Kirkland, Washington -   A big, big upset for the 600+ high dollar restoration and high value cars in attendance at The Kirkland Classic Car Show held on July 24, 2005. A 1966 Toronado, owned by Scott Mountney, won Best of Class in a group of high dollar muscles and rare cars in the Orphan Class. The other big winner of the group was a Nash.

It is not uncommon to see high dollar restorations in Kirkland and at local shows, so seeing a Toronado may have come as a surprise to the spectators, as they are rarely seen amongst such competition.  Although it did not win a people's choice award, Scott's 66 was able to garner support from voters who had cars in the show. The Toronado was in the same class as an estimated 30-40 other cars, several of which were very high end "prized" muscle cars. 

Scott suspects that a few owners of high-dollar cars may have been surprised with the outcome. During the announcement of the awards, one could hear many confused questions by the participants who could not believe what they were hearing. However, many more people were cheering loudly when Scott's car was announced. More than a few folks said "that car rules" and other fantastic comments.

Unlike the People's Choice Awards, Scott's class was judged, making the win that much more special. "While I still have a few things to do, the judges gave me high points for the difficulty rating I suppose," Scott said. "They also commented 'what a great idea to restore a Toronado,'" he added.

The question on several peoples minds was if he got the idea from Jay Leno. They were surprised to hear that this project began several years before the Leno Toronado came about! Another popular question was where one could find a nice Toronado. This may just be the "Jay Leno effect" but it is Scott's opinion that "it shows that our cars are just being rediscovered by the masses."

If possible, the event got even better for Scott. The producer of the Seattle Custom and Hotrod show (an indoor arena event) gave him his card and said he really wanted the 66 at his show. Scott added, "He took pictures of my car and said 'you better come, I want that car there. It will look incredible under the lights in the show.'" More information on this show can be found here: http://www.hotrodshows.com/srs.html.