Wednesday, October 15, 2008Tecumseh show cars come early and leave promptlyBy Jenny King / Special to The Detroit News TECUMSEH, Mich. -- Traffic control experts at the major sports arenas could likely pick up some pointers at the annual 'ididit' show here, where some 2,000 vehicles proved October 4 that they could disperse in a matter of minutes. And without tedious waiting in long lines.The exit from this popular event begins a little earlier in the afternoon, but most of the 2,000 cars and trucks on display stick around until the magic mid-afternoon hour of 3 p.m.Then they disappear, traveling home to towns like LaSalle, Erie, Clinton, Port Edward, Ontario and Toledo, Ohio.Skeeter Oliver was among the contingent from Toledo. He was showing a 1963 Ford Falcon Futura with 27,000 miles on its straight six and a two-speed automatic. The Future belongs to Toledo radio personality Danny Pietras, he explained.Perrysburg, Oh., resident Merritt Higbie had brought his prize-winning 1957 Thunderbird which he bought back in 1975 for $250.'The rear fenders came with the car,' he said, implying the sale condition of the two-seater. 'I paid another $376 for them.'By 1980, Higbie figured, he had invested some $12,000 in the car with its 90-pound removable hard top and rebuilt 245-horsepower 312-inch engine.The silver-gray 1941 Hudson Commodore Eight in a front row of the show belonged to Jan Kachur of Deerfield. It was new to his Hudson collection, which now numbers four. Its original interior was in very good condition and Kachur drives the '41 with impunity except when it comes to making turns.'This car doesn't have turn signals and a lot of drivers don't know what hand signals mean,' he said. 'Turn signals were a $14 option on this car.'