Palatine Approves Downtown Friday Night Car Show

The this week approved changing a weekly downtown car show that will be held on Friday evenings instead of Sunday afternoons starting in May.

The Palatine Muscle Car Association will host the show in the parking lot, as well as village parking lots located on Slade Street (between Smith and Greeley Streets), and Greeley Street (between Slade and Wilson Streets). The show will be from 4:30-9 p.m. on Fridays from May 4 through Sept. 28.

The proposal states that 50 to 150 classic cars will be displayed for viewing, and there will be no food and drink vendors and no alcoholic beverages.

Brian Bending, organizer of the event, said the organization wanted to change the day of the show from Sundays to Fridays because Friday night would draw more people to downtown Palatine.

Mayor Jim Schwantz said he liked the idea of having the event downtown, but expressed concern about having the show in a lot used by Metra commuters.

“What if somebody that’s on the train doesn’t get back until 8:30 at night, is their car going to be intermixed with all the show cars?”

Village staff said the commuter parking lot only would be used for the car show once they have 90 or more cars on display. Otherwise it will be used for attendee parking.

“The key to the event is having enough staff members to help move traffic and tell them where to go and where to park,” Bending said, adding that they plan to have at least six people directing traffic.

Zach Steffens, owner of , which also hosts a car show on Friday nights, said he offered to combine the car shows, adding that having two shows on the same night would be too much of a conflict.

Bending said combining the shows wouldn't be advantageous to his organization.

“Really, our vision is to bring something to downtown Palatine,” Bending said.

The Palatine Village Council approved the proposal 6-0, adding a 30-day review to make sure downtown parking isn’t problematic.