For fans of the Pentastar residing in and around Riverside, California, the California School for the Deaf, Riverside has been a somewhat regular hangout for Mopars every May. With the exception of the past couple of years, the show was back this May 19th for its 13th Mopars In May car show, put on by Inland Mopars.

This Model T was driven to the show, not trailered.

This popular Mopar treat has always been a favorite for both enthusiasts and the kids at the school. The kids hung with the crowd all day, manning booths and stands, and helping out wherever needed, selling crafts and gifts all day long.

Although the show isn’t limited to only what Ma Mopar created, the non-Mopar crowd does seem to be thinning out a bit over the years, with very few offerings from the Bow Tie or Blue Oval crowd. Be that as it may, the Mopars were in full force, from early AMC offerings through modern HEMI powered cars, and just about everything in between.

There was a separate area for vendors, where you could find hub caps, headers, brakes and body panels, to name a few; and t-shirts and gadgets could also be found in vendor alley. Heading off to the main grounds in front of the school, you would find a sea of colors, as well as a multitude of variations with the many early and late model cars attending the show.

California School for the Deaf Riverside (CSDR)

As you might have realized, CSDR is a school located in Riverside, California, with a focus on deaf/hard-of-hearing education. The curriculum is that of any other public school, following California State Standards, however, the class sizes are smaller so that the specially trained teachers can focus on literacy and to help the children become active, responsible members in their communities.

The campus is rather large, and the grounds make a great place for a show that benefits the school in many ways. All proceeds from the show and the 50/50 raffle were donated to Friends of California School for the Deaf, Riverside, and with the number of cars in attendance it made for an absolutely great event. Early in the morning, the staff and students offered up a pancake breakfast, with food and refreshments available all day long.

The Bazaar offered up exhibits and handmade crafts by deaf artists, and the raffle prizes went all day long with dozens of gifts on display. While most in the show go to relax and take in some shade under the trees, the kids and staff were constantly moving and keeping everything running smoothly. It was a beautiful day, not too hot, and the trees offered up lots of shade for those who needed it.

SRT Represented, Mopars Filled The Lawn

One of the first specialty areas we came across was the SRT booth with a few very cool SRT models on display, including the Charger, 300, Challenger and a Jeep Grand Cherokee. They offered up brochures and videos, and were on hand to show us the latest from the performance brand, allowing everyone to see under the hood, and to sit in the cars – and dream a little.

While the group was broken out into body styles and generations, the one thing that always seems to grow every year is the B-body crowd, as some of them spilled over into other areas. The E-bodies were well represented, from wild paint schemes to the whole Kowalski look, with one all-white Challenger that just looked too cool to pass by without a second look.

Hoods up meant all sorts of Mopar power on display, and whether it was a beastly HEMI with a blower or a Slant-6 with some hop-up parts. The one constant with the Mopar group is that they’re all proud of what they have, whether it’s a show car or not, it was there on display to show the diversity in powerplants and the variety of colors. Plum crazy? Check. Blue Fire? Check. Lemon Twist Yellow, Lime Light, Vitamin C? All there.

Some of our favorite cars included the early B-bodies, and one Polara with the blown HEMI just couldn’t escape the camera lens. Who doesn’t love an old Mopar with a blower sticking through the hood? Even an old Police Car was on hand, complete with Officer Manny Kin at the wheel during the entire show, keeping the participants in line. One award winner was Mark Viau, of Viau Motorsports, whose car was featured here on our site at the beginning of May. His show-winning Demon was also there for all to see.

One of the exhibition cars on display was the fire-breathing “Wild Thang” Chevrolet, powered by a blown Arias HEMI, shooting flames ten feet into the air as the crowd gathered in a safe circle around the beast. It’s one thing to bring a car like this to a show, but it’s really a treat when it fires up and entertains the crowd with it’s flame-throwing headers. When this old coupe was fired up, the crowd basically dropped what they were doing and gathered around, we just couldn’t get enough of it.

There were also a couple of other vehicles on display that drew some attention, one being a big-block-powered sand rail. A lone Duster drag racer was there, and the PT Cruiser crowd showed up in full force with even more variations on the design, who knew we hadn’t seen them all yet? Vipers? We saw just one, unfortunately.

Win This Car From Early Rides

The restored Road Runner from Early Rides was on hand to be raffled off.

What car show would be complete without a classic musclecar being raffled off? On display in the center of it all was a very clean, restored 1970 Plymouth Road Runner from Earlyrides.org. The Road Runner was restored by Early Rides, and features a lots of goodies, including factory air conditioning and a four-speed Pistol-grip shifter. The 383 big-block  was rebuilt, and the 8-3/4-inch rear end runs a 3.23 gear ratio. Power front disc brakes do the stopping, and the factory power steering keeps you from working too hard behind the wheel while listening to your favorite tunes on a modern stereo complete with CD and iPod.

Only 5,000 tickets are being sold for this Road Runner at just $20.00 each. We saw some people handing over a couple hundred bucks for tickets, and even though the raffle started September, 2012, and lasts through August 31, 2013, there were plenty of tickets left. The final drawing is to take place at 8:00 a.m. on August 31st at Adams Avenue Donuts, where a regular weekly cruise takes place.

Early Rides has been restoring cars and raffling them off for various charities for years. Some of the charities that they’ve donated to include Orange County Rescue Mission, California Police Youth Charity, Rondald McDonald House, Kids Wish Network, and more. We asked if we could mention a little bit more about the organization, but they graciously declined, saying, “This isn’t about us, it’s about the car and the charities that we support.” You can still contact them through their web site for donations, or to purchase tickets for this raffle, and possibly add a nice 1970 Road Runner to your stable.

Awards for Class and Judged Entries

With many car shows come the awards ceremony where trophies or plaques are handed out to the winners, usually a “Best in Show” and a few others, based on the style or era of the vehicle. With Mopars in May, however, the plaques that were given out amounted to dozens of winners from all walks, including the non-Mopars.

The awards ceremony began in the afternoon, and carried on when some people had already thrown in the towel and decided to head home. Thankfully, the huge shade tree we were all under made the awards presentation a little more comfortable.

There were far too many winners to cover them all, so we added a few pics of some of the various award winners here. But the real winners were the kids; all in all, there were more than 160 cars in attendance, and with the money raised from the show, added to a club donation from Inland Mopars, the school received $3,000 from the event. Ken Hamer, Club President for Inland Mopar, said, “When we called them and asked if they would like to have us back for a car show, they loved the idea, and we brought the show back.”

This is the kind of car show we love, one the gives back to the community. Whether it’s the kids at CSDR or to raise money for our military, you can be sure that a good car show for a great cause makes the day seem too short. Check out the CSDR web site for more information about the school, and don’t forget to get your raffle tickets for the Road Runner from Early Rides!