1st Annual Fremont Import Car Show – Volkswagen

2017 hosts the first year of the Annual Import Car show at Fremont VW in Casper, WY. With the Mopar show going on next door at the Dodge dealership in Casper, an import car show was introduced at the Fremont Volkswagen store.

An employee of the VW store, Ray Parnell, is somewhat accustomed to the car show world and so helped to organize and set up the Fremont Import Car Show.

An import car is one that is defined as being manufactured by a company that is not American. Although this encompasses a very wide variety of vehicles it is somewhat a niche in the Casper area and maybe even statewide, especially when it comes to classics.

For the first year running, there was definitely an eclectic turnout of vehicles.  Of course, being held at the Volkswagen store, there were several Beetles and Baja Bugs. There was even a Volkswagen KarmonnGhia. A Mercedes, BMW, Several Porches, and an Audi R8 were mixed in with a Euro-style rat slammed bug. Not only German marques were present though, but Nissan, Honda, Mitsubishi, Mazda, and Subaru vehicles were also there representing the Japanese Marques. For British cars, a Triumph TR6 was present at the Fremont Import Car Show.

Justin Harrington’s 66 Volkswagen Baja Bug

Justin Harrington brought his custom 1966 Baja Bug with the 1641cc engine, which he has owned for, “…a little over 2 1/2 maybe 3 years now”. He said it was pretty beat up when he got it. The car was a shell found by a friend in Powder River just sitting out on the prairie rusting away.  Someone had spray painted it and it was messy. It’s wasn’t original, the whole hood, back fenders, and the back piece is all fiberglass. Justin likes to have his kids help out with working on the vehicle. His boy is 11 and his daughter is 9. “On the weekends I’d give them a sanding block, and tell them to get to work”.

Justin says the car isn’t just a show car, he drives it all the time…well when it’s warm out, as it doesn’t have a heater. He said it has taken at least 3 other donor cars to make this one into what it is today. Justin said his parents had bugs when he was a kid but he never really seen the appeal in them until he started working on his. “They are easy to work on, it’s like working on a motorcycle”.

Justin says the car isn’t just a show car, he drives it all the time…well when it’s warm out, as it doesn’t have a heater. He said it has taken at least 3 other donor cars to make this one into what it is today. Justin said his parents had bugs when he was a kid but he never really seen the appeal in them until he started working on his. “They are easy to work on, it’s like working on a motorcycle”.

2017 Fremont Import Car Show Gallery