(Words and Photos by Joe Grippo) The AACA Eastern Region Fall Meet held each year since the 1950’s in Hershey, Pennsylvania is a weeklong celebration of the automobile from the beginning until 25 years from the current day. An absolutely massive swap meet and car corral goes on daily from dawn to dusk Tuesday through Thursday, and an outrageously stacked Sotheby’s auction every night. It’s wall to wall automotive history!
When Friday rolls around though, the swap meet packs up and heads down the road, and its car show time. With a huge variety of classes, there is something for everyone displayed on the grassy field behind the AACA Library and Research Center. Brass era, Corvettes, Fire Trucks, Luxo-Barges from the ‘50’s, 60’s and ‘70’s, motorcycles, Muscle Cars…everything is represented on the show field. One of the largest classes is the Preservation Class. Unrestored or at minimum sympathetically restored and survivor cars and trucks are some of the most interesting vehicles to check out. Talking to the owners and hearing the stories of how grandma’s 1966 Tempest only accumulated 18,000 miles is endlessly fascinating. Dare I say, even heartwarming. Another class that will blow your mind is the Sports Car Class, check the galleries for stuff like a perfect Lamborghini Miura, gorgeous Jaguars and Healey’s, and a Lotus Cortina that made my pants fit funny.
Vintage Race Cars play a big part of the AACA. On Thursday, at the old Hershey Stadium the AACA hosts race car conditioning runs. Each entrant for the show must start and make a few laps around the stadium to the delight of the crowd. Lots of vintage Sprint Cars, sports cars, and even the occasional drag car show up each year and it’s one of the hidden gem activities only found at Hershey. A paved area of the library parking lot is reserved for the race cars for the show. Judging is a big deal at the AACA show with teams of judges and marque experts roaming the show with clipboards and judging sheets, scrutinizing each entrant. This isn’t a 1st, 2nd, 3rd place show, these owners are vying for AACA level award badges. Ranging from Junior, Senior among others all the way to Zenith levels of prestige. These prestigious awards often add big time value to the vehicle’s pedigree. Truly the best of the best!
We always leave AACA Hershey week with blown minds, physically exhausted and always with a few more bits of automotive knowledge. I really can’t recommend this event enough if you’re a car aficionado. See you there October 7 through 19, 2025!
For more info check out:
https://hershey.aaca.com/national-aaca/
https://aaca.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/AACA_2024_Judging_Guidelines.pdf
