A smooth coupe and a wedding at 20th annual car show

When Raymond Lilley's granddaughter Jessica first saw his refinished '39 Chevy coupe, she said, "Papa, that's a tight car!"

He translated from teenagerese.

"That means cool."

Lilley's car won the coveted People's Choice award at the 20th annual Karson Kruzers' Run What Cha Brung car show Sunday at Fuji Park.

The car - with the license plate "TIGHT 39" - is completely smooth.

"There are no holes on the outside of the car," Lilley said. "No handles, no antenna holes, nothing."

The coupe, painted "plum crazy" purple with subtle blue "ghost flames" and sparkling metal flecks, was one of 320 cars at the three-day show.

Thirty-eight of them were with the Calaveras Coachmen from California. By the time group members Sheena Miller and Nicholas Souders left Sunday, they had the same last name - they got married in the middle of the show area on Saturday.

Miller's father drove her to the scene in his red '56 Ford truck. She and the bridesmaids wore red, strapless dresses. Souders and the men wore black- and-white zoot suits. After the ceremony, Elvis impersonator Danny Vernon serenaded them with the wedding song from "Blue Hawaii." They left in her red-and-black '69 Chevelle.

Run What Cha Brung started Friday night with vehicles arriving from across Nevada and California. One guy came from Arizona, said club secretary Lorretta Marcin.

With the car show and the Reno Rodeo both going on, Carson City hotels were pretty full, she said.

"I think he found lodging in Gardnerville."

A car parade down Carson Street was Saturday. Hundreds of cars gathered at Gottschalks, where a police escort met them for the trip north to the Harley-Davidson store. Afterwards, a street dance was held in the parking lot across from the Nugget Casino. Elvis made another appearance.

Sunday was the poker run and awards ceremony.

"It has gone very well," Kruzers president Jack Andersen said that afternoon. "This is the third most cars we've ever had."

After 18 years as club president, Andersen is stepping down. An election will be held in December.

"It's time for me to sit in the audience for a while," he said. "Let somebody else take charge."

There are about 90 members of the car club from all over Northern Nevada.

Run What Cha Brung is the club's major annual fund-raiser. Most of the money comes from car registration, the street dance and beer sales, Marcin said.

The club donates to the Safe Grad sober graduation party for Carson High School seniors and to its Kruzin' for Kidz shopping trips. Underprivileged middle school students are provided with $35 to $50 to buy Christmas gifts for their families.

There has been some talk among the Kruzers about going back to a two-day car show, rather then the current three-day event.

"We'll see. But (Run What Cha Brung) is not going away - it will still remain," Andersen said.

Contact Karl Horeis at khoreis@nevadaappeal.com or 881-1219.