{"id":137685,"date":"2026-07-05T05:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-07-05T11:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/car-owners-put-americana-on-full-display-for-cortezs-july-4-celebration\/"},"modified":"2026-07-07T11:26:18","modified_gmt":"2026-07-07T17:26:18","slug":"car-owners-put-americana-on-full-display-for-cortezs-july-4-celebration","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/car-owners-put-americana-on-full-display-for-cortezs-july-4-celebration\/","title":{"rendered":"Car owners put Americana on full display during Cortez\u2019s July 4 celebration"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"A
A car show was one of the many festivities accompanying the Cortez Fourth of July celebration Saturday afternoon. (Erika Alvero\/Special to the Journal)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Low rumbles and the smell of engine fuel invaded Parque de Vida in Cortez on July 4 as car enthusiasts brought out their finest creations to the city\u2019s celebration of the 250th anniversary of the United States.<\/p>\n

Hundreds of spectators gawked at what Mancos resident and muscle car owner Abe Archuleta dubbed \u201craw American power and class.\u201d He and his wife displayed shiny customized cars, hers a white 2023 Chevy Corvette Stingray and his a red 2024 Chevy Corvette.<\/p>\n

\"Parkgoers
Parkgoers admire Mancos resident Abe Archuleta\u2019s 2024 Chevy Corvette. (Erika Alvero\/Special to the Journal)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

\u201cCars in American culture goes back as far as the first Ford ever produced,\u201d said Richard Terrill, who runs the show every Fourth of July.<\/p>\n

The annual car show accompanied other Fourth of July events in the Four Corners. Live music and parades took over Durango while bands and food vendors arrived at Ute Mountain Casino in Towaoc. Dove Creek residents spent the day at the town\u2019s Pick-n-Hoe event, playing corn hole, chasing pigs and eating barbecue. Many municipalities canceled their fireworks shows because of drought conditions, but Cortez, Bayfield and Farmington projected dazzling pyrotechnics late into the night.<\/p>\n

Terrill, who also goes by Bumz Arodn, estimated that more than 70 cars registered for his show this year, including his own old school-red truck.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf us older folks don\u2019t show these younger people what we got, then we\u2019ll lose the car culture,\u201d Terrill said. \u201cThat\u2019s why I include oldies, whether they shine or rust like mine.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"A
A makeshift hitchhiker enjoys the show in Richard Terrill's old truck. (Erika Alvero\/Special to the Journal)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

The wide variety of vehicles on display included Rafe O\u2019Brien\u2019s dwarf truck modeled after a 1936 Ford pick up. The squat little car, wrapped in stars and stripes, is outfitted with a motorcycle motor and built to race 70 to 80 mph on dirt tracks.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ll run about 10 to 12 of us together in a race,\u201d O\u2019Brien said. \u201cIt\u2019s super tight for a bunch of laps.\u201d<\/p>\n

His sister, Aislynn, will race the car at the Cortez Fairgrounds Speedway on July 25. The siblings come from a long line of car enthusiasts, although many of their ancestors had other motives when modifying cars.<\/p>\n

\"Abe
Abe O'Brien revs the dwarf Ford 1937 while his sister, Aislynn, the only woman in her racing bracket, looks on. The siblings display their hardy little car at these events to inspire people to start coming back to races, which O\u2019Brien said are sparsely attended. (Ann Marie Vanderveen\/The Journal)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

\u201cTechnically, my family was bootleggers here in Mancos and Durango back in the day,\u201d O\u2019Brien said with a laugh. \u201cThe reason my great, great, great grandpa wanted to do that was because they needed to run from the cops faster.\u201d<\/p>\n

Randy Linscott displayed a particularly American car, a sleek 1955 Chevy complete with 1950s diner memorabilia scattered inside the trunk and a miniature version of the red and black car peeking out of the hood.<\/p>\n

\"Randy
Randy Linscott poses with his 1955 Chevy. (Erika Alvero\/Special to the Journal)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

\u201cWe used to cruise Bob\u2019s Big Boy back in the day,\u201d Linscott said with a chuckle.<\/p>\n

Amid the glamour of 1970s Los Angeles, Linscott was the president of a Chevelle Club, which restored old Chevrolet Chevelles.<\/p>\n

Now living in Hesperus, he restored this Chevy by hand. When he originally bought it, he said it was infested with wasps and black widows, with tires ready to blow out any second. He enjoys displaying what now appears to be a shiny new ride.<\/p>\n

\"Mike
Mike Kop stationed his 1969 Mustang next to the duck pond Saturday afternoon. (Erika Alvero\/Special to the Journal)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Mark
Mark Escobel, a Durango resident who grew up in Cortez, attended the Fourth of July car show at Parque de Vida. He brings his 1998 Honda Civic to different shows as a way to raise autism awareness. (Erika Alvero\/Special to the Journal)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Many other cars displayed were also brought back from the dead. James Parks, owner of Cozy Inn in Cortez, showed off his 1968 Mercury Cougar which he said sat around for 25 years in a garage before he restored it.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe finally got back to it to build it into a really nice car,\u201d Parks said, adding that he and his wife enjoy cruising it around town.<\/p>\n

As a nice touch, the couple embroidered cats into the upholstery, matching the cats on the silver hub caps.<\/p>\n

\"James
James Parks shows off the upholstery in his 1968 Cougar which he and his wife take for cruising in Cortez. (Ann Marie Vanderveen\/The Journal)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

The fine details also didn\u2019t pass by David Kennedy who displayed his father\u2019s 1996 Mustang Cobra, which he said he saved from the \u201ccrusher\u201d after his father proposed getting rid of the car. A small silver cobra statue arched its back from the grill of the burgundy vehicle.<\/p>\n

Kennedy loves events like these, which he says gather good crowds and celebrate a classic part of American heritage.<\/p>\n

\u201cHot rods have always been a part of American culture,\u201d Kennedy said, adding of car shows, \u201cIt brings a variety of people, and gives them a peaceful place to show their own personal expression, as well as bring the community together.\u201d<\/p>\n

avanderveen@the-journal.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

More than 70 old cars and modern models gleamed in the sun for the 250th celebration of the United States at Parque de Vida<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":137686,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5736,5735],"tags":[21,1820,510,28,2265,29,6419],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-137685","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-local-news","category-news","tag-cortez","tag-dh-trueanthem","tag-festive-event-including-carnival","tag-headlines","tag-hobby","tag-newsletter","tag-tj-trueanthem"],"acf":[],"author_name":"Website Administrator","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/137685","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=137685"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/137685\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":137927,"href":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/137685\/revisions\/137927"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/137686"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=137685"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=137685"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=137685"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=137685"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}