Classic car show coming to Loveland innovation celebration – Loveland Reporter-Herald
It doesn’t take much prompting to get Loveland Fire Rescue Authority board chairman Jeff Swanty to talk about classic cars, especially the five in his own collection. A self-professed “car guy” he has been restoring, collecting and admiring them as long as he can remember.
“Guys love talking about their cars,” he said. “We’ll talk your ear off. We’ll give you more details than you want.”
Jeff Swanty is reflected in the passenger window of his 1968 Chevelle Wednesday, Oct. 5, 2022, in his garage at in Loveland. Swanty plans to bring his ’69 Corvette and this ’68 Chevelle to the car show during the “60 Years Celebrating Seeds of Innovation” event this Saturday in Loveland. (Jenny Sparks/Loveland Reporter-Herald)
Including his current inventory, Swanty has bought and restored more than 25 vintage autos since starting his collection in 1990 with a green 1972 Chevrolet Chevelle Super Sport 454 that still has a place of pride in his west Loveland garage.
“It’s a real original supersport,” he explained. “There’s a lot of cars out there that are super sports today that didn’t start out super sports. They’re what’s called clones or replicas. This is a real one.”
Its current garage mates are a blue 1968 Chevelle SS, a gray 2013 Porsche 911 4S, a yellow 2000 Corvette convertible, and a red 1969 Corvette convertible that has been nationally recognized for its faithful restoration.
Each of the cars in showroom condition. Swanty estimates that he spends five to 10 hours per week in tending to the collection, including a weekly drive for each car.
On Saturday, Swanty will be showing off two of his cars — the ‘68 Chevelle and red Corvette — at the “60 Years Celebrating Seeds of Innovation” event, sponsored by the Loveland Strategic Partnership in honor of the 1962 opening of the Hewlett-Packard facility on 14th Street.
Among the many activities at the jam-packed event is a vintage car show that Swanty volunteered to organize on behalf of event organizer Kathi Wright.
“I love the Corvette and I love this other Chevelle, because they’re more eye candy, so to speak,” he said. “And that’s the type of cars I was looking for— the type of cars that people don’t see every day. That they’re going to say, ‘Wow, that is a beautiful car’, and it’d be worth their time to walk over and look at it.”
Swanty is expecting 50 participants in the show, hand-picked from among his large network of friends in the classic car community. All but two of the cars will be pre-1972 models, an important date for collectors, he said.
“Because that’s when everything started with the government regulations and emissions and all of that, so it’s an unofficial cut-off date for muscle cars and hot rods.”
At the end of the event, the cars will leave the campus in a parade, so attendees will get the full classic car experience, Swanty joked.
“I call them rolling artwork,” he said. “You can use every one of your senses with a car, including taste if you want to lick it. You can hear them, you can smell the exhaust. You can run your hands over the leather and the paint. Cars are a great experience.”
Admission to the car show and the “60 Years Celebrating Seeds of Innovation” event is free. Festivities kick-off at 9 a.m. with activities, speakers, and more until 1 p.m. For more information, visit liveloveland.org.
