Classic cars & passionate gear heads come to Joplin

JOPLIN, Mo. – There was no shortage of cool cars at the 5th Annual Route 66 Hot-Rod Mayhem car show at Joplin’s Third Thursday celebration, and many of the classic rides had some cool stories and cool owners attached to them.

One of the stars of the show was a spruced up 1950 Chevy Deluxe that advertised Green Leaf Customs, but it’s actually owned by Bernie Milligan, owner of Green Leaf Pest Control.

“I didn’t want to advertise because then people would want to talk about pest control instead of the car, so I put ‘Green Leaf Customs’ (on it),” said Bernie.

The Chevy Deluxe wouldn’t be looking like a million bucks if Bernie wasn’t a guy who’s passionate about classic cars and has been attending car shows for 40 years, but he says fixing it up wasn’t really work.

“It is a labor of love. Whenever you can turn a wrench on something and get something that doesn’t work to work, that’s kind of fun,” said Bernie.

And Bernie says that’s exactly what happened with his classic ride after he purchased it from someone who was letting the Chevy waste away in a Carthage field.

“I bought the car in Carthage, got it home, and within an hour I got it started,” said Bernie.

Bernie says he knew as a little kid that he was going to be a car guy, but what he didn’t know was how much more he’d get out of his hobby.

“It’s really a bonus because it’s nice to be around people with the same interests. I mean, we all get together, we start talking about cars,” said Bernie.

And what more could a gear head ask for?

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *