope needs this,” he said.

His son, Robert Darby, of Hillsborough, New Jersey, who inherited a love of cars from his father, was showing off his own 1962 Lotus, which he built from the ground up. “It was just a bunch of parts. I had to piece it all together.”

So what’s it like to drive?

“It’s in your face all the time. Everything is in your face all at once. A lot of wind. A lot of noise,” said Darby. “It’s a blast. It’s a lot of fun.”

The Lotus cars were among the many highlights of the weekend show.

This yellow Volkswagen was sold by Bob Holbert, the patriarch of the Holbert family, at the Holbert's dealership in Warrington. Bob was one of the first Porsche dealers in the USA and a prominent sports car racing driver in the 1950s and 1960s. He took a class win at Le Mans in 1961 with Maston Gregory and took four SCCA National titles as well as six class wins at Sebring.

Dominic Mari of Furlong brought his 1970 300 SEL 6.3 Mercedes-Benz to New Hope. The vehicle had originally been owned by Graham Nash of the folk-rock group, Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young.

“When their first album went gold, David Crosby, Graham Nash and Steven Stills walked into a San Francisco Mercedes-Benz dealer,” said Mari. “The salesman, upon seeing the long-haired hippies on the showroom floor, came up to them and said, ‘Fellas. I don’t think this car is for you.’
Graham responded, ‘David is going to take the blue one, Steve is going to take the black one and I’m going to take the burgundy one.’”

After Mari acquired the car, he spent four years bringing it back to life.

“These cars love to be driven,” said Mari. “The engine is over 300 horsepower, they are rock solid, and when you hit that gas pedal it actually throws you back in the seat,” he said.

If prizes were given for the shortest distance traveled to the show, Jim Staats would have won hands down. He lives just across the street from the showgrounds and has been coming to the show since he was a kid.

Staking out a nice shaded area along Bridge Street, he brought four vehicles to show this year including a 1903 Oldsmobile Curved Dash Runabout that had been owned by his father, Jim Sr. It has been coming to the show since 1957.

New Hope resident Jim Staats with his 1903 Oldsmobile. (photo by Jeff Werner)

Jim Staats next to a photo of himself steering a Packard pedal car, which he rode in the 1962 New Hope Auto Show. The car was back at the show this year (see below).

He also brought a Packard pedal car, which he rode in the 1962 New Hope Auto Show when he was five years old.

“They used to have a big circle and all the vehicles that won a trophy would drive around the circle and everybody would watch to see who won,” he said.

He also brought a 1959 George Nessler URC Champion Sprint Car and a 1970 Plymouth Roadrunner Superbird to the show.

While driving the sprint car, Earl Halaquist won six championships in a row from 1960 to 1964. When it was racing in Flemington “it went up on its nose,” said Staats, sharing some of its history. The car also raced at the Langhorne Speedway.

He and his dad restored the sprint car in 1992 after which it was displayed at the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame in Iowa for two years.

Jim Staats also brought a 1959 George Nessler URC Champion Sprint Car and a 1970 Plymouth Roadrunner Superbird to the show. (photos by Jeff Werner)

The New Hope Auto Show is one of the oldest and most celebrated auto shows in the country. It features many of the finest antique and classic automobiles and motorcycles from across the eastern United States. The event has been staged in historic New Hope since 1957.

Established in 1949, the mission of New Hope Helping has grown from raising funds to support the needs of the New Hope-Solebury School District to fundraising efforts to support the community at large via auto show-related events, cultural events, sports, and music.

New Hope Helping has been responsible for providing the New Hope-Solebury High School with a new gymnasium, a 17-acre recreation field, a community center, and a track, as well as annual scholarships to New Hope-Solebury High School seniors.

Additional donations are provided to regional non-profits, many of whom provide volunteers to help with The New Hope Automobile Show, which is New Hope Helping’s largest fundraising event.

(Special thanks to Andrew Hinckley for sharing his automotive knowledge with the Patch.)

A 1960 Dodge Polara Convertible owned by Scott Nickett of Doylestown.

A 2015 Maserati Quarttroporte owned by Paul Ruo of New Hope.