We always like to see a car show that brings a large group of gearheads together for a great cause. For about the past decade and a half, Inland Mopars has been parking classic and modern musclecars on the lawn at the California School for the Deaf Riverside (CSDR), and it’s a union that has become a staple in Southern California. The show is called Mopars In May, and the club donates about $1,500 ‘Friends of CSDR’, and we love bringing the classics and modern Mopars to you for some serious eye-candy fulfillment.

How do you like this 6-pack EFI system? Pretty cool, huh?

After a brief hiatus, it was back last year and the club is on schedule to continue holding the show at CSDR. The show itself is open to more than just Mopars, but it seems the non-Mopar entries have been dwindling down more and more each year. But it’s all good, because the showing is always top notch and the cars are great inspiration to either get back on your own project car, or to continue to work on it and make it better. We never are done working on a musclecar anyway, are we?

This year, due to some construction going on at the school, we were all corralled onto the athletic field instead. It looked like a super tight fit, but we all fit and it actually made the event a little more cozy than prior years where we were spread out all over the campus. As more cars pulled in, the areas around the field were filling up, but there was still room for everyone, and that included a swap area, a couple of food vendors, live music and arts and crafts made by students at the school.

It’s all about this kids at Mopars in May, and the kids at CSDR love having the musclecars every year. This relationship began in 2002 with Inland Mopars; they had  put on their first all-Mopar show in 1998 on the campus of Crafton Hills College in Yucaipa, California. After another club decided not to have their car show on the lawn at CSDR, it was mentioned at a meeting that the venue was open, and Inland Mopars decided to have their yearly show there.

The shows had always been on the front lawn of the school, but since there was construction at the school the show this year made its successful debut on the athletic field, and according to Club President Ken Hamer, “We received a lot of very positive comments about having the show on the athletic fields,” so they are unsure whether they will return to the front lawn or continue on the fields next year.

This year, we had the pleasure of meeting Miss CSDR for 2013-14, Alana Smith, who is a student at the school. Alana has done very well in school, and in athletics there, and she loved walking around and checking out some of the cool cars at the show.

Alana got to pick a couple of her favorites, and even go to check out a Dodge Van from the 1970s – way, way before her time. We got a change to communicate with her through her interpreter, and we could tell she had a few favorites when it came to judging the cars. Like a trooper, she put up with the hot afternoon sun and posed for pictures with all of the winners from the show.

The T-Shirt

One tradition that happens every year is that the car show t-shirt is screen printed with three top winners from the prior year, so getting your car on the famed t-shirt is a big deal. In prior years, they used various criteria in choosing the three vehicles, but about three years ago the criteria changed. Currently, the three cars are: the prior year’s Best of Show winner, a club member’s car, and another outstanding car from the prior year’s show.

Essentially, a club member can get their car on the shirt and then they aren’t eligible until all other club member’s cars have been selected. This gives everyone in the club a chance to have their own car represented on a t-shirt with two award winning show cars – pretty cool.

This year, the winners were selected for the t-shirt, and one car that stood out as last year’s ‘CSDR Choice” was the 1963 Dodge 330 that belongs to Chuck and Linda Merken of Lake Elsinore, California. The car won the award this year for “Best of Show” and will return to the t-shirt next year.

Dusted Off The One Owner Car

This 1973 Duster that showed up belongs to Sharon Loonsfoot, who ordered the car from the dealer on 2/1/1973. She had the tape and paint stripe deleted, and repainted the car the original color in June of 1991.

She said that everything else is original, and the car has been garaged since it was new, something that is very believable because the car is spotless! She’s racked up just 56,000 miles, which averages out to about 1,366 miles per year. She has added a nice set of custom wheels and wider tires, which we think looks great on this otherwise completely stock Duster.

Our Top Three From The Show

As with almost any car show, choosing our top picks is always one of the toughest things to do. The obvious cars have the impeccable paint jobs, the blown Hemi, or that look to it that just screams perfection inside and out. Other than the cars that garnered the most attention, we decided to pick three cars that stood out without really standing out. Sort of. They aren’t the most popular, nor do they have the biggest engine, but they did stand out and make us take a second look at them, so here they are, in no particular order.

Not Quite A Vanishing Point

Sergio Leoni owns this 1973 Plymouth ‘Cuda, and it always draws us in. The 440 big-block was stroked out to 500 cubes, and the car was mini-tubbed to accommodate the massive 15×10 inch rear wheels, giving this car the right stance and appearance for a musclecar on ‘roids.

We liked this ‘Cuda because at a glance it just reminded us of one of our favorite movie cars, the Vanishing Point Challenger. Granted, Kowalski didn’t drove a Challenger, in both the original and the in the remake, but we figure if Kowalski owned a ‘Cuda instead of the Challenger it would look something like this car. This ‘Cuda looked just the right amount of bad ass mixed with subtle, the stretched rear wheels with the dog dish caps was a perfect combination.

AMC S/CRambler

We loved this 1969 AMC S/C Rambler (Scrambler) belonging to Ron Whitehead. It was AMC’s bid to put some muscle into an otherwise tame looking sedan, and although AMC is known for some very odd vehicles that are all but forgotten, this was one that helped put them on the map. It was a mix of AMX power put into a small two-door coupe for a combination that made for a very cool factory musclecar from the “other guys”. The 390 cubic inch engine was no slouch, and gave this Rambler something to brag about – on the street and at the track.

The Modern Hemi ‘Cuda?

For almost a decade we’ve heard rumors about a modern ‘Cuda making a presence, and when SRT became its own brand we were sure that the people behind the Pentastar would give us one. But the rumors came and went, and we knew that it wouldn’t be on the existing Challenger platform, and would actually be a bit smaller.

Joseph Richards decided not to wait around on the rumors and come up with his own version, by adding ‘Cuda fenders, grille, and stripes. This modern day Hemicuda is, of course, based on the 2012 Challenger, but the subtle touches and clean look make it the Hemicuda Ma Mopar should have built.

A Bodies

B Bodies

E Bodies

Modern Muscle

Old School Representation – Looking Back

Front Wheel Drive Representing!

Fiery Entertainment

Back again this year was “Wild Thang”, the 1931 Chevy flame throwing coupe. It was rather warm and the crowd was pretty tight this year, so the flames didn’t go out too often, but just take a look at the track on this car. That’s the original wide body if we ever saw one!

Just like the day had to be over at some point, so does this article, but at least we have a huge gallery below for you to enjoy some of the baddest Mopars in the Inland Empire area of Southern California. They’ll be back again next year, and so will we!