Car buff, 19, among enthusiasts at BI show

Kaden Amaden, 19, brought his first “new” car, a 1951 Dodge Coronet, to the first BI Classic Car Cruise-In of the year Tuesday night.

Dressed in western wear, Amaden stood beside his vintage automobile greeting visitors and proudly telling them about the car that he purchased last year at the Rotary Auction for $6,000. He’s been restoring it ever since.

“I’ve been working on getting it to run smoother. I’ve done a lot of rewiring mostly, a lot of the gauges and lights weren’t working correctly.” And, “it’s fun. It’s sort of interesting to go around turns because it tips a lot. Suspension in these old cars is different,” he said.

Like many car owners at the event, Amaden enjoys tinkering with things. He works at Pastiche Antiques where he maintains more than 30 classic clocks and refurbishes the old lamps and chandeliers.

Amaden caught the “bug” for fixing old technology at age 14 when he started repairing old electronics and collecting vintage Bell System telephones. He also teaches people how to repair Buzz Lightyear figures, antique phones and electronics on his YouTube channel, Kaden’s toy reviews and modifications.

Amaden’s vintage Dodge was originally owned by Ralph Monro, former Secretary of State of Washington, who donated the vehicle for the annual fundraising event.

More than 100 car owners parked on the Bainbridge First Baptist Church green space next to Highway 305 to show off their rides for the Cruise-In. Hundreds of auto enthusiasts talked shop, checked under hoods and enjoyed seeing a lot full of new and vintage cars parked side-by-side on the sunny afternoon.

The festival-like scene was filled with engines revving, people discussing specs and restoration challenges and smoke drifted by from a barbecue grill. Carmakers represented included; Porsche, Corvette, Ford, Volkswagen, Chevrolet, Dodge and Lamborghini, to name a few.

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