Hydraulic hopping highlights Bloomington car show

Nearly 400 people braved the oppressive afternoon heat to celebrate cars and all the things they were never intended to do at the First Annual Drop Session Car Show, at Karst Farm Park, near the Monroe County Airport. Just Clownin' Car Club sponsored the event. Participants paid $15 to show off their modifications, paint jobs, sound systems and -- for a rare few -- hydraulic hopping ability. Proceeds went to Support Our Troops, a local groups that uses donations to send care packages to troops overseas. \nDuring the event, spectators could admire the long trail of show cars parked on a tree lined lawn. Hondas, BMWs, Cadillacs, GMC trucks with doors flayed, trunks open and hoods popped exposed a mad-scientist's gallery of engineering wonders and artistic ornamentals. PlayStation controllers were suggestively draped over the passenger side doors of an Acura. A Buick Century displaying a topless woman wearing a white corset on the hood and the words "Cotton Candy" emblazoned in pink on the trunk stood next to a display placard explaining the paint job and the artist. Antennae sprouted from beneath the front bumpers of an El Camino -- curb sensors to prevent any close calls with cement that would lead to scratched rims. Rims -- if nothing else, a car at least had some impressive rims. Rims that looked like Klingon battle trophies soldered smoothly into circular frames could easily justify the presence of even the most beaten and rusty Lincoln town car. \nAway from the action, behind some trees in a field lay three Cadillacs -- two white, one maroon -- and an emerald green Lincoln, each hydraulically modified, frozen in angles at odds with the grounds, as if they were constructed simply to resemble each a moment from different famous movie chase scenes -- the moment coincidentally being a sharp turn taken at high speeds. Each of these cars were Chris Hansford's, the founder of Just Clownin' Car Club and one of brains behind this event. \nAnother was Mary Gilmore, founder of Support Our Troops. Gilmore seemed to have no interest in cars. She spent the day overseeing a Dunk-A-Cop dunking booth (no police officers showed up for the event, but there were several local firefighters). Gilmore and Hansford knew each other as coworkers at Pizza Hut. According to Gilmore, Hansford had been talking about starting a car show for some time before she urged him to go ahead with it in conjunction with her charity group. \n"He kept talking about car shows and stuff, and I kept begging him until I twisted his arm long enough to do one and send the proceeds to Support Our Troops."\nGilmore guessed they had raised $500 dollars at the event, a good deal of money considering the amount of packages it will allow them to send. \n"Each package we send over spends anywhere from 10 to 20 dollars," Gilmore said. \nHansford was seemingly everywhere, registering cars, emceeing the hydraulic car bounce and generally orchestrating an army of volunteers in white Drop Session shirts and tank tops who covered the grounds in golf carts.\n"You're gonna see things you wouldn't see anywhere else, unless it's on the Discovery Channel." Hansford said, walkie talkie in hand as he dodged incoming cars at the registration entrance. He said it was his hope that this event would "spark some interest" from the Bloomington \ncommunity. \nEvents included a Bikini Contest, a car hopping competition, a sound system competition and a live cover band. But when questioned about these events, many of the participants seemed nonplused. A man named Jimmy, who had a car on display pointed out, "This is the main attraction. It's mostly about the cars."\nErik Harlow, one of the volunteers, said he enjoyed seeing things like the car hop, in which cars were modified to bounce as high as possible.\n"How often do you get to see an Amigo on three hits of a switch flip over?" he said.\nAs owner of Visual Alterations, a custom paint and fiberglass shop in Bloomington, he said he's seen a huge increase in the public's interest in car \nmodifications.\n"It blew up, believe it or not, when the 'Fast and the Furious' movies came out a few years ago," he said.\nClint Perkins of Indianapolis submitted one of the most impressive hopping vehicles into the competition, an orange '87 Chevy S-10. Perkins explained how the cars hop.\n"It all works off of hydraulic pressure, battery voltage, spring weight, tire pressure, car weight," he said. "It takes a lot of practice, a lot of money"