On Wednesday afternoons from late April to October the fact that Downtown El Cajon gets filled with classic cars is no novelty, but last Wednesday, a few days before Halloween, things were a little different. Powerful car engines could be heard roaring alongside songs like “The Time Warp” and “The Monster Mash.”
Pat Shepherd, from Santee, who rode to Trunk or Treat rode in a 1992 Harley-Davidson FXR and is a proud member of the Bellymen motorcycle club, said the car show was unusual.
On Wednesday afternoons from late April to October the fact that Downtown El Cajon gets filled with classic cars is no novelty, but last Wednesday, a few days before Halloween, things were a little different. Powerful car engines could be heard roaring alongside songs like “The Time Warp” and “The Monster Mash.”
Pat Shepherd, from Santee, who rode to Trunk or Treat rode in a 1992 Harley-Davidson FXR and is a proud member of the Bellymen motorcycle club, said the car show was unusual.
“Normally you can just drive down the street and park but today it is blocked because of all the concessions,” said Shepherd.
Downtown El Cajon hosted El Cajon Classic Cruise’s Trunk or Treat where, instead of going from house to house, children in costumes went from trunk to trunk to collect a bounty of candy.
Staid, classic sedans were parked next to exotic sport cars, military and police vehicles, vans and some hearses.
Some cars and their owners were decked out for Halloween.
Bob McDonald, the owner of a psychedelic van, said he and his family frequently attended the car shows but Trunk or Treat was particularly special.
“We come to the car show regularly on Wednesday and make this a special event because we have this van,” he said. “We only bring the van on Halloween.”
The van, a 1963 Ford Econoline, has an interesting past. McDonald said it was originally a phone company van from El Centro, California.
“I found it sitting on the side of the road in El Centro, had it painted, paneled and then I put the lights and the posters in it” he said.
He said he was going to put old album covers in it but decided not to.
“They weren’t colorful enough, so I decided to do this, because you have to do something with the inside,” he said. “It’s too plain if it’s just paneling you know.”
The result was a kaleidoscope of glowing artwork that decorates the inside of his van.
Manny Nuñez, from El Cajon, who said was attending Trunk or Treat for the first time, brought his hearse.
“I wanted one and it just came up and I had to have it and I wanted something different,” he said. “And I definitely found something different. It’s a 1962 Cadillac Miller Meteor hearse.”
Nuñez said he participated at Trunk or Treat because he went to one of El Cajon Classic Cruise’s weekly car shows with his hearse.
“I brought my hearse that first time and just had fun,” he said. “I just wanted to come here for the cars and for the people.”
He said he would have participated sooner if he had known about the event.
“I would like just a little more info, so other people can come down and join because I had never been down here so I never knew I had to register or just park or whatnot,” he said.
For the weekly car shows, owners just park on the reserved spots on Main Street, but to park in the Promenade at Trunk or Treat, Nuñez said he had to call the Downtown El Cajon Business Partners to get his spot.
“I brought my hearse and gave out candy to the kids and it’s been a lot of fun,” he said.
The event also featured cosplayer Autumn Lynn appearing as the popular 1980’s horror hostess, Elvira, Mistress of the Dark.
She said it was her third time participating.
“It’s honestly one of my favorite car shows, Lynn said. “It’s just so nice, people seem to know each other or remember me.”
Lynn said she enjoyed the effort owners put into the decorations.
“All the cars look gorgeous, they really put their heart and soul into decorating each car”, she said.
Trunk or Treat was the last El Cajon Classic Cruise show of the year. The season will restart next Spring.
