By Justin Pelletier,Staff Writer

OXFORD – In 1965, Dick Cloutier bought the car of his dreams.

He just didn’t know it yet.

“This used to be my high school car,” Cloutier said, pointing to his rebuilt 1951 Ford two-door custom car. “When I got married, I sold it and bought another one, but I got it back 2 years later, the same car I always had.”

It’s the same car, he said, only different.

“Everything has been changed on this car, from one end to the other,” Cloutier said. “If you put an original one next to it, they don’t even look alike. Every part of this car has been changed. I did that myself in my garage. It’s the only way I could ever have afforded to do that.”

Cloutier was one of hundreds of car owners and thousands of people gathered at Oxford Plains Speedway on Sunday for the 25th annual VIP Show, Shine and Drag.

“It’s like an institution,” said John Quirk, president and CEO of VIP. The event is the company’s biggest promotion, and grows every year.

“It certainly builds upon itself,” he said. “The enthusiasm really builds, and it’s really showing in attendance.”

Quirk wouldn’t estimate what the final tally would be for Sunday, but said that when compared to 25 years ago, the numbers are staggering.

“The first year they had less than 100 show cars and they had a few thousand people,” he said. “Today we have close to a 1,000 show cars, hundreds and hundreds of drag cars, and many, many thousand people.”

Cloutier’s one of them, and despite having his car in prime condition for 15 years, it was Cloutier’s first return to the event in several years.

“I bring it to a lot of shows around New England,” he said. “Three weeks ago I drove it up to Laconia, N.H., for a show there. That’s what I like to do.”

And yes, Cloutier said, he drove it. He drives his prize possession all summer long, even though there’s the chance a stray rock or car door may ding the metal or scratch the paint.

“You have to drive it,” Cloutier said. “It’s been built now for 15 years and I’ve been driving it. You have to have fun with it. It’s a lot of fun.”

The car itself is a looker. Painted pink flames shoot from the front of the car. Pink dice accent the antenna and pink spider webs leak into musical bars just behind the doors.

A mural of a 50s-style drive-in adorns the underside of the hood, and the engine and many of the accessories are highlighted pink. The trunk opens to a display of a cowboy hat and dangling fuzzy dice, with another mural of a drive-in sprayed onto the back window.

The interior features a welded chain steering wheel and displays of roller skates and two half-empty glass Coke bottles with straws.

“It goes with the era,” Cloutier said. “Like when I put the roller skates on the inside and everything, it goes with the era. That’s what I wanted to do.”

Defending Best-of-Show champ Rob Chaille of Uxbridge, Mass., was also back on the grounds Sunday with his truck “Razmataz.” Originally a 1987 Chevy Silverado, Chaille has installed a lift under the payload and jacked the truck up.

“It was a stock truck, and I bought it brand new,” Chaille said. “Every year, I do something different. I tore it apart in 1999 and got it out in 2002, and this is how she lies. I’m done, now.”

The distinguishing feature on Chaille’s entry is the paint job.

“Mike Lavallee from Killer Paint out of Washington state, I flew him out here in 2002 to paint the truck,” Chaille said. “He does all of Jesse James’ stuff.”

James is popular for his Discovery Channel television series “Monster Garage,” in which he customizes cars and motorcycles.

“VIP does a great job running this show,” Chaille said. “They get us out of here early, they give nice cash prizes. I do a lot of big events, and you don’t see that too often. For a little show like this, they treat you a lot better than some of the bigger ones.”

Freelance writer Jonathan Gaither contributed to this report.