Each one of our five Summer Series shows was unique and presented a few surprises. Our final show featured Cadillac, and while we expected a nice mix of Caddys, the sweet spot was late-1950s-1960s models—especially convertibles. Surprising because ‘verts rusted much quicker since they leaked (even when new) and once the tops rotted they became exposed to the elements. They made fewer convertibles than hardtops and sedans, too. And these have the most trim so they can be difficult to restore without having a complete car to start, or a tall wallet.By mid-morning, on a beautiful Saturday, the OPGI lot was filled with over 40 Cads, with another surprise beingthe number of modified examples mixed with some nice restorations. More than a couple had LS engines for power, while others were mild-to-wild customs. Numerous owners we talked with made suggestions for parts they’d like to see us reproduce, and your requests were duly noted. We love talking with participants to find out about their cars, projects, and future needs.
Jeff Farina, OPGI’s Sourcing Manager, filled the air with tunes and MC’d the day’s activities, while hungry show-goers were satisfied by the Dogzilla Food Truck featuring gourmet hot dogs and other delights throughout the day. Supporting vendors included Guaranty Chevrolet, Autometer, Lokar Products, Rides by Jon— who brought out a number of clean Cads, Powermaster, Classic Performance Products, Classic Car Shirts, and more, with great displays, products, and representatives ready to answer questions.As usual, we also had opportunity drawings with a lot of happy winners hauling away some nice stuff. And speaking of hauling away parts the front counter was crowded all day long with both participants and casual spectators picking up components for their next projects, or just a T-shirt or two.

2018 OPGI Cadillac Spring-Summer Awards Winners:

Best Original:  Dayton LaGura, 1941 Fleetwood

Best Custom:  Lonnie Fagan, 1964 Convertible

VIP Selection by Jon from Rides by Jon:  Norman Ash,  1953 Coupe DeVille

Furthest Driven:  Joseph Eidem 1962 Convertible

Best Daily Driver:  Chris Batterton 1957 Coupe DeVille

Below is a large gallery of many of the cars, the winners, and more from our final Summer Series show. Thanks to all who came out and especially to our sponsors and participants, and check back often to OPGI’s Facebook, Instagram or website to see what we might have in the works for next year.

Cadillac Show Gallery

Dr. Oldsmobile was in the house! Yes, OPGI’s Spring-Summer Series continued with Olds taking center stage. We had around 40 Olds cars come to OPGI August 18, 2018, for the second-to-last installment of our successful Spring-Summer Series.

From late-1940s Rocket 88s to Hurst Old’s, we had a nice selection of Oldsmobile’s finest. What was the dominant model? We’d say an array of 442s, which would normally be the rarer variety of Olds, but hitting a soft spot with collectors and enthusiasts for their legendary muscle car presence, we had close to a dozen or more.

We had food and beverages from the Seal Beach Lions Club, including breakfast and then a switch to lunch offerings. Thanks again Lions Club!

The Oldsmobile Club of American was represented by a booth and members answering questions and signing people up.

Vendors included Classic Performance Products, Guaranty Chevrolet, Auto Meter, Powermaster, and Lokar.

Our own OPGI marketing pros Natallie and Jessica overseeing the whole operation and making sure everything ran smoothly. The parts counter was open for business and that area of the show was crowded most of the time. We saw customers and show-goers walking out of the showroom with boxes of new, shiny parts all day long.

You can go to OPGI’s Facebook page for some participant interviews and car walk-arounds, and some candid shots of the cars and people from throughout the day. Below you can check out the Oldsmobile award winners, including Best Custom, Best Original, Best Daily Driver, Furthest Driven, and VIP selection from the Mayor of Seal Beach Mike Varipapa. Scroll down to see all of the winners.

2018 OPGI Oldsmobile Spring-Summer Awards Winners:

VIP Pick-Seal Beach Mayor Mike Varipapa: John Mchtchian 1959 Olds 98.

Best Original: Phil Lochner 1971 442 Convertible.

Furthest Driven: Bob McLuckie, Cottonwood, Arizona, 1970 W-31.

Best Custom: Hayden Long 1950 88 Four-Door Sedan.

Best Daily Driver: Michael and Toni Kruly 1967 Cutlass Convertible.

Thanks to all of the Oldsmobile faithful who showed up with their cars and enthusiasm. Our next Spring-Summer Series show, which will conclude our shows for 2018, will be for Cadillac on September 15, 2018. We are expecting a large show and already have a long list of participants. If you haven’t signed up do so soon because space is limited!

Click below for more info on our last show of the series!

Oldsmobile Show Gallery

WOW! What a great addition to our Spring Summer Series. Original Parts Group had over one hundred beautiful Chevys at the third of five brand-specific shows planned for Spring/Summer 2018.

RTM Studios, producer of PowerNationTV came all the way from Franklin, Tennessee, to cover the Chevy Show. Tommy Bosher, co-host of Detroit Muscle, discussed future projects and talked car shows with Senior Sourcing Manager, Jeff Farina. Katie Osborne, host of PowerNationTV, also made her way from Newport Beach, CA, to shoot videos with PowerNationTV and our friends over at Power AutoMedia. When Katie and Tommy weren’t filming they spent time cruising the show and mingling with Registrants and Spectators.

Once again we had an amazing group of vendors displaying their product and some of their own Chevys. As always, our vendors were very generous with their contributions to  show goody bags and opportunity drawing prizes. A huge thanks to Guaranty Chevrolet who donated the grand prize, a 350/290 HP Deluxe small block engine. The lucky winner was Victor Munoz from San Bernadino, Ca.

Bill Sinko, Fred Schmidthammer, and other members of the So Cal Chevelle & El Camino Club came out early to help us stage vehicles and make sure all registrants were happy! Coincidently, Fred and his 1964 Chevelle convertible were the winners of the “Furthest Driven” award, coming all the way from Glendale, Arizona.

 The Winners

Furthest Driven- Fred Schmitthammer’s 1964 Chevelle from Glendale, AZ

Best Custom- Benny Valdivia’s 1974 Monte Carlo

Best Original- Tim Munger’s 1967 Chevelle SS

Best Daily Driver – Paul Gonzales’ 1968 Chevelle

VIP Selection – Sean and Lisa Mason’s 1964 Chevelle Convertible, chosen and presented by PowernationTV star Katie Osborne.

The Lions Club made it out again to provide breakfast, but this time around we also had Dogzilla and the Burnt Truck serving up some amazing sliders and gourmet hot dogs! Mustache Mikes also set up, and it was the perfect treat to keep everyone cool during a hot summer day in So Cal.

Art Gonzalez and other members for the G-Body Key Club rallied all their Chevy members to join us. Art chatted with Katie about his El Camino with Grand National badging and engine. Not something you see every day!

Fantasy Faces made their second appearance at our Spring Summer Series making the kiddos happy with all sorts of fun face painting designs.

The Chevy show was by far the most successful show yet for OPGI with a huge turnout of registrants and spectators. We are looking forward to our last two shows, with Oldsmobile being our next GM marque on August 18th. Don’t forget to register your Oldsmobile or just stop by the show to check them out. Hope to see you all there!

Browse the rest of the show below!