The 1955, ’56 and ’57 Chevrolets are rolling into town for the second annual Danchuk Tri-Five Nationals, the world’s largest gathering of these three years of Chevy.

Wednesday night’s free fan fest at Fountain Square in downtown Bowling Green kicked off the 2016 event for car enthusiasts to socialize and show off their hard work of months of restorations. Curtis Butler of Bowling Green has been collecting cars since he was 16 years old, and he brought his 1955 Chevrolet Bel-Air that he’s been working on for six months. Butler said when he first got the car the condition of it was a five on a scale of one through 10, but everybody says it’s a 12 now.

“I’m not the judge of that, I fix them like I like them,” Butler said. 

Butler has always loved hot rods and he remembers riding down the road when he was a kid, pointing at different cars and telling his dad the different cars he wanted and planned to own. He thinks the Tri-Five event is great for all car enthusiasts. 

“This is awesome, especially because it boils down to three years of cars and it really pulls this group in tight and everybody in this group is a big family. There’s some really good people here,” Butler said. 

Owner of Priced Rite Towing and Onsite Transport Refrigeration, Rodney Cooper, said being a mechanic and his love for cars is what got him into collecting them. His 1956 Chevrolet station wagon was on display for all to see and is also on the front of the Cruisin’ for a Cure Car Show T-shirts.

“We’ve got a bunch of old cars and we love coming, socializing, seeing people and having a good time,” Cooper said. 

After the event’s successful inaugural year in 2015, founder of the American Tri-Five Association, Chris Sondles, announced in May at the Sloan Convention Center that it will host the event at Beech Bend Raceway in Bowling Green through 2027, which is estimated to have a $30 million impact on the city.

Sondles said people registered for this year’s event will represent 47 states as well as the countries of South Africa, Germany, New Zealand, Australia, Sweden, Norway and France. The 2016 event is projected to bring more than 2,300 cars and 16,000 people. The event includes a huge swap meet, drag racing, autocross and gasser gathering.

Bubba Mize brought his 1957 Chevrolet Gasser from Oxford, Miss., to participate in the Tri-Five Nationals. He’s owned his Chevy for nine months and is still in the process of restoring it. He said the first time he drove the car was on the streets of Bowling Green. Mize said he’s been buying cars since he was 13 years old and has more than 600 cars. He said it’s important to celebrate these three years of the Chevy.

“They’re the prettiest body styles ever. The front of the cars have character, it has a face. It’s like a human,” Mize said. “These cars nowadays, they’re nothing … they all look the same.”

— For more information, visit www.thetrifivenationals.com, call 855-567-1957 or email info@thetrifivenationals.com.

— Follow faith/general assignments reporter Simone C. Payne on Twitter @_SimonePayne or visit bgdailynews.com.