The high price cost of gas ate into entries for the 28th annual Bent Axles Car Show, but didn’t put the brakes on enthusiasm or admiration for the vehicles on display.

Held at the Radisson Hotel in Santa Maria, the show boasted approximately 120 classic vehicles, which ranged from the sleek and polished to the eccentric.

Though organizers deemed the show a success, the number of entries was down by almost half from last year’s 200 participants, thanks to the soaring cost of fuel.

“In the past, we’ve had people come from long distances, out of state. It’s just a financial crisis,” organizer Vicki Mitchell said, adding that there was one out-of-state entry, from Nevada.

They still drew entrants from around California, including as far away as San Francisco and San Diego.

However, not even average gas prices of $4.56 per gallon — or as high at $4.70 a month ago — could put a damper on the fun. A year ago, the price of regular gas in the region was $3.33 a gallon

The show, which began Friday and ends today, is hosted by the Bent Axles Car Club, whose members act as ambassadors of sorts.

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Every entry fee for show participants includes a Santa Maria-style barbecue and poker run in Pioneer Park, a “Monte Carlo Room” where blackjack is played for raffle tickets instead of money, and a strawberry shortcake social.

“We want (participants) to get out in the community,” Mitchell said. “It’s not just sit in your car all weekend.”

The show has a charitable side as well.

As of Saturday morning, organizers said the show had already raised $1,000 for the Wounded Warrior Project, which helps cover medical expenses and associated costs for soldiers injured in battle.

“We’re just really conscious of the troops and want to help the guys who are coming back from defending us,” Mitchell said.

On Saturday, an impressive range of classic car models from 1969 and earlier eras filled the Radisson parking lot, the strains of Social Distortion’s “Highway 101” audible in the background.

A weathered 1961 Volkswagen Bug sat in the middle of the lot with a surfboard tied securely to its hood and a picnic basket on its trunk.

Nearby rested a gleaming 1956 red and white Chevrolet Bel Air sedan that was hooked up to an old-fashioned drive-in movie speaker system and had a Coachmen Glendale letterman’s jacket spread out on the front passenger seat.

Glenn Davis stood next to the dark maroon 1939 Ford Fordor he bought on eBay for $13,000.

After purchasing the car, Davis put in another $10,000 refurbishing it with a fresh paint job and outfitting it with a new stainless steel grill and a V8 Lincoln engine, among other upgrades.

“It’s an old Southern California restoration that went to South Dakota and came back,” Davis said with a laugh, adding that, though it took a total of one-and-a-half years to restore his car, the process was a joy.

“I grew up with (cars),” Davis said. “It’s about starting with something that’s broken and fixing it.

Bent Axles vice president Larry Eskew wouldn’t say how much he spent restoring the 1933 beige Ford Tudor he entered in the show, but said he fell in love with it the moment he saw it.

“The body came from Montana, probably behind someone’s barn,” he said with a laugh. Now, “It’s all original steel, no fiberglass.”

The best part about owning a classic car, Eskew said, is driving it on long road trips.

“As you go down (the highway), everyone is ‘oh, look at that,’” he said, pointing.

More than just participants showed up gaze at the vehicles. Classic car

enthusiasts, such as Santa Maria resident Monica Otero along with her husband, daughter and granddaughter, also came to admire the old machines.

“We have a classic car and we like to see the cars that are out here,” Otero said. “They all pop out. There’s no particular car that I liked. They’re all nice cars.”

Natalie Ragus can be reached at 347-4580 or nragus@santamariatimes.com

July 20, 2008