Rev up your engines

• Car

Brian Korthals/Daily Globe ­­Spomer Classics & Museum in Worthington features many locally sold automobiles, including this Chevrolet Corvette.
• Car Show

Brian Korthals/Daily Globe Spomer Classics Phase II features classic cars and vintage porcelain and neon signs from around the country.

Talk about it

WORTHINGTON — Need a good dose of nostalgia? Then Spomer Classics & Museum will be the place to be on Saturday.

The museum will host its Car Show & Shine from 10:30 a.m. to 2:45 p.m., giving car collectors the chance to show off their machines and car enthusiasts the opportunity to gaze upon an impressive collection of automotive memorabilia assembled by Marv and Jeanine Spomer.

Even people who have toured the facility before will find some new things to look at on Saturday. Marv recently finished Phase 2 of his museum project and has moved on to Phase 3 in his effort to preserve pieces of automotive history.

“Phase 2 was the entire service department,” Marv said. “We pretty much have the ceiling and the walls full. You’re limited to space, could probably do a little more crowding, but not much. Now we’ve started Phase 3, the old parts department. I’m not quite sure I’m going to have it open for the show.”

A retired car dealer, Marv’s collection includes quite a number of vehicles, but he has a special interest in neon automotive signs.

“It’s pretty hard to find anything any more,” he said. “I’ve been working on stuff now that I’ve had for 15 years, but I’m still able to make sure anybody who comes in is going to see something they didn’t see before. … There’s always new stuff going up. It’s fun every time you plug it in to watch it light up.”

The museum has begun to draw automotive buffs and car clubs from across the region, but a lot of locals don’t even realize it’s there, Marv noted.

“We had a couple in here who since they’ve been retired do nothing but travel to museums, and they had recently been to a national neon museum (American Sign Museum) in Ohio. They said we exceed the amount of neon by far that the national museum has,” Marv related. “You really don’t appreciate what you’ve got until you hear it from other people.”

Unfortunately, Marv isn’t able to give full tours on show day, but he will be around to answer questions regarding his collection and automotive history.

“It’s therapy,” he said. “Nostalgia is one of the best therapies there is today. I don’t go to work any more, I go to therapy. Jeanine read an article in a magazine that said one of the best therapies for depression is nostalgia, and when you start turning all those lights on, people’s faces just light up. It’s all about restoring memories.”

This is the eighth year for the Show & Shine, and the Spomers invite all collectors to participate.

“We have found that Memorial Day weekend seems to work the best, so it’s always the Saturday of Memorial weekend,” explained Marv. “It is a Show & Shine, so rain or shine, it doesn’t make a difference, we’re going to have it.

“This is a Worthington car show, open to anybody who wants to bring their car in and show it off. There are no classes, no judging; we keep it simple. We just want people to have a good time and appreciate other people’s vehicles.”

Spomer Classics & Museum is located at 322 Oxford St. A food stand will be available on the premises.

Daily Globe Features Editor Beth Rickers can be reached at 376-7327

Tags: car show & shine, news, spomer, classics