Photo By Janecze Wright | Retired Air Force Captain and long-time car enthusiast Gordon Logan, proudly displayed...... read more read more
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FORT CAVAZOS, Texas — Classic cars, hotrods and bikes, oh my!
Car and bike enthusiasts converged Oct. 7, 2023, at the United Service Organizations Fort Cavazos parking lot to check out a variety of cars and motorcycles at the USO’s first Car and Bike Show. More than 40 cars and bikes were on display for aficionados to view and learn more about.
The display was the brainchild of Winterrose Ruiz, center operations supervisor of the USO at Fort Cavazos, who explained that she wanted to organize an event that introduced service members to the car community.
“I wanted to do a program that was a little bit different from what we normally do that included single Soldiers in the car community,” she said. “If you look on posts, you see a lot of people that have a lot of sports cars, a lot of customized cars. And instead of only sticking to game nights or other things, I wanted to bring them in as well, so they don’t feel excluded.
“It allows them all to connect,” Ruiz added. “Everybody’s connecting with everybody else because they all have a similar interest. So, it’s kind of bringing them together.”
Benjamin Griffin, center operations and program manager for the USO Fort Cavazos, praised Ruiz for her initiative and explained that the car show is a chance for service members to show off their prized possessions.
“These Soldiers work really hard doing their Army thing and they oftentimes go over and find a really nice car to either restore, rebuild, brand new, trick out, do what they want to do,” he expressed. “And this is just a chance for them to show off all their hard work and share something that’s special to them with us.”
Staff Sgt. Terrence Taylor, 13th Armored Corps Sustainment Command, has been working on cars since his youth. He, his wife Elizabeth and their two young sons took the opportunity to participate in a fun family event and to display their 2019 BMW and 2011 Camaro SS.
Taylor said the event was a great way to meet other car fanatics.
“There’s so many different people and you get to learn and see other people’s builds,” he said. “It’s fun, interactive, you get to meet new people, make new friends, share the same passion that they have. It’s just overall morale, for the community as well.”
Car lovers of all ages enjoyed popcorn, hotdogs and lemonade as they perused automobiles and bikes of varying colors, makes and models.
One of the rarest vehicles at the show belonged to Gordon Logan, a retired Air Force captain and long-time car buff who came by his exceptional find through an auction six years ago.
Logan’s pristine dark blue 1959 AC Ace drew many admirers with its show-stopping looks and unique backstory. The AC Ace is most famous for becoming the basis for Carol Shelby’s AC Cobras in the 1960s. These cars were built in England, then shipped to Shelby, who installed small block Ford V-8s to turn them into the famous Cobras.
He praised the USO for organizing an event that celebrates service members’ passion for cars and bikes.
“It’s great because it gives the Soldiers that live on base something to do,” Logan said. “Soldiers and young people like cars and motorcycles and things, so it’s kind of a natural fit. This is a great tradition. So, thank you USO for putting this together and organizing this and hopefully the Soldiers and their families will enjoy this.”
Logan’s AC Ace earned him Best Hotrod in Show, with other contestants winning titles such as Most Customized Vehicle, Best Classic in Show, Best Overall Vehicle and Best Bike in Show.
Griffin foresees the event being one of the largest annual activities for the USO and conveyed that although the show was all about the cars, the gesture was all about the Soldiers.
“Anything that we can do to get the Soldiers out of the barracks away from their regular day to day,” he said, “to come out here and actually show off something that they love in their car or their bike.”
| Date Taken: | 10.12.2023 |
| Date Posted: | 12.04.2023 16:29 |
| Story ID: | 458817 |
| Location: | FORT CAVAZOS, TEXAS, US |
| Web Views: | 16 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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