Early in the day, there was concern the show would be rained out after an early morning thunderstorm. Fortunately, the rain ended shortly before the Autofest show began.

Autofest president Lee Knauf said he was impressed with the turnout considering the downpour that occurred early in the day.

“A lot of people came out once the rain stopped,” Knauf said. Some attendees of the show could hear motors starting up all over town after the rain stopped. That’s how they knew the show was still going forward.

Knauf said his favorite part of the Autofest is seeing the vehicles drive into the fairgrounds.

Brian Earl and Randy Bird admired a fully restored 1956 Ford cabe-over-engine (COE) truck at the 2026 Autofest. The vehicle, belonging to Dennis Macik of Hector, drew considerable attention during the show. Autofest President Lee Knauf said it was one of the most eye catching vehicles at the show. Photo by Clay Schuldt

“Most do drive into the show,” he said. “These are not vehicles coming in on a trailer. The vehicles still run and are used by their owners.”

Knauf said one of his favorite vehicles to see at the shows were Chevy Corvairs. He said the Corvair was a unique vehicle that not everyone had.

Knauf said this year’s show had several eye catching vehicles, but his top two were a 1957 Chevy in mint green. There was also a fully restored 1956 Ford cab-over-engine (COE) truck.

Though the 1956 Ford COE drew attention, the vehicle parked next to it, owned by Lawerence Sickler of Winnebago, Minnesota also raised a lot of questions.

Sickler was a first-time attendee of the New Ulm Autofest and he brought with him a heavily customized 1936 International Bus. The vehicle is technically classified as a “rat rod.” It’s primary color is rust, with spikes and gears attached to the exterior. A plastic skeleton rides in the passenger of the bus.

Several rat rods were entered into the Autofest car show, but the largest was a A 1936 International transit bus belonging to Lawerence Sickler of Winnebago, Minnesota. Sickler said the bus originally belonged to his father who purchase it 1948. Sickles said his father eventually let the bus sit in grove for decades until he pulled it out and got it working again. His grandson Cooper Sickler helped decorate the vehicle. Despite its appearance, it drives smooth. Photo by Clay Schuldt

Sickler said the bus had previously belonged to his father who purchased the bust in 1948 and drove the bus for a few years before letting it go to rust in a farm grove. Sickler said a few years ago he decided to pull the bus out of the grove and get it started again. It took ten people over a year, but they got the bus running again.

Sickler grandson Cooper Sickler help with the rebuild. Cooper said his main contribution was picking out all the strange stuff attached to the bus.

Sickler said that despite the look of the bus, it runs very smoothly after installing a new diesel engine.

The International Bus was not the only rat rod to draw attention. Jex Richter of Springfield spent most of the Autofest explaining the origins of his motorized trike.

The trike was also classified as a rat rod and was assembled from the parts of other vehicles. The front of the vehicle is made from a 1978 Honda Gold Wing, the center body comes form a 1928 Ford Model A, the transmission is from a Jeep, the rear is from a Ford, the gas tank is an old beer keg and the seat is from a tractor.

Jex Richter (for right) of Springfield explains to an amused audience how he built his “Frankenstein” trike. The front of the vehicle is made from a 1978 Honda Gold Wing, the center body comes form a 1928 Ford Model A, the transmission is from a Jeep, the rear is from a Ford, the gas tank is an old beer keg and the seat is from a tractor. Richter said the most unbelievable part of the vehicle is it’s street legal. Photo by Clay Schuldt

Richter said the most unbelievable part of the vehicle is it’s street legal.

“You only need three things for a bike to be street legal,” he said. “You need headlights, brake lights and horn. It has all three.”

Though the vehicle is street legal, Richter said he is stills surprised he’s never been pulled over by the police.

This year’s Autofest did feature several emergency style vehicles. Inside the Civic Center, a Ford Interceptor, complete with police siren and Viking decals was on display. The vehicle belonged to former Minnesota Viking Paul Krause and he had nicknamed the vehicle the Viking Interceptor.

Krause played as a safety throughout his career and set the NFL career interception record with 81 and was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1998. Kraus was on hand to sign autographs during the Autofest.

Devon Thill stands with his 1976 Chevy Scottsdale, which is his dream vehicle. Thill said the truck had not moved for 15 years when he began working on it, but he got it running again in a single afternoon. Photo by Clay Schuldt

The New Ulm Fire Department (NUFD) also had a big presence at the Autofest. Six different firefighting vehicles were on display, some of them over 100 years old. The fleet included an 1870 hand pumper, an 1888 horse-drawn streamer, a 1919 fire engine, a 1930 American LaFrance fire trucks, a 1955 pumper truck and a 1969 ladder truck.

Jordon Herzog with the NUFD said the three vehicle on display outside could still run and were used by the fire department in parades.

Herzog said on average a firefighting vehicle has around 25 years of usable life for the department, but a team of volunteers is dedicated to maintaining the older trucks as part of fire department’s history.

“We’re going to try to hold on to them forever,” he said.

Not all the custom vehicles had motors. Two-year-old Harleigh Boettecher was pulled in a customized wagon designed to resemble a hotrod. Her father Jeremy Boettcher said he had three vehicles at the Autofest, but he received more questions about the wagon than another other vehicle.

The 24th Annual New Ulm Autofest saw many classic cars and their owners visit the Brown County Fairgrounds Sunday. Photo by Clay Schuldt

“I’ll need to make a new wagon,” Boettcher said. “Harleigh’s legs are getting too long for this one.”

For many attendees the Autofest was a chance to revisit the past. While browsing through the vehicles on display in the Civic Center, Joe Meyer said seeing the old vehicles made it easy to relive the past.

“It elicits a time gone by,” Meyer said. “A time of muscle cars, before you had adult responsibilities and you could cruise up and down Broadway. You could put on a 100 miles in a night and not even leave the city.”

More Autofest photos available on 8A

Former Minnesota Viking Paul Krause attended New Ulm’s Autofest with his Ford Interceptor, which he nicknamed The Viking Interceptor. Krause played as a safety throughout his career and set the NFL career interception record with 81 and was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1998. Kraus was on hand to sign autographs during the Autofest. Photo by Clay Schuldt

The New Ulm Fire Department’s 1930 American LaFrance fire truck was on display alongside with several of its other vehicles. Photo by Clay Schuldt

Jordan Herzog with the New Ulm Fire Department (NUFD) stands next to departments 1969 Ladder truck. This was one of six antique firefighting vehicles on display at the New Ulm Autofest Sunday. Herzog said members of the NUFD have volunteered their time to maintain their departments vehicles and history. The 1969 Ladder Truck is no longer used for fighting fires, but it continues to represent the New Ulm community in parades. Photo by Clay Schuldt

Over 350 vehicles were registered in the New Ulm 2026 Autofest on Sunday. Vehicles range from classic sports cars to customized rat rods. Photo by Clay Schuldt

Two-year-old Harleigh Boettecher rides the New Ulm Autofest in style. Her mode of transportation was a customize wagon built by her father Jeremy Boettcher. He said the custom wagon was getting a lot of attention from the attendees. Boettcher said he is already working on a new custom wagon. Photo by Clay Schuldt