Autofest Club President Lee Knauf (blue shirt) leads Doug and Doris Schmiesing and their Ford Thunderbird into their spot at Autofest Sunday.
NEW ULM – Sun shining and an absence of rain caused hundreds to stream into the Brown County Fairgrounds for vintage and brand-new cars at Autofest.
Last year rain was present at the beginning of festivities, and rain has been on the minds of many for weeks. This year, Autofest Club Chairman Lee Knauf said the weather could not have come together better.
“We couldn’t have asked for a better day,” he said. “There’s no humidity. The sun is shining. No wind. It’s perfect.”
Last year Knauf said there were around 250 vehicles both on the fairgrounds and in the Civic Center. By noon this year, he said around 500 cars had been entered and parked on the grounds. More likely entered afterward, as registration was allowed until the event closed at three.
While official records aren’t kept, Knauf said this is likely the largest car turnout in Autofest history. He said this expansion was relatively painless, with the biggest concern being the logistics of getting everyone signed up and keeping track.
Barb Neske and Keith Bauman stand in front of the 1919 Pan Model A their group, St. Cloud Auto Club, brought to Autofest Sunday.
By continuing to host and expand Autofest, fully with volunteer support, Knauf said he can bring people together with what they love.
“It’s great seeing all the people looking at cars,” he said. “You hear all kinds of stories. ‘Oh, I used to have one of those’ or ‘My dad had one of those.’ You do it for the community, not for yourself. You want to see everybody have a good time and get their summer off to a good start.”
For those not as interested in the cars, the Pink Ladies vendor show had 50 participants selling a variety of wares. This included pickled vegetables and bloody mary mixes, jewelry, and custom signs. The swap meet grounds were expanded, allowing more people to claim free spots.
A select number of cars were in the Civic Center alongside the vendor show. Among these was a 1919 Pan Motor Company Model A. The car was one of only 747 ever built by the St. Cloud-based manufacturer before they closed in 1922. Only five still exist in Minnesota, and the St. Cloud Auto Club brought one of two they currently own.
Barb Neske and Keith Bauman sat with the vehicle, answering people’s questions about the rare car. Neske said the thought process behind how they were built fascinated her, as it stemmed from founder Samuel Pandolfo’s career as an insurance salesman.
With his grandma’s frying pain as an air cover and a bottle of Jack Daniel’s as a recovery for antifreeze overflow, Mike Konakowitz brought his 13-year Frankenstein rat rod project to Autofest Sunday.
“He drove a lot of cars on bumpy roads,” she said. “He needed something that worked out for him better. He designed this car to be a little higher and it’s got bigger wheels and the seats fold back to make a bed.”
The car also has an extra storage compartment, which Bauman said would have been used for oil, extra gas, water, an ice box, or anything else the driver desired.
By bringing this piece of history to shows, Bauman said it keeps history around and educates others on a special piece of Minnesotan history.
“It’s good to keep history around and alive,” he said. “We need to see how things were built back then. The engineering they had was pretty good and it’s neat to see it.”
Interspersed with shiny machines were cars with exposed engines, rust, and trinkets galore. These are cars built from scratch and put together with many different parts, by those who know what they want and how to put it together.
Mike Konakowitz said these types of cars are referred to as Frankenstein rat rods. His has been a 13-year project, with a 1934 Chevy chassis and 1975 Cadillac motor as the base. It features speakers salvaged from a drive-in theater, a horn with 47 different songs, a skateboard armrest, his grandma’s frying pain as an air cover, and a bottle of Jack Daniel’s as a recovery for antifreeze overflow.
Konakowitz said the creativity to put everything together stems from what he remembers and wishes to preserve from his life and memories.
“Something that reminds you of your childhood,” he said. “Something that can relate to the need to take something old and bring it back. You’re supposed to use different parts of different cars. We used to go to the swap meets and antique stores for anything we could find.”
Konakowitz is originally from New Ulm, but after Autofest ended he brought his cars to his new residence in Guthrie, Oklahoma. Having been an Autofest attendee for several years, he said he has enjoyed seeing the evolution from then to now.
“Those couple years when they started they were lucky if they got 40 or 50 cars,” he said. “With the weather today they turned out over 400 cars. That’s pretty good success for a lot of good people. I come back because I see a lot of my old friends.”
