The Rumble 2021 Belleair Car Show

Forty classic cars participated in a successful car show at Hunter Memorial Park on April 17. The Belleair Community Foundation (BCF) presented this inaugural event called Rumble 2021, which was a judge category show. Coffee, hot chocolate, and donuts were available and members of the BCF enjoyed mimosas.Co-sponsors were Crown Automobile, Pinch-A-Penny, and Tampa Bay Trust.Tom duPont was the overseer of the event. Judges were Belleair commissioners: Tom Kurey, Tom Shelly, Coleen Chaney, and Thomas Nessler and Mayor Mike Wilkinson; JP Murphy, town manager, rounded out the judges.

You may remember John & Nedra Greene of Belleair Beach who were featured Volunteers of the Month in a 2019 issue. They have been collecting old cars for three years and entered their bright red 1965 Corvette in the show. They won first place in the Hot Rod category.

Belleair resident Jeff Ryan entered three vehicles in the show: a turquoise 1963 Chevy, a 1955 Chevy truck, and a 1961 Corvette. Jeff said when dealing with a realtor while looking for a home in Belleair, he requested a place with a 7-car garage and a boat dock. The realtor found the property and showed Jeff who looked at the garage and boat dock and said he’d take it. The realtor asked if he didn’t want to see the inside of the house, he didn’t. Marv and Anna Behm from Belleair Beach entered a unique 1929 Model A Ford replica, yellow in color. It was built in 1980.

One of the most interesting stories came from Belleair resident Dale Whittenberger. In 1988, while living in Altoona, PA, he found an abandoned 1932 Packard in a barn. He traded the owner the car for moving a rail car for him. “It took 12 years to restore with some very talented craftsmen.”. Commissioner Coleen Chaney said, “The VW Beetle spoke to my heart. Dad was driving my mother to the hospital and I came out on the front floorboard of our 1963 Beetle. Not the beginning they expected.”

Scott Bosés, the Best in Show winner, generously gave back his $500 prize to the BCF. To thank him the organization is providing him a membership.