Aurubis Buffalo Holds First Annual Employee Auto Show 

A Sight for Sore Eyes

If you were stopped at the red light at the intersection of Sayre Street and Military Road in West Buffalo around 10 AM on Saturday, August 5, you may not have believed your eyes.

First, a 1968 Chevy Camaro speeds by. Then, emerging from the dust cloud left in its wake, a 1931 Model A Ford nonchalantly hums by. Just as the light turns green and you begin to gas up your engine, a 2011 ZX14R motorcycle races by.

Starting to feel a little underwhelmed with your own ride, you lastly witness a 1965 red Chevelle roll by before continuing on with your Saturday which suddenly feels much less special than it did this morning.

Aurubis Buffalo Holds First Annual Employee Auto Show

This past Saturday, employees of Aurubis Buffalo took a break from refining metal and instead showed off their personal “metal” in the form of fancy cars, trucks and motorcycles.

19 souped-up automobiles lined the back parking lot of the Military Road plant as employees and their families enjoyed three hours (11 AM- 2 PM) of automobile eye-gawking, mouth-watering food that was quite benevolent to the tongue and the company of their coworkers.

Besides a full belly, three automobile owners in particular and many employees alike left with more than what they had when they arrived in the form of prizes and raffle giveaways.

Automobiles in Attendance

A radiant and shining August sun quickly dried any leftover water marks from every automobile’s early-morning wash. Aurubis Buffalo was gifted with beautiful weather for what we hope to be the first of many annual auto shows.

A more picturesque day couldn’t have been thought up to play host for the showcasing of the 19 automobiles. Vehicle categories were split into the following: cars, trucks and motorcycles. (number of cars) cars, two trucks and two motorcycles, to be frank.

The cars in attendance: 1931 Ford Model A Tudor Sedan Hotrod, 1939 Ford Leftover Special (won award for best restoration), 1965 Chevy Chevelle (won award for best in show), 1970 Chevy Chevelle, 1967 Chevy Camaro convertible, 1967 Ford Mustang, 1968 Camaro, 1973 Dodge Challenger, 1973 Ford Mustang, 1974 Chevy Camaro, 1981 Oldsmobile Cutlass, 2016 Audi S6, 2018 Chevy Camaro, 2019 Chevy Corvette, 2020 Purple Dodge Charger SXT

The trucks in attendance: 1971 Chevy C10 pickup, 2008 Black F250

The Motorcycles in attendance: 2011 ZX14r, Harley Super Glide

Check out the best angles of each automobile below.

The Day’s Top Winners

To be in union with most national auto shows, Aurubis Buffalo rolled out three prize categories that were obtainable for any car, truck or motorcycle in the show: Best in show, best restoration and best paint job.

Winners of each category were voted upon by auto show attendees at anonymous tablet-powered voting booths and were announced towards the event’s conclusion.

Best in Show 

Car: 1965 Red Chevelle

Owner: Mike Penska

Mike Penska wowed the crowd from the very beginning with his classic Chevy. Quickly proving that newer doesn’t necessarily equate to better, Penska and his ride beat out multiple newer cars, collecting a majority of the votes for best in show.

Best Paint Job 

Car: 1967 blue Camaro Convertible

Owner: Mike Wright

Although everyone here at Aurubis bleeds red, white and blue, it seems as though white and blue are just enough to get the job done. Mike Wright and his white-striped, blue Camaro stole the show for best paint job.

“The body was restored and painted about 10 years ago by Kar Krazy in Blasdell,” shared Wright. “The shop has closed since due to medical issues with the owner.  Interesting fact, the color is not an original GM color, it is actually a Ford color!  My father-in-law had the car at the time, and it is his favorite color!”

Best Restoration 

Car: 1939 Ford (Leftover Special)

Owner: Chad Schlifke

 

Leftovers were served hot for Chad Schlifke and his 1939 Ford (Leftover Special) as they were awarded the ribbon for ‘best restoration’. This older Ford debatably attracted the most eye traffic out of any car in the show, leading many to wonder why Ford stopped producing such a car.

Food, Raffles and More!

Thanks to Weidner’s BBQ chicken food truck, everyone was a ‘winner winner’ who enjoyed a ‘chicken dinner’. The famous BBQ truck was accompanied by a Rollling Cannoli’s food truck and Western New York Food Carts.

Although no awards were bestowed upon the participating food trucks, many attendees were in agreement that the cannolis were ‘best in show’.

All leftover food was donated to a local Buffalo fire department.

The fun didn’t stop there, however.

Between food-eating and car-viewing, all attendees waited patiently as winning names were drawn for an employee raffle. Many prizes were distributed, with one of the most notable ones being tickets to a Buffalo Bills game.

Aurubis Buffalo would like to thank Power Flo Technologies, Applied, Philpac Corp, Airline Hydraulics and Dival for donating some of the event’s best prizes.

Where There’s One, There’s Hopefully More…

Give me liberty or give me…annual auto shows!  With such a successful first outing, Aurubis Buffalo hopes to create a new yearly tradition in the employee auto show event. Keep an eye out for next year’s auto show recap blog!