My friend, Danita, and I headed to nearby Winterville, Georgia to check out the Marigold Festival, an annual community event that was first held from 1971 - 2002. After taking a break for a few years, the festival returned in 2009 and continues to this day.

Along with traditional festival activities such as good food, arts and crafts, and live music, the Marigold Festival also features a small car show. We arrived toward the end of the event as some of the participants were leaving. But I still managed to get some good shots. First in line was this 1955 Ford Thunderbird.

Ford introduced the two-seat Thunderbird in 1955 in response to the Chevrolet Corvette introduced in 1953. But those cars followed different design directions and were not actually direct competitors.

Legendary GM design chief Harley Earl envisioned the Corvette to be a moderately priced competitor to European sports cars from the likes of Jaguar and Alfa-Romeo. Ford envisioned the T-Bird to be a luxury touring car with emphasis on driver comfort, not speed and handling.

Ford was hoping to sell 10,000 Thunderbirds in 1955. But the car was an instant success that attracted 16,155 buyers that year.

1965 Pontiac GTO.

Pontiac is credited as having started the "Muscle Car" craze in 1964 when it stuffed a large and powerful V8 engine into its intermediate-sized Tempest and created the GTO. The car was an instant success and found 32,450 buyers that year, and followed that up with 75,352 units sold in 1965.

The 389 CID V8 was available in two configurations. The standard engine was topped with a 4-barrel carburetor and made 335 hp. Spending an additional $116 would get buyers the optional "Tri-Power" setup of three 2-barrel carburetors that made 360 hp. This car is one of 20,547 cars produced with that option.

A whopping 75% of all GTOs sold in 1965 were equipped with a manual transmission.

A pair of Pontiac Firebird convertibles.

The car on the right is a 1969 Pontiac Firebird convertible, one of 11,649 produced that year. Keen eyes will spot the "428-4" decal on the air cleaner which would seem to indicate the presence of the mighty 428 CID V8 under the hood. Pontiac never put the 428 in a Firebird at the factory. The swap was made during the car's comprehensive restoration, (which was fully documented via the book of photos displayed with the car).

The car on the left is a 1967 Pontiac Firebird convertible, one of 15,528 produced in the Firebird's inaugural year. As was the case with its next door neighbor, the engine in this car has also been swapped out for a 455 CID V8.

I spotted something interesting leaving the show.

The "Rat Rod" has been a fixture in the hobby for decades. The idea is pretty simple: Build whatever you can with whatever you have to work with. In this case, it looks like the builder took a 1952 Pontiac sedan and mounted it on top of a 4x4 chassis.

Speaking of Rat Rods . . .

Another show participant was leaving in his 1929 Ford tow truck.

The rope seat belt is great !

Another Rat Rod, this one being an early-60s GMC truck. This truck sported big block power up front and a machine gun in back.

L - R: 1963 Ford Thunderbird, 1955/56 Chevrolet 3100 Series truck, late-model Ford Ranger.

1963 Ford Thunderbird.

This was the final year for the third generation Thunderbird introduced in 1961. The front end styling cues were shared with the all-new 1961 Lincoln Continental. From its beginnings as a two-seat roadster in 1955 that found around 15k buyers, Thunderbird sales had been steadily climbing. The switch to a four-seat layout in 1958 nearly doubled sales from 1957, and nearly doubled again for 1959. By the time the third generation arrived for 1961, Ford was selling between 60K and 90K Thunderbirds each year.

I've always loved what Ford did with the Thunderbird's interior. One of Ford's more interesting gadgets was the "Swing-Away Steering Wheel." As long as the transmission was in "Park," the entire steering column could be moved inboard around 10.5 inches for better ingress/egress. The Swing-Away Steering Wheel was introduced as an option for the 1961 Thunderbird, and became standard equipment beginning in 1962.

Power comes from Ford's 390 CID V8 that makes 300 hp.

This is a 1955 or 1956 Chevrolet 3100 Series truck. The platform is officially called the "Task Force" and was introduced in 1955 replacing the "Advanced Design" platform from the 1940s.

This show attendee was leaving for the day.

It looks like he had a good time at the show.

Third generation Dodge Viper.

The original Dodge Viper was introduced for the 1992 model year. The concept was simple: PERFORMANCE ! The idea was to breath some much-needed life into the sea of front-wheel drive economy cars that populated Dodge dealers. A two-seat 400 hp 8.0L V10-powered rear-wheel drive rocket was enough to get people's attention. Dodge took this one step further by offering a "no compromise" performance car modeled after the legendary Shelby Cobra.

This meant several items commonly found throughout the industry were noticeably absent from the Viper's equipment list. Things like air conditioning and power accessories were understandably not available. Electronic nannies like traction control, abs, and airbags only added unnecessary weight and were also eliminated. Dodge showed that they were serious when the car debuted without things like exterior door handles, key locks, side windows, and a roof, (although Dodge did include a canvas covering).

Dodge phased in improvements and creature comforts over the subsequent years. By the time the third generation Viper arrived for the 2003 model year, windows, better seats, air conditioning, and a convertible top had joined the equipment list. The aluminum V10 had grown to 8.3L and now produced 500 hp.

This car is one of 8,390 third generation Dodge Vipers produced from 2003 - 2006.