White-wall tires, heavy chrome and muscle cars
Bluffton’s Main Street vehicular ghosts reappear on Friday, June 14.
Those shadowy figures grew up on leaded gasoline, have V-8 engines under their hoods and ride on white-wall tires. They arrive in a variety of bright colors and don’t have FM radios.
Some have strange names like: Plymouth, Studebaker, Mercury, Edsel, VW Bug, Woody, Oldsmobile, Desoto and Packard.
Over 200 of them return to Bluffton for the 52nd Bluffton Festival of Wheels cruise-in, sponsored by the Bluffton Lions.
A registration form for vehicle owners interested in entering a vehicle is attached at the bottom of this story.
Wheels is open to antique cars, classic cars, trucks, tractors, golf carts, fire engines, motorcycles and Cushman’s, according to Dan Diller, show chair.
This year’s show opens for parking at 2 p.m. Registration takes place in front of Twisted Whisk Café, 101 S. Main St., and registration for vehicles is from 2 to 5 p.m., rain or shine.
This family-friendly event includes activities for kids in the alley beside the Bluffton Presbyterian Church, on Main Street.
Judging begins at 5 p.m. with trophies awarded at 7:30 p.m. A cruise down South Main Street begins at 8 p.m.
For more show information go to: www.blufftonlionsfoundation.org. Vehicle registration is $12.
Proceeds from the festival benefit the charity work of the Lions, which includes:
• Bluffton, Pandora-Gilboa and Cory-Rawson High School graduating senior scholarships
• Sure-Sight Eye screening for 300 area pre-school and Kindergarten children
• Bluffton Boys’ and Girls’ State
• VOSH-Ohio (Pandora, Ohio, eyeglass sorting center)
• Pilot Dogs
• Ohio Sight/Hearing
Stories Posted This Week
Wednesday, September 9, 2026
- September 9 Bluffton High School athletics lineup, streaming
- Bluffton alumni will discuss pathways to chaplaincy
- Beaverdam cleanup day is Sept. 12
- Pirate boys golf 3rd at NWC quad
- Pirate volleyball outlasts Arlington
- Pirate girls soccer blanks Crestview
- Pirate boys soccer tie vs. Kalida
- Letter: The future of American agriculture
- Maple Grove Cemetery records now online
Tuesday, September 8, 2026
- Bluffton Historical meets Sept. 9 at the 1899 Depot
- Jerry L. Blosser worked for DTR Industries
- Bluffton Schools cancelled on September 8, cleanup for biodigester malfunction underway
- July 2026 Bluffton Police Dept. activity report
- Hillville Rd. closure on Sept. 8-9
- Lions and friends will count pathway users in September
- Bluffton Ohio Historical Society takes part in Ohio Open Doors, Sept. 12