CLEVELAND, Tenn. — Hundreds of America’s best antique automobiles will be parked here later this month.

The 2008 Southeastern Division of the Antique Automobile Club of America’s National Fall Meet will be held here Sept. 18-20.

The event and the people it’s bringing to town will have a big economic impact on the region, chairwoman Connie Wright said.

“Many participants of the fall meet will make this their vacation,” Mrs. Wright said.

She said that just winning the location is a regional accomplishment.

National AACA officials visit regions proposed for a meet and evaluate their accommodations, attractions, shopping and dining before awarding a site. The local chapter spent nearly two years applying and getting the designation, then organizing and promoting the event, she said.

A 2006 meet in Asheville, N.C., drew 396 vehicles from 24 states, according to the Asheville Chamber of Commerce. It generated $1.6 million in revenue and drew more than 2,000 spectators, the chamber said.

More than 330 vehicles have been registered for the Cleveland meet, organizers said. Member events are scheduled throughout the meet in places ranging from Chattanooga to the Ocoee River.

enjoying area attractions

Mrs. Wright has been traveling to antique auto events across the country promoting the Southeastern Division meet. She believes the region’s many tourist and leisure activities in Southeast Tennessee will lure people to stay longer.

“There will be some of these visitors who look around at the wonderful area and say ‘I’d like to live here,’” she said.

To compete for AACA awards, cars must be restored to showroom condition, Cleveland resident Neil Allen said. His 1964 Volvo P1800 won the organization’s highest award in 1993, he said.

“An Antique Automobile Club of America national meet gives spectators as well as participants the opportunity to see probably the broadest spectrum of restored-to-original-condition vehicles as possible,”Mr. Allen said.

He and his sister, B.J., trace their love of cars to their father, the late Carl L. Allen, who owned an auto repair business here for more than 30 years.

“As a child, if I were asked ‘What are you going to be when you grow up?’ you got a quick and positive answer, mechanic,” Mr. Allen said. He and his sister actually grew up to be teachers.

“Auto mechanic did not become my vocation, but it did become my avocation and is an important part of my heritage,” he said.

The heritage of antique cars is like a museum but with feeling, according to Mr. Allen.

“If I am driving the old Packard, looking across the hood, then I am seeing and experiencing a little of 1941, like my father.

“Depending on the era of the car, it can remind and prove to you that time and events really were slower paced. This slower pace can really be pleasing on the right road on the right day.

“If I drive the GTO with the radio on an oldies station and ‘get on it’ a little, I may catch myself grinning. I’ve gone back, briefly.”

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