An eclectic show featuring everything from proclamations to Pontiacs and Panteras, beauty queens and singing belles, military honors and local businesses celebrated the contributions of local veterans Saturday at Tustin’s Veteran’s Park, and LCOC members eaglery joined in the festivities.
Our own Don Torrence and his wife Kim carried off one of the sponsor’s trophies for his beautiful Jensen Interceptor, but his 1970 Mark III was no less impressive and his very own self-designed-and-built submarine truly stole the show.
Don, a retired aerospace engineer, built the 15-foot sub as a high school project long before graduating from Cal Poly Pomona with an engineering degree and working on hypersonic aircraft demonstrators under contract to NASA designed to fly up to 10 times the speed of sound.
The unusual vehicle drew a crowd, and he patiently answered questions about the sub, which has a sealed, cabin and has been submerged to a depth of 150 feet. In a process of continuing improvement, Don explained how he changed the side-mounted propellors from two to three blades for added performance and redesigned the controls based on the sub’s service experience.
Members of several area car clubs displayed at the show and individuals also were involved as registration maxed out at 100 vehicles. Everything from flag draped hot rods and classics to exotics graced the show field.
The Satin Dollz vocal group performed throughout the day belting out such vintage favorites as The Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy from Company B and Don’t Sit Under the Apple Tree and These Boots Were Made for Walking. Combining both brains and beauty, Miss Tustin Janelle Huerta, who is studying mechanical engineering at Cal Poly Pomona, added to the fun.
In the more serious part of the program, the VFW and color guard opened festivities and Tustin Mayor Austin Lombard announced proclamations honoring the 250th anniversaries of the U.S. Marine Corps and U.S, Navy. Each U. S. military branch was honored with its military theme song and veterans representing each service were asked to stand for recognition. The mayor expressed thanks on behalf of a grateful nation for the service and sacrifice of all veterans. What better way to celebrate their vast contributions than a car show and fun?
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