MARSHALL — Organizers were in a sunny disposition for the Saturday Shades of the Past car show, a reflection of the perfect mid-70s weather that drew a good crowd of car enthusiasts and over 300 vehicles to the show.

Friday evening’s rain showers still brought out 150 cars for the traditional evening cruise. On Saturday, early-morning clouds gave way to sunny weather mid-morning. A total of 290 vehicles were registered in the various categories, to go along with 40 cars shown by Shades of the Past car club members. The host club cars were not eligible for individual awards. That brought to 330 the total number of cars, surpassing last year’s number of 300.

This year the Minnesota Street Rod Association (MSRA) selected the Shades of the Past show as one of its six “voting events” for the year, and the inclusion of those cars contribute to the increased number of vehicles, organizers said.

Club co-founder Rod Wilkison, who was an officer in the club for years, looked with pride at the large crowd that mingled in the display area near Running’s.

“The club was organized in November of ’86 and the first show was in ’87. There’s 90 members today, back in 1986 there were 25 original members, and of those, nine are still members. It’s been held every year but two, and one of those was the COVID year,” he said. “It’s grown over the years, and the community support has been outstanding.”

Dave Ubl, a member of the South St. Paul Medallions Car Club and an MSRA member, brought a 1936 Ford Coupe to show and appreciates the organization of the show and the people involved.

“It’s a good show and a lot of people did a lot off hard work ton pull it off, that’s pretty obvious” he said.

“The support and help associated with this show goes well beyond club membership. It’s a community effort,” said Wilkison.

The show this year featured the Ford Mustang, celebrating its 60th year. A special award category recognized the best Mustang, and there were plenty of them on hand Saturday.

Individual category winners included:

• Top Classic Car: Rick Larson, 1968 Pontiac

• Top Truck: Schoffelman, 1979 Ford wood truck

• Top Rat Rod: Keith Brower, 1947 International

• Top Bike: Gary Johnson, 1970 Triumph

• Top Tractor, Brandon Enemark, 1939 John Deere

• Top Late Model Car: Larry Anderson, 2015 Chevy Corvette

• Top Mustang: George McDonald, 1969 Mustang Mach 1