Vehicles old and new combined for a colorful display of creativity and chrome as the Arbutus Volunteer Fire Department hosted its second annual Auto Show Sept. 14.

Despite the heat and humidity that made models from the Delmarva Bikini Team the most appropriately attired visitors to the event, hundreds of spectators turned out to check out the street rods, show cars, trucks, vans and even a hearse that filled the department's parking lot on Southwestern Boulevard.

The event was the brainchild of department member Mike Francischelli, 22, who called on about 20 friends from his days as a student at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, as well as a similar number of volunteers from the department to help out during the event, which was scheduled to run from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

"I've always been a car enthusiast," said Francischelli, whose Prime Show Management company promoted Sunday's show.

Francischelli said an experience at a car show in which his vehicle was one of four imports and having that particular category ignored by the judges made him think "there has to be a better way."

A local car show also seemed to be a good way to raise money for the department's building fund and apparatus replacement fund, he said.

Admission was free to the event.

The department did benefit from the registration fees and sales of food, drinks, snowballs and T-shirts.

Francischelli noted that the sponsor list quadrupled from last year's four.

This year's group included local businesses Best Buy of Glen Burnie, Buckingham Automotive, Jim Catterton and Hope, Emergency Lighting Concepts, King's Italian Ice, the Larry Beck Co., Metlife, Mike's Pizza of Arbutus, Southwestern Car Care and Tacka Motors.

Other sponsors included Meguiar's, Mother's, Mystic Piercing and Tribal Tattoo, Scion Lover and www.AndysAutoSport.com.

Last year's event attracted 101 vehicles and raised about $900 for the department, Francischelli said.

While only six vehicles pre-registered last year, about 30 signed up in advance for Sunday's show, he said.

A steady stream of colorful cars continued to roar into the parking lot Sunday morning and within 45 minutes of the show's opening, about 103 vehicles had paid the $20 registration fee, he said.

Under the silent gaze of a black Mercedes-Benz with a toy replica of itself on a small turntable atop its engine, a gleaming reddish Lotus, a metallic green Pontiac Ventura, a bright purple roadster and an orange pickup truck with a pumpkin theme that included pumpkin door locks, the latecomers slowly made their way to the rapidly filling back lot.

In a far corner of the lot, David Hare sat beneath his tent filling out the registration form for his 2007 Dodge Ram pickup truck.

Despite being tucked away next to a bright yellow Chevelle and another yellow Corvette, the Glen Burnie resident said he did not feel his corner spot put him at too much of a disadvantage.

"It depends on what the judges are looking for," he said. "If this was a spectator show, a lot of times it's just a matter of what they like.

"A judges show like today, it's more like a level playing ground."

Hare, who said his truck had won several first- and second-place awards at competitions in Carlisle, Pa., said "awards are part of it.

"Some people come for the trophies. Some people come for the cars. I find it more enjoyable talking to people about what they've done to their vehicle and how they did it," he said.

Along the first row of the department's front parking lot, Jimi Harris eagerly showed off some of the Scions that he, members of his family and fellow members of his Showstoppers car club had on display.

His is an eight-Scion family, he said, pointing to his wife, Tina's, blue tC coupe, his son Tito's 2008 orange xD and orange 2004 xB, and his own gold, 2008 limited edition xD.

In addition to the models from the Toyota division, also in the line of cars was a 1994 Chevrolet that had been "taken out of mothballs" and redone for Sunday's show.

The vehicle's tweed interior seamlessly matched its turquoise exterior, noted Harris, whose Mystic Piercing and Tribal Tattoo was one of the four sponsors for last year's show.

Several Arbutus firemen had gotten their tattoos from his business, he answered on his connection to the local group.

"We do volunteer stuff for everyone," he said of the Crofton-based business's support of school plays, boys and girls clubs and the Arbutus Volunteer Fire Department. "We're the softest touch in Maryland."

Shifting from businessman to fan, Harris pointed to a small, white convertible parked near a Camaro SS, a shining Chevelle SS and a Corvette in a corner of the front lot.

"That's beautiful," he said, looking at the 1954 Kaiser Darrin that Charlie Heyda had driven to the show from his home in Bethesda.

"I'm very careful," said Heyda on his drive up to Arbutus in a car he bought four years ago.

The Kaiser-Darrin was styled by Santa Monica-based Howard Darrin, who also designed for Packard and Studebaker, according to www.conceptcarz.com.

The two-seater had a fiberglass body and sliding doors that disappeared into the front fenders when opened.

Only 435 cars were built in 1954, the model's only year of production, according to the Web site.

"When I was a teenager, a family on our block had a green one, with the sliding doors," Heyda said. "I thought it was so cool."

He said he didn't ask for his spot on the front lot.

"I came in and the guy said, 'We want to put you up front, because it's so unusual,' " he said.

He wiped his brow, then went back to brushing the car's red carpet and upholstery as the show's visitors continued to stroll around the lot.

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