I woke up to some dreary weather on Saturday morning and hoped for the best as I headed to the speedway for the Hornets Nest AACA show. At that moment, I was looking at upper 50s and a lot of cloud cover. But with the amount of walking I was going to do, I knew I wouldn't have to worry about keeping warm. Shorts and a Jaguar t-shirt would be the rule for the day. And since mid-70s were forecast to arrive by the early afternoon, the coat could stay in the car.

It's been seven years since I last attended an event of this nature. But I knew I would be doing A LOT of walking. Warmth would not be a problem once the exercise began. Armed with one pair of good walking shoes, a 64GB memory card, and three fully charged camera batteries, I hit the show field.

Part of the Charlotte Auto Fair activities includes not only an AACA show, but a whole host of local and regional car club shows as well. Members of the Southern Scouts were gathered outside the main entrance of the speedway.

The Southern Scouts is an organization dedicated to vehicles made by International Harvester.

The Southern Scouts holds its Dixie Regionals flagship event at the Charlotte Auto Fair each spring.

I arrived to a great gathering of all kinds of IH products, including a bunch of Scouts.

Southern Scouts 2019 Dixie Regionals gathering at the Charlotte Auto Fair.

I made it a point to arrive early at the speedway today. The benefit of this is that I got to see a lot of the show participants arrive as well. The AACA requires that almost all of the registered cars be driven onto the show field. The Corvette race car seen in the photo above sounded great !

The great thing about an AACA show is that all vehicles must drive onto the show field under their own power, (there are exceptions for race cars and motorcycles). This turned out to be a treat for the eyes, ears, and camera lens.

Even though the street rod seen in the photo above looked and sounded great, I was a little confused why it was here give the nature of an AACA show. My suspicions were confirmed when this car turned around and left the AACA area and headed to the speedway.

A stunning 1956 Ford F100 pickup.

1961 Pontiac Ventura, 389 Tri-Power, 4-speed.

Another beautiful 1961 Pontiac, this one is a 389 Tri-Power Catalina.

A 1947 Cadillac Series 62 convertible arrives next to a 1944 Willys Jeep.

1947 Cadillac Series 62 convertible (L) and 1944 Willys Jeep (R).

I wasn't the only person taking pics of the cars arriving.

Another military vehicle arrives - 1942 Harley Davidson.

I was drooling over this stunning 1947 Cadillac !

1960 Buick Electra 225.

The first of two 1938 Lincoln Zephyrs arrives.

Another 1938 Lincoln Zephyr was right behind the first one.

1911 Buick Model 33 Touring.

This was one of several beautifully restored Buicks on display at this show.

1911 Buick Model 33 Touring.

1969 Chevrolet Camaro convertible.

Apparently, there was some kind of confusion at to what class the '47 Caddy was to be in.

The car owner parked the car next to where I was standing while he headed to the AACA tent to get the issue resolved. I took advantage of this by taking a few close-up pics.

He ended up being in Class 19E: CCCA Vehicles 1940 - 48. Class 19 is reserved for specifically named vehicles recognized by the Classic Car Club of America with Class 19E covering 1940 - 48.

This is a rare car, 1 of 6,755 made that year.

Flawless paint.

Absolutely gorgeous 1947 Cadillac Series 62 convertible.

1964 Dodge 880 coupe.

I guess there was some confusion regarding this car's class as well.

1928 Chrysler Series 52.

1928 Chrysler Series 52.

1931 Chevrolet Series AE 'Independence.'

1931 Chevrolet Series AE 'Independence.'

1941 Packard 110 convertible.

A rare 1970 Buick GS Stage 1.

1970 Buick GS Stage 1.

The arrivals line had dwindled by the time this extremely rare 1990 Avanti 4-door sedan pulled in. This meant it was time for me to hit the showfield.

All vehicles registered for an AACA show are assigned a class. There is something here for everyone (I counted 133 available classes in the 2019 AACA Judging Guidelines manual). Classes are divided into two categories.

The majority of classes fall into the first category of Competition Judged Classes where vehicles are evaluated according to a points system. The objective is to evaluate an antique vehicle that, "has been restored to the same state as the dealer could have prepared the vehicle for delivery to the customer." The emphasis here is on an authentic restoration.

A handful of classes fall into the second judging category of Certification Classes. These vehicles are not point judged, but evaluated according to specific AACA guidelines.

The first two classes I encountered today were from the Certification Classes category. Historic Preservation of Original Features (HPOF) is a class for cars that have been preserved rather than restored. I've also seen this class referred to as a "preservation" or "survivor" class. According to the AACA Judging Guidelines manual, this class was created "to encourage the saving and display of collector vehicles in their original, as manufactured, condition."

The first row of HPOF cars.

1951 Pontiac Chieftain Eight sedan.

1951 Pontiac Chieftain Eight sedan.

1978 Lincoln Continental.

It didn't take long for me to realize that a lot of the HPOF cars don't match my mental image of an "antique" car, even though they are. The AACA defines an "antique" car as one more than 25 years old. So as hard as it is for me to believe, anything manufactured in 1994 or earlier is considered an antique.

This 1978 Lincoln Continental is one of my favorites, and one that I would own as a driver in a heartbeat. But try as I might, I just can't see it as an antique, even though basic math says it is. This would be a recurring theme throughout this class and the DPC class which we'll get to later.

I've been a big fan of mid-1970s Lincolns ever since I was in high school. I'd own this 1978 Lincoln Continental in a heartbeat ! Actually, I'd own ANY Lincoln from 1961 - 1979 as a driver.

1985 Cadillac Eldorado Biarritz convertible.