Anthony Bishop’s 1951 Henry J hadn’t been driven on a road in 48 years until Saturday’s sixth annual Back to The Strip.
Once on the street, it didn’t take long for the Henry J to grab attention as it purred up and down New Smithville Highway with a 496 engine built by Bishop himself.
“This sat in my mother’s basement for a while and it was sitting in a field before I started working on it,” said Bishop. “I rescued it from the weeds and been working on it for 20 months.”
Bishop wasn’t 100 percent sure the Henry J would be ready for Saturday’s big event, but he woke up bright and early that morning and put in a couple hours of work to make sure the finishing touches were complete. A Viola resident, Bishop said the car hasn’t seen the road since 1969.
“It’s an interesting car,” said Bishop. “It was only made for a few years and you used to be able to order it from the Sears catalog.”
The Henry J was manufactured by the Kaiser-Frazer Corporation in Michigan from 1950-54. Its concept was a bare-minimum car that would retail for no more than $1,300 to attract less-affluent buyers. It was designed to have the fewest possible components to reduce costs. In fact early models, like Bishop’s, didn’t even have trunk lids. Access to the trunk could only be gained by folding down the rear seat.
The Henry J was just one of many unique vehicles to parade up and down The Strip as bystanders lined the street, many sitting on lawn chairs or blankets as they waved to their friends.
Back to The Strip is a fundraiser for Meals on Wheels. Organizer Mary Walker says this year’s event raised over $30,000 with an additional 15,000 pounds of food.
“It was by far a record for food donations, about three times our normal amount,” said Walker. “We had one person donate 3,960 pounds of food in memory of William Brewer. They brought it on a roll-back wrecker and it contained everything from 25-pound bags of sugar to 50-pound bags of potatoes.”
From a law enforcement standpoint, Police Chief Bryan Denton says 27 citations were issued with 16 of those being for not wearing a seatbelt. There were five citations for careless driving.
“We were pleased beyond our expectations,” said Denton. “This is the best year we’ve had. I wish we didn’t have to be out there, but people need to understand it’s a state highway on a Saturday night. The rules of the road apply. The way it went this year, I think people are getting that. If it wasn’t for seatbelt violations we would have hardly stopped anybody at all.”