HEBRON — When parked amid the rows of gleaming, souped-up classic cars, Chip Kene’s 1949 Ford sedan looks a little out of place.

Kene has done some work on the car, installing a new suspension system and lowering the roof. The restoration is only half done, with the rest of the vehicle missing key components such as seats, headlights and paint. But as Kene points out, most of the stylish cars flowing into the Hebron Pines Campground this weekend started out in less-than-perfect shape.

“The hot rodder certainly looks at things a bit differently, and can see the potential,” said Kene, who owns Mr. Chip’s Customs in Poland.

Kene is at the campground as part of the 38th annual Downeast Rod Run. Auto enthusiasts have been trickling into the campground, and Friday marked the first day of scheduled events such as entertainment performances and a cruise to a Paris ice cream shop.

The cars will be on display all day Saturday, with other events such as free photos in front of a barn decked out with old road signs. The day concludes with a free potluck supper at 5 p.m., though attendees are asked to bring a food item to share. Admission is $5 for spectators, $10 for people who wish to enter a hot rod in the day’s contests and free for children under 16.

This is the 10th year the show has been put on at the campground by Downeast Street Rods after the club outgrew their former event venue at the Cumberland Fairgrounds. Paul Nadeau, president of the club, said the proceeds go toward local charities and that members have raised more than $10,000 in the past three years.

“What this ends up being is just a no-frills, laid-back weekend,” Nadeau said. “It’s as much about meeting the people as seeing the cars.”

The cars range from roadsters that have become an owner’s everyday transport to pickups that spend most of their days inside. Nadeau said the frequency of a car’s time on the road is usually the inverse of the amount of money put into restoring it.

Susan Landkwist, head of the advertising committee for the club, said a street rod is any vehicle that can have all four fenders unbolted. The cars in the club are all from 1948 or earlier, but contest entries can go as high as 1972 per a rolling cutoff set by a national street rod organization.

“With good weather, we can have over 200 cars,” Landkwist said.

Dick Landkwist, Susan’s husband, has a 1932 Ford roadster and a 1933 Ford coupe on display. He recently took the coupe across the country on Route 66, looping up through Canada before returning home. The journey put another 9,400 miles on the odometer, but the coupe returned without any problems.

“The thing opens doors for you, you wouldn’t believe,” he said. “You meet more hot rodders than you might expect.”

Nadeau, who has three cars on display, said the vehicle owners usually do their own reconstruction work but will put it out to a garage for upholstery and repainting jobs.

“You’re not going to find two of them that look the same,” he said. “It shows the owner’s personality.”

mlangeveld@sunjournal.com

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