QC car show brings out classic vehicles, family stories

All cars have a story. Rob Miller’s car and story are better than most. The Galesburg, Illinois, man was showing his 1993 Chevy Camaro Z28 at the 41st annual Car, Bike and Truck Show on Friday, Jan. 19, at the QCCA Expo Center in Rock Island. That three-day show, which ran through Sunday, Jan. 21, […]

All cars have a story. Rob Miller’s car and story are better than most. The Galesburg, Illinois, man was showing his 1993 Chevy Camaro Z28 at the 41st annual Car, Bike and Truck Show on Friday, Jan. 19, at the QCCA Expo Center in Rock Island. That three-day show, which ran through Sunday, Jan. 21, brought together dozens of classic vehicles and was presented by the Veterans Car Club of the Quad Cities.

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Mr. Miller’s car was one of the highlights of the show. His red Camaro was at the show as a tribute to his late father, Robert L. Miller, who died Aug. 14, 2021. “He never actually got to see this car (restored) in person…. But this is what he wanted. He wanted to have this car shown at this show,” Mr. Miller said Friday afternoon. The tributes to his father can be seen in almost every part of the Camaro. For instance, the personalized license plate on the car reads “Bobs Z 28” and his jacket was draped on top of the car. There also was a sign in front of the car that read: “Every car has a story. Some we’ll never know and some you may hear about today. Dad never got to tell anyone the story behind his car, but I’ll be damned if you leave here today without hearing our version of Dad's Z28.” The story behind the red Chevy Camaro began a few years ago when the late Mr. Miller bought a different classic car to fix up and display at shows. However, he soon faced health problems and was forced to stop his work on that car. Rob Miller said his father soon became depressed about his situation. In an attempt to lift his spirits, he found another car – the 1993 Chevy Camaro Z28 – in southern Illinois that he believed would need little to no work. “Well, as soon as he got it home, he started nitpicking and found some things that needed to be replaced,” Rob Miller recalled. Soon, those few nitpicking projects on the Camaro turned into a series of major projects – replacing the tires, the hood, redoing the car’s interior and repainting the car. The car’s projects continued, and Robert Miller’s health continued to decline. Three days before his death, a Galesburg area auto repair business called Rob to tell him that the last of the projects were complete on the Camaro. Rob Miller picked up the car, took photos of it to show his father, who was confined to a hospital bed. “Dad had all these tubes in him, but he could see the car. He was looking at the photos and still telling me to be sure to take care of this and that on the car,” Rob Miller said. Over the weekend, hundreds of people got to look at Mr. Miller’s car and story. They also got to see another small tribute to the late Galesburg man. On top of the Camaro is a stuffed toy duck wearing a blue and gray sweater with the words “Air Force.” Mr. Miller’s relatives won the toy at Adventureland Park a few years ago and thought of Robert Miller, who served as a mechanic in the U.S. Air Force. Mr. Miller’s Camaro was just one of many classic vehicles on display at the QCCA Expo Center over the weekend. Some of the other vehicles people looked over included:

• A 1962 Chevy Belair Bubbletop that cost $3,265 new. The Belair is ermine white with a red vinyl interior. Also, a 1965 Chevy Chevelle SS that is garnet red with a white vinyl interior. Both vehicles are owned by Joe and Julie Grant, of Eldridge, who have been showing cars at the show for at least 15 years. “It’s important for us to go to these shows. If we don’t support them, they won’t last,” Mr. Grant said.
• A black 1966 GTO, owned by Bill and Laurie Lusinski of Muscatine, Iowa. “We’re here to show our support for the veterans,” said Mr. Lusinski, who pointed out that Friday was dedicated to military veterans and veterans got free admission that day.
• A 2011 Chevy Camaro SS owned by Christie and Scott DeSmet of Rock Island. The yellow Camaro has been named “The Pollinator” by its owners. It has a “Transformer” theme based on the popular toys and movies including “Transformer art” painted under the hood of the car.
• Another of the classic cars was a modified 1967 Chevy Chevelle owned by Larry Palmer of Gurnee, Illinois.

During Friday’s show, Wayne Briggs, of Eldridge, and his two sons were busy looking over the many classic cars at the event. His sons pointed out a black Camaro as their favorite car on display. “I'm kind of old school. I like that dragster we just saw,” Mr. Briggs said, pointing to a 1929 Ford hot rod. But not all the vehicles on display were from the classic era. For instance, Sexton Ford of Moline was displaying a 2023 F-1590 Raptor truck with a suggested retail price of $84,970. In addition to Sexton, the show brought together a wide variety of business vendors. Some of them included: Veterans Choice Contracting of Davenport; Dilley's Woodcraft of Fulton, Illinois; and Bojangles Detailing Service of New Windsor, Illinois. But for most people in the crowd on Friday, the show centered on seeing those classic cars, bikes and trucks. “This is what my dad wanted. … He wanted this Camaro to be seen,” said Mr. Miller near his 1993 Chevy Camaro Z28.