For just a few days each year, the population of a small Wisconsin town is hit with the prefix “hecto,” as its patronage is multiplied by 100.
The 53rd annual Iola Car Show, which runs from July 10-12 in Iola, Wisconsin, brings together folks from across the country for auto displays, exhibitions and a swap meet.
Though it takes place in a town of just over 1,200 people, the show’s number of participants rivals events in major cities, such as Chicago, Syracuse and the Twin Cities.
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What allows the show to thrive? A hearty combination of small-town America and dedication to the craft.
“We have a small community of world-class event runners that just kind of grew up in it,” Joe Opperman, executive director of the Iola Car Show, said. “Here, it’s been a part of a lot of these people’s lives for their entire life or for half of their life, and they just know what they’re doing.”
That Midwestern charm is part of the reason why the annual attendance figures at around 120,000 people, a number that includes visitors from across North America and overseas. And it’s not just spectators – vendors at the show hail from the coast of the Pacific Ocean to just off of the Atlantic, and everywhere else in-between.
Between 2,000-2,500 show cars will be on display, all of which come from a different era of automotive history. The Pre-War Display features vehicles produced up to 1942, while the Post-War sector displays cars made between 1945 and 1995.
The show cars also have categories pertaining to the individual history of cars, including Modified and Blue Ribbon sections that highlight alterations and restorations. On the inverse, the Survivor Display presents cars as they came off of the assembly line from 1976 and earlier.
The owners will also be celebrated in their own displays, including Original Owners, Old Cars/Young Drivers and Women with Wheels, all in celebration of the auto enthusiasts that drive a continued passion for old cars.
In special consideration this year will be vehicles affiliated with the year’s theme, 4x4Fun. Four-wheel drive vehicles, including Jeeps, Broncos and assorted trucks, pre-registered for the show without a fee as part of the 4x4Fun festivities.
Though the show cars won’t be for sale, there will be around 400 vehicles for sale in the car corral for those interested in driving a souvenir off the lot.
While many attend to see the cars on display, there’s also an assortment of other festivities each day, beginning at 7 a.m.
The annual swap meet is one of the show’s tokens, with around 4,000 spaces of parts and services.
“The swap meet is about hunting for stuff that you can’t buy,” Opperman said. “Some people will have huge inventories that came out of dealerships that closed down, some people will have parts taken off of vehicles that are in parts and pieces, some of it will be services and signage. Picture American Pickers, but in a 55-acre well-organized field.”
In addition to cars, parts and machinery, there will be special guests revving up the action over the course of the three-day show, including Dennis Anderson, the original driver of the Grave Digger monster truck.
While the show brings in a collection of guests each year, the headliner in 2025 is Stacey David, who has spent over 25 years on national television in the TV shows Trucks! and Gearz.
Additionally, the YouTube channel Vice Grip Garage will be in attendance, working on a project while interacting with a bleacher-seated audience.
“They are about as big as anybody in the car world [on] YouTube,” Opperman said. “This is the only show that they go to where they actually perform live work and bring their film crew to create episodes.”
As the show reels in national attention, it also continues to stay rooted in its hometown with the representation of over 120 local organizations through volunteer efforts. For nonprofits such as youth sports teams, churches and clubs, the Iola Old Car Show is their biggest fundraiser of the year.
Also stomping the grounds at the opening of this year’s show will be a pair of introductions to the yard, including new permanent shower facilities. Livening up the show will be a newly-minted oasis, a shaded outdoor area with a bar and park, attached to a house acquired in recent years that is undergoing renovations of its own.
Though the massive lot is set to see new spaces, faces and automobiles, the buzz traveling to Iola for the week is nothing new. As the town prepares for the next iteration of its car show, July 10 will ring in the 53rd chapter of the annual tradition.
