International Route 66 Mother Road Festival draws car enthusiasts from near and far

Even though he has lived in Georgia for the past 20 years, Dieter Graf von Mainberg still carries a small piece of his Bavarian home with him. Outside of the distinctive accent he still possesses, he's got something interesting – something that reflects both his boyhood home and his passion for cars.

"I literally bought this sight unseen from a junkyard in Germany," Graf von Mainberg said of a 1986 Opel he transformed into a 1980s-inspired police car from Bavaria. "It was banged up badly, beaten the crap out of it, holes, dings, what not, original blue color. I brought it over and the next day, I bought the police light bar on eBay. I figured out, 'Well, I have that now, I'm not just putting that thing in my basement. I'm going to build a car with it.'"

Build he did, and his creation was among the hundreds of cars available to view at the 21st annual International Route 66 Mother Road Festival, which has taken over downtown Springfield for the weekend. Bright sunshine greeted guests Saturday after a cool, rainy start to the event Friday night, a pleasant break for many who enjoyed seeing the cars, learning the stories behind them, and experiencing the great food and even a tribute to "Smokey and the Bandit" across the street from the Old State Capitol.

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That kind of environment was one of the many reasons why Graf von Mainberg has traveled from his suburban Atlanta home to Springfield for the event three times, including this year. He enjoys the fact that the city spares no expense for the festival, blocking off streets and providing space for each of the cars to get their shine.

"I have not found any other meeting in the States that is (more) fascinating than this one," Graf von Mainberg said. "A city is cordoning off the whole inner city, having car guys there, it's just a happy event."

One could find just about anything related to any kind of car at the event, a reflection of the organizers' goals to try to reach out to enthusiasts of cars both old and new. In addition, the organizers tried to bring in a little bit of star power with the "Smokey" tribute. Look-alikes portrayed the movie characters of the late Burt Reynolds and Jackie Gleason.

Tim Phillips portrayed Reynolds' character, the "Bandit," and took it upon himself to pay tribute to Reynolds however he could. Phillips had been enlisted by the actor to be a look-alike and stuntman for him and is grateful to Reynolds for putting him on the path he is on today.

"He was a wonderful guy," Phillips said. "A lot of people tell you, 'Do not meet your heroes because you'll be disappointed,' but I met Burt and he was a wonderful guy to me and that's why I do what I do now."

Sean Bailey put on the sheriff's getup to play Buford T. Justice for fans on the Old State Capitol Plaza. Both he and Phillips had been in events where they shared the spotlight with the real stars of the movie and said there was a sense of excitement whenever they got to do that.

"Whenever you get to meet that person, (there's) that excitement and enjoyment seeing a childhood hero," Bailey said. "What the four of us do is go out, keep the memory alive and cast a good light on the actors that portrayed the actors that we're portraying."

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The tribute brought one more unique element to an event with plenty of people showing off a range of cars in various conditions. Some needed a little bit more help to have that showroom shine, including Ken Becker Jr. of Mokena, who was wiping off his 1964 Buick Riviera as people surrounded him in the afternoon.

Becker has won some Best in Show awards from the Mother Road Festival, but he hasn't made an appearance at the event in four years. His reason for that was to make sure that the car was shown off in different places, keeping it new for people all across the country.

"You don't want to overshow a car," Becker said. "A car like this, we want to bring it back and show it in different parts of the country. It's won Best in Show here (but) I don't want to keep coming back here. You know what they say, 'Time makes the heart grow fonder.'"

This article originally appeared on State Journal-Register: Springfield's Mother Road Festival draws visitors from near and far