By Mark Ambrogi
IU Health North Hospital Carmel Artomobilia has come a long way from its modest beginnings in 2008.
John Leonard, the event director and the founder, said the city of Carmel had a desire to bring people in the Arts & Design District in 2008 so they decided to put on a car show in June.
“It was massively disorganized because we only probably only six or seven weeks to put it together,” Leonard said. “We had 50 cars and I don’t know how many people we had but we didn’t have that many people. But it struck a little bit of a chord. So fast forward seven years, we’ll have 403 cars and probably have 10,000 to 12,000 people that come from (all over the Indianapolis area). We’ll have car exhibitors from as far as Canada, Georgia, Cleveland and Chicago.”
The seventh annual Carmel Artomobilia will be held from noon to 5 p.m. on Aug. 29 in the Carmel Arts & Design District. Leonard, 47, said the purpose is to exhibit cars people might not see every day, promote the car hobby and the Arts & Design District.
Leonard, a life-long car enthusiast, grew up in Brownsburg. He lived in Southern California before moving to Carmel in 2001. He has attended the Monterrey (Calif.) Car Week for 24 years.
There are two groups, Judged Class cars, such as classic, European cars, Muscle cars, GT sports cars, which are positioned on Main Street. The other group is in Car Corral and those cars are positioned on Range Line Road.
“Our car show is a beauty contest,” Leonard said. “We’re celebrating the art and design of the automobile. So we put them all together and try to decide which one is the best looking.”
The Car Corral is made up of auto enthusiasts so there will be owners from the Porsche Club, BMW and DeLorean Club.
There will be 12 to 15 artists from the Hoosier Salon painting cars in different locations. There will be stages on the east and west end of Main Street with entertainment showcasing area talent from noon until 3 p.m.
Carmel musician Blair Clark and his Fun Factor Band will perform on the main stage next to the Indiana Design Center, starting at 1 p.m. The awards ceremony will be at 3:30 p.m.
For more information on the IU Health North Hospital Carmel Artomobilia, visit carmelartomobilia.com.
Fuelicious benefits charity
A charity event, Fuelicious: A Celebration of Wheels + Wishes, will be held at Lucas estate in Carmel from 7 p.m. to 11 p.m. on Aug. 28.
The event supports the Indiana Children’s Wish Fund.
“We’re going to feature 50 hand-selected cars,” Leonard said. “We’re going to pair the cars. One of the neat pairings is a 1916 Detroit electric car and we’re going to pair that with brand Tesla. There will be 25 paired cars and the idea is to show the cars in a way you don’t normally see them.”
Tickets and tables are available. For more information, visit indianachildrenswishfund.org/events/details/fuelicious-a-celebration-of-wheels-and-wishes
