Mild to Wild '07... Year of the Deuce
Story By Bob Rosenberry, Photos by Bob Rosenberry & Bob Symons

Tacoma, Wash. – For most of the world, this is just 2007, or maybe, the Year of the Pig, but in Tacoma, in April, it was the year of the Deuce! That’s right, for those of you who’ve been off the planet and missed it, the ’32 Ford is 75 years old this year.

For his Mild to Wild, Tacoma Dome show, Chas Marten assembled 58 of what had to be some of the finest Deuces in the northwest and spread them around the show floor, singly and in groups among the usual outstanding rides that are typical of a Marten production.

Besides the ’32 Fords there were sedans, coupes, modifieds, “traditional” hot rods, street drivers, show cars, pickups and station wagons, and that was just in one room! Across the entry lobby, another entire hall was devoted to motorcycles. There were to be found an impressive variety of choppers, customs, bobbers and stretch-framed, but traditional looking bikes. An array of booths lined the edges of the floor in each hall, including an assortment of rod builders with samples of their work, auto parts suppliers, shop equipment vendors, and an assortment of less auto specific vendors that still drew their share of interest.

Spectator entertainment included music from groups such as the Michael Crain Band (who did a killer cover of “Summertime Blues”) and the Striper’s Gallery assembled with the help of long time Tacoma striper, Bob Davidson. There was never a “dead time” moment!

The Mild to Wild Show in the Tacoma Dome is always a great show. It differs a bit from year to year, but that’s the hallmark of a good show, and an indication how much fresh blood there is in the local rod and custom scene. Best of all, it’s “our” show, unique to the Pacific Northwest. It’ll come around again next year, so keep track of the CruZin’ Calendar and stop by and check out “the best” the Northwest has to offer!