Written By Laura Barhardt Cech

The band was playing “Mustang Sally.” The hoods were popped and chrome gleamed in the summer sun. A man in jeans walking between the rows of vintage police cruisers, hotrods and muscle cars wore a T-shirt that said, “And on the 8th day, He created the Camaro.”

The gathering was a fundraiser for children of fallen officers organized by the Road Runners Auto Club of Maryland. But around here, it is not hard to find a bunch of people admiring a car, whether they’re cruising at Jimmy Cone, a local ice cream stand in Mt. Airy or working in the garage with pals.

In Carroll County, despite the problems suffered by the U.S. automobile industry and the public’s general disillusionment with Detroit, the fascination with cars borders on religion.

Carroll County harbors almost every denomination of car worship. There are collectors, racers, cruisers or just fans who like to run their eyes and hands over the shiny machines. Some people like to restore cars. Others like to smash them up. Some are into sprint cars, others follow NASCAR. Some like late models. Others favor antiques or low-riders.

“This whole area is kind of car crazy,” said Nate Pritchett, formerly a technical advisor and casting director for the Speed Channel’s “Pinks,” who now operates a national racing series called 1320X. “It seems like everyone is passionate about their cars.”

The automobile cult has not been immune to the recession. Soaring scrap metal prices, for example, have hurt local demolition derby drivers. And racing sponsors are harder to come by. But the slumping economy certainly has not silenced local engine revving. In the warm months, there is still at least one car show or “cruise” every weekend, and they always draw a crowd.

Some trace the car fervor to the county’s rural roots.

“In rural areas, you walk a lot,” said Norman Barker, a car collector who grew up in the Gamber area. “When you finally got your car, you fell in love with it. And really, you never lose that.”

Car hobbies often involve families, whether it is a couple who spend their weekends traveling to car shows or a father and son replacing an engine.

Although Carroll County has no race tracks within its borders, it is an easy drive to several prime spots, including the newly reopened 65-40 Dragway in Frederick County and Lincoln Speedway near Hanover, Pa.
“You’re out in the country. It’s Ôwhat else are you gonna do?’” says Brad McClelland, a Westminster sprint car driver who frequently races at Lincoln.

Whatever the reason, the county has more than its share of motor-heads. Here is a sampling of characters in Carroll’s car scene.

The Collector:

Norman Barker owned 29 cars before he was old enough to have a driver’s license.

Over the years, he has owned Camaros and Novas, including a Ô65 Nova he is working on now. He also has a Ô71 Chevrolet Cheyenne pick up truck and a Ô68 Suburban ambulance. But, Barker said, since high school (Westminster, class of 1967) he has really loved the Chevy Nomad.

About three years ago, Barker, who lives in Eldersburg and runs a small construction and “green” paint stripping and surface cleaning company, started looking for his dream car.

But the ones he found in the region were either too expensive or in a really bad shape. When he found a Bel Air station wagon, he settled for it even though it was in Georgia. A few days after he brought it home, a friend called. He had found a ’55 Chevy Nomad locally. Barker had just blown his budget on the Bel Air. But, he said, “I told him, ÔI just have to look at it.’”

As soon as pulled into the owner’s driveway, Barker heard the man yell, “Norman!” It turned out the owner was an old friend who Barker had tried to convince to sell to him 14 years earlier. “I told him I’d buy it right then,” said Barker.

Being a serious car collector requires this kind of passion and commitment – and a supportive wife, Barker said. It is worth it, he said. “I drive it every chance I get.”

The Car-Builder and Record-Holder:

There are fast cars, and then there is Rod Saboury’s 1963-model Corvette.

Widely regarded as the fastest street-legal car in the world, his 2,400- horsepower, twin-turbo-charged vehicle set the record at an Ohio track last summer, reportedly accelerating from 0 to 60 m.p.h. in one second, and traveling a quarter mile in 6.95 seconds at 210.54 m.p.h.

That is the fastest-ever recorded drag strip run by a car with street tires that also meets all requirements necessary to pass state inspection, such as turn signals and windshield wipers. It took 18 tries, including three runs that day.

“It was always my goal,” said Saboury, a 58-year-old full-time roofing contractor from Manchester who was competing against cars like the Bugatti Veyron, which took $400 million to develop. “I’m just a backyard mechanic.”

Saboury’s car took two years to design and five years to build at a specialty shop in Canada, although he did a lot of the work himself.

But the finished product is a sight to behold. “I like to see people’s reaction to it,” he said. “It’s like, ÔWhat the heck is that? And what planet is it from?”

Saboury, who has been designing and racing cars as a hobby for four decades, has been featured in car magazines worldwide. A champion drag-racer, he has posted eight other world-record times.

But unlike many car aficionados who post “Do Not Touch” signs on their pride-and-joys, he still occasionally shows up at the Eldersburg Home Depot or a local parade and lets kids sit in his car for photos.

Saboury has not always been a car celebrity. He has actually received hate mail about a car. In 1980, he customized a Ô63 split-window Corvette in mint condition.

“At the time, it wasn’t a classic,” he said. “But people said I chopped it.”

Actually, he said, his Ô63 Corvette may be his last car.

“I never thought I’d say that,” he said. “Usually, before I’m done with one car, I’m thinking about the next. But this is kind of the combination of all the cars I’ve built and all that I’ve learned.”

Saboury plans to break his current world record – and soon.

Stock car racer:

Barry Fitzgerald got hooked on racing when he was 6 years old: the day he sat in his first race car. But it was not until he was 40 that the Sykesville native made racing history: In the 1995 NASCAR Goody Dash at Daytona, Fitzgerald said, “I was the oldest rookie.”

His story has a made-for-a-movie feel to it. He was crewing for other drivers at the time, taking time off from more than two decades of racing, when he got the call about Daytona. He went down to the legendary track, passed the rookie test, then spent three nights a week for a month getting the car ready. Friends and acquaintances served as the crew. Even though it involved taking a week off from work, it was not hard to find volunteers.

“It gives you a chance to be involved in the major leagues,” said Fitzgerald.

Although the experience was a thrill, Hollywood would fix the ending: Fitzgerald’s car got a flat and spun out. He finished 27th.

“It had always been my goal to race in Daytona,” he said.

“I didn’t have visions of winning. We all want to get on the biggest stage we can.”

But Fitzgerald’s story has a sequel. He got a chance to drive again in NASCAR’s Goody Dash in 1997, and in 2007 in the open-wheeled Tour Type modified class.

Then, last year, unexpectedly, an ARCA team with a car and a guaranteed starting spot at Daytona was looking for a driver. To his surprise, Fitzgerald, then 55, got the job.

Despite a broken axle, Fitzgerald finished 13th. This year, Fitzgerald is racing in the ARCA Remax Series. But he still has a day job, selling buses to government agencies.

“There’s a lot of pain involved in racing,” says Fitzgerald. “But once you get it in your blood, you love it.”

Demolition Dame:

The air was thick with Gray smoke and engine fumes. Six junkers smashed into each other, denting doors and twisting hoods to forms barely recognizable as metal.

A black Dodge pickup with its door chained shut backed into a green Chevy and then lurched forward into the passenger side of a Delta 88. The Delta exacted revenge, pinning the truck against a Jersey wall.

So much for giving ladies special treatment.

But the pickup’s driver, Wendy Sparks-Almony, knew this was not exactly a feminine pursuit. This is kill-or-be-killed, also known as the Demolition Derby.

“There’s nothing like hitting a car,” said Sparks-Almony, who owns Le Prive’, a beauty salon in Hampstead. “It’s a rush.”

The 31-year-old Hampstead native has been a regular at the Arcadia Volunteer Fire Department Demolition Derbies for the past eight years. She started in a powder puff division, but now competes against the big boys – and occasionally her husband.

There are other Carroll County women into motor sports, including professional racers. And there are plenty of female spectators. But few women are involved in anything as brutal as a derby.

While Sparks-Almony has a half-dozen trophies, on this particular night, she did not finish in the top three.
“There were some tough hits this time,” she said after climbing out of her pickup, without messing her long blond hair or smudging her make-up.

Was it still fun? Sparks-Almony does not miss a beat: “Oh yeah!”