Classic Car Show Revs Up In Morton Grove

When people watch comedian Jay Leno, it usually means bedtime.

But for Rick Glickman, watching his show was the beginning of a new day.

Glickman, the founder of “Monday Night Car Shows,” a non-profit organization that brings classic car shows into suburban Chicago communities, found his inspiration from Leno some five years ago.

“Besides having a big garage, he has a scholarship for young people to get more involved in the [car] business,” Glickman said. “I thought that I wanted to do the same thing. So I set it up and that’s what I did.”

Thursday night Glickman’s car show came to Morton Grove at the Village Plaza Shopping Mall.

It was the first time “Monday Night Car Shows” came to Morton Grove.

Working with their hands

During the day Glickman installs and designs kitchens, but remains dedicated to the organization through the summer. The mission of “Monday Night Car Shows,” which became incorporated as a non-profit last year, is to educate young kids about cars.

Recently they began going into schools with auto shop programs, reinforcing what they feel is a need for young people to learn how to maintain cars.

“It’s to support our hobby through education for young people,” Glickman said. “I think young people aren’t learning to do anything with their hands and if they [a school] have a program, I want to encourage it.”

Thursday’s show was made possible in conjunction with Morton Grove’s Economic Development Commission.

Economic incentives

The EDC aims to bring new traffic to local businesses. The Village Plaza Shopping Mall, in the middle of one of Morton Grove’s busiest shopping districts was a mutually beneficial setting for “Monday Night Car Shows” and the village.

“[We wanted to] draw people from other communities and our own residents to Morton Grove, hopefully eat at Kappy’s, or any of our surrounding areas, put us on the map a little bit,” EDC vice-chair Janine Witko said.

Glickman and the show organizers sectioned off part of the Village Plaza Shopping Mall parking lot, which was filled nearly to capacity.

Half a century old and still rolling

Many of the exhibitors Glickman knew from previous shows.

Tim Olson brings his 1972 Mercedes 300 SEL and 1967 Rolls Royce—both fully restored—to about every other car show Glickman holds.

Many of the cars at Thursday’s show were fully restored, a process Olson says can cost in excess of $100,000. However, many of the exhibitors did some restorations themselves, defraying some of the costs.

Olson was excited to show his work to a new community.

“I think this is nice,” Olson said. “It’s a nice change. Different people get to see the cars. It’s all about showing the cars and every car has got a story.”

But while Olson has vintage cars like many of the exhibitors, Glickman doesn’t discriminate cars. He welcomes cars of all kinds—old or new.

In the lot were a few 1931 Ford and 1991 Corvette were within earshot of one another.

“It could be in primer, it could be a newer car that’s a cooler model like the brand new Mustang, but I don’t like to be restrictive,” Glickman said. “I don’t like to be difficult for people. I like to make it fun.”