Hot rods purr and growl in Sisters

This '33 Ford (Vicky) with a 350 Chevy crate motor was featured at Sisters Airport.

About 15 hot rods showed up for the Third Annual Showdown, Chowdown and Hoe-down at the Sisters Airport on Sunday, September 29.

Sisters-area car lovers showed up in a variety beautiful hot rods, from Steve McGhehey's '56 Chevy Bel Air to event organizer Ed Johnson's '67 supercharged Ford Fairlane, a '72 DeTomaso Pantera with a "far from stock" 351 Cleveland and a '40 Chevrolet with a new 350 cubic inch motor that purred like a kitten until the throttle went down.

The hot rodders and their wives ate ribs, drank coffee and used their cars as trusty steeds in events such as driving blindfolded backwards through cones with the passenger, usually a spouse, giving instructions.

First the husbands were at the wheel, then the wives. Marriages survived.

"I only get to drive this car once a year, right here," said one woman.

The last event was a 1/8 mile drag race, in which both the acceleration time and distance to stop were measured.

But speed wasn't the point, and the day was informal.

"We are just having fun with our cars," said Johnson.