There were over 250 vehicles along the fairgrounds main drag and in the Civic Center. The Civic Center also had the Pink Ladies Garage with craft, wellness, and clothing vendors offering a variety of homemade products. A swap meet took place next to the derby track for folks looking to barter.

Standouts included a 1907 Cadillac Model B, a vintage school bus with both yellow and orange colors to illustrate the fact school buses in Minnesota were orange until 1970, and a 1930 Ford Model AA converted into a tow truck.

Some entered vehicles unchanged, such as the recent Challengers, Corvettes, and Mustangs. Some entered cars carefully preserved, like the early model Fords and Cadillacs. And some entered vehicles of their own creation.

Garry Pascher entered a trike, which is a motorcycle with three wheels instead of two. Pascher’s trike is a completely custom built machine. Made from a 2002 Camaro, the trike contains a 340 V8 engine and a 5 speed transmission. The seats are harvested from tractors.

Garry Pascher drives his unusual vehicle as he seeks to get it registered for Autofest. The trike is Pascher's creation, using a 2002 Camaro as a base and featuring a 340 V8 engine and 5 speed transmission.

In total, the project took Pascher seven years to put together. He had no instruction manuals or previous designs to reference when creating his passion project.

“The instruction manual was all up here,” he said as he pointed to his head.

Adam Arndt brought his foreign Volvo to the show. After purchasing it, he has been using it for an unconventional sport.

“The car was bought in France and shipped over to the United States in 96 or 97,” Arndt said. “I bought it from the original owner out of Appleton, Wisconsin. Six years ago I slowly started turning into an ice racing car. I’ve done four seasons of ice racing. About 100 [miles per hour] on ice, little four cylinder.”

Arndt races with the International Ice Racing Association, spending most of his time at Madison Lake. The vehicles race to set the fastest time and attract around 40-60 cars an event.

Mark Devlaeminck (left) shows the winch on a 1930 Ford Model AA which has been converted into a tow truck.

“It’s a lot of fun,” he said. “You can do it very cheaply with a front wheel drive, basic car and some studs. But if you want to be more competitive in it, obviously the more money [you put into it.]”

This was Arndt’s third time entering a car at Autofest. Over the years he has noticed the informative environment between attendees and car owners.

“Everybody feels comfortable asking questions about vehicles if they find the owner,” he said. “Everybody’s very respectful here. [It’s a] very good environment.”

Autofest Club President Lee Knauf noted one of the unique challenges for this year was the inclement weather, as some car owners prefer not to take their rides out in bad conditions.

“It kept down some of the people that would travel [from] further out,” Knauf said. We usually get [people from] southern Minnesota, South Dakota, and from the cities. Because of the rain we it’s a little bit more localized this year.”

Knauf noted the weather and logistics of planning and setting up an event as large as Autofest provided the club with plenty to do. He also described the joys from the event coming to fruition.

“Seeing all the people enjoying themselves and seeing all the cars. Seeing everybody makes all the hard work worth it,” Knauf said. “Just having everybody come out and have a good time.”

New Ulm saw early rain Sunday, but it wasn’t enough to spoil the fun or turnout.

Those looking for more information and future events can go to New Ulm Autofest’s Facebook page.