A modified 1931 Ford Sports Coupe, given the pipe-organ exhaust and dragster wheels, on approach to being a century old and likely could carry on for another.

Classic cars filled nearly every available space in Geiser-Pollman Park Saturday, Aug. 20, as the Baker City Memory Cruise made a resounding return after a two-year hiatus.

Throngs of young and old were in attendance, though several parents had to be especially watchful of their kids amid the oh-so-very expensive exhibits, brought in from all around the state (and, from some manufacturers, the world).

“It turned out great, we had close to 160 cars,” said organizer Jeron Simmons. “Everyone enjoyed it.”

The event featured live music, food and drink, poker runs, raffles and prizes throughout the day, and concluded with some car owners driving to Quail Ridge Golf Course to join the Durkee Steak Feed.

The Memory Cruise puts in context Baker City’s age.

From the time the city was founded in 1864 until the first Ford Model T’s rolled out of Henry Ford’s factories in 1908, was a window of only about 40 years, an era nobody living today was witness to. During that period automobiles were exceedingly rare.

Yet within a couple short decades they were everywhere, and before standardization and regulation that came in the second half of the 20th century, cars were as varied as trilobites in the ancient sea.

Those antiques, some more than a century old, were represented in the Memory Cruise, including Model T’s and the later Ford Model A’s.

One of the latter Fords was driven by Joan Sherman of Baker City.

It’s a yellow, flame-emblazoned 1929 Model A that Joan said was her late husband Jim’s “dream car.”

Jim Sherman, a longtime circulation director for the Baker City Herald and lifelong Baker City resident, died of cancer on Feb. 7, 2018, at age 72.

Joan Sherman said this is the first time since Jim died that she’d brought his Model A for a public show.

Patrick Oberlander of Liberty Motorsports watched over an array of classic cars, some his own and some owned by friends.

“Second time I’ve done the show,” Oberlander said. “First year I brought this many cars, though, most of these are newer ones, projects I just worked on.”

Some of the cars were old enough to have been prized heirlooms for several generations. Some were raised from all but shells and reassembled with love and torque in equal measure, and some were the furious, modern, speed demons of today, the kind you only see in the mirror for a second before they shoot by in the passing lane.

Above the event, a crane held the giant American flag on prominent display on the east side of the park. The flag was supplied by Superior Towing.

Some of the cars also bore flags, including ones honoring military veterans who are missing in action or were prisoners of war.

After all, some of the oldest cars on display had lived through every war in recent memory.

At conclusion of this 30th version of the Memory Cruise, prizes and honorable mentions were doled out and ultimately the raffle managed to bring in nearly $1,000 from donated items, according to the event’s Facebook page.