By Mark Ambrogi
Carmel Artomobilia has come a long way since its humble beginnings in 2008.
“I think we started off with 42 cars,” said event director and founder John Leonard. “Over the years as the Carmel Arts & Design District has grown and blossomed, our event has as well. This year we’ll have 438 cars. We’ve got more sponsors and support from the community than we’ve ever had. We’re going to have a great event.”
The IU Health North Carmel Artomobilia is set for noon to 5 p.m. Aug. 26 at Main Street and Range Line Road. ADESA is a presenting sponsor.
“We’ve maxed out the capacity so what we’re looking forward to is Monon Boulevard being put in place, perhaps we can take advantage of that in future years,” Leonard said. “Rather than looking at how we can add more cars because we’re at capacity, is how we can add cars that are more interesting, more unique, nicer cars. We’ve seen the quantity has sort of plateaued because of the real estate. The quality continues to increase.”
Leonard said there will be several body styles of Camaros.
“We’ll have a collection of Camaros that are coming from the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum,” he said.
There will be a collection of cars called RestoMod, restoration plus modern parts/technology.
Troy Trepanier, a nationally recognized custom car builder, will help judge the RestoMod Class.
Leonard said the event has had several cars that have been winners are prestigious car shows. Leonard is hoping to make it an even bigger event to draw even more from surrounding states.
“That’s why we added the Fuelicious event a few years ago,” Leonard said. “The combination of the two events gives us a broader reach of people that will come from St. Louis, Chicago and Louisville. They’ll come for a variety of things to do. We’re conscious people want a great experience. We’re growing the number of events in the future.”
Fuelicious, a Indiana Children’s Wish Fund fundraiser featuring 50 distinct collector cars, will be held from 7 to 11 p.m. Aug. 25 at the Lucas Estate in Carmel.
Artomobilia and Hoosier Salon have partnered to feature a plein-air paint-out. Several Indiana artists have been chosen to paint in around the cars.
For more, visit carmelartomobilia.com. For more on the paint-out or Fuelicious, visit youarecurrent.com and fuelicious.com.
