A 1959 Cadillac taillight, which Troy “Tex” McDorman of Sanger has had for about 20 years, sits atop of a 1959 Mercury trim piece at Saturday’s Tex EFX booth at the Arts, Antiques & Autos Extravaganza on the Square. McDorman has wired it so it lights up.
It is the trophy given to the car owner who wins Best in Show.
Sitting next to it is another trophy made of two pistons and a radiator fan for the “fan favorite,” or the People’s Choice Award.
The last trophy on the table is made from an old chrome headlight and a saw blade. It has a V8 emblem from an Australian car, McDorman said, which is not easy to find.
All of the trophies, which were created with the help of McDorman’s son, also have custom pinstriping done by McDorman.
“These are more like a piece of art,” he said. “They’re not just a trophy.”
Cars lined the Square as thousands of people walked around admiring them and enjoying the live music offered on the Courthouse on the Square lawn as well as the day’s cooler weather.
“The wind was a little unexpected,” said Christine Gossett, who helped organize the event. “But we’re glad the weather wasn’t boiling.”
Organizers, who estimated that about 7,000 people came throughout the day, also were glad it wasn’t raining.
The event, which is organized by the Denton Main Street Association, is in its 13th year.
This is the second year the association has had trophies made out of old car parts, which were donated by CTC Auto Ranch and Denton County Auto Salvage.
Last year, Robin Huttash, owner of A Creative Art Studio, painted hubcaps for the festival. This year, she and another local artist, Mick Burson, painted air filters.
Huttash enjoys painting cars, and her favorites to paint are Volkswagens.
For her inspiration this year, Huttash painted part of a yellow Chevrolet Bel Air.
This year she enlisted Burson’s help because she was busy organizing the recent First Friday Denton, a gallery night for arts venues.
“I can’t paint cars,” Burson said. On his air filter, he painted a vector design.
Burson’s most visible work is probably the mural on the west wall of A Creative Art Studio, which he painted in January.
“When I paint murals, it’s like no planning goes into it,” he said. With the air filter, he needed a little more of an idea what he was going to paint before he started, he said.
Huttash said the dents and holes make air filters tough to paint.
“It’s a challenge because you’re not working on a flat surface,” she said.
The two air filter trophies were given to the owners of the vehicles with the best engine and the best interior.
RACHEL MEHLHAFF can be reached at 940-566-6889. Her e-mail address is rmehlhaff@dentonrc.com.
