Clawson held its 25th annual Down on Main Street charity car show on Aug. 12, 2023.
By: Taylor Christensen | Royal Oak Review | Published April 24, 2026
CLAWSON — The 28th annual Down on Main Street charity car show, hosted by the Clawson Lions Club, will take place Aug. 8.
The Down on Main Street car show is the centerpiece of the Clawson Lions Club’s yearlong fundraising efforts to benefit local charities. To raise the money, there will be T-Shirts and car show posters sold at the event, and donations are also welcome.
All proceeds from the show will go to the Leader Dogs for the Blind, Eversight Michigan, the Penrickton Center for Blind Children in Taylor, and other charities and projects.
More than 400 vehicles ranging from antiques to street rods, muscle cars, trucks, boats, choppers, antique campers and bicycles are entered into the show each year.
According to a Lions Club press release, spots run out, so entering a car early is the best way to secure a spot. Entries can be submitted at clawsonlions.org.
Clive Brown, club administrator and event chair for the Clawson Lions Club, said that there are also awards to be handed out at the event.
“We have a few hundred trophies and awards — that’s quite a lot — I don’t think that there is any other car show that does or has done that many trophies and awards, especially a fundraising car show,” Brown said.
One of the new features of the event is the Lions KidSight Vision Trailer, providing children ages 6 months to 18 years with free vision screenings in a trailer at the car show.
According to lionsclubs.org, the Lions KidSight vision screenings detect risk factors with an 80% sensitivity and 95% accuracy rate.
“We have attempted to bring the trailer to the event several times, but it is in such high demand,” Brown said. “The major reason for bringing this in is it’s something that is important. It’s great to find out how your children are doing in terms of your vision. And it’s a benefit to those that can’t take their kids in to get their eyes tested.”
The event's focus is to raise money and bring the community together to celebrate cars, according to Brown. It also is a way for local businesses to get some recognition.
“There are a lot of local sponsors and corporate sponsors; the brick and mortar businesses that are along the corridor, they enjoy it,” Brown said. “It’s a great opportunity for them to open their doors and hopefully get an uptick in business, which each year seems to do.”
Dick Plontus, car show sponsor and owner of D&D Auto Parts in Troy, has been entering cars for three years with his ’34 Ford Sedan, ’47 Ford Convertible, and a ’48 Ford Coupe.
“The Clawson car show is a family event, and people can come there all day long with their families; everybody enjoys it,” Plontus said. “Because it’s a localized community affair, I think it’s a lot different than a lot of the other car shows. It’s more for the people around the local community and not from far away.”
Plontus said he goes to many different car shows, and this one is the most relaxing because of the community feel.
“To me, it’s a relaxing day. It’s the only one (car show) I do that I can sit at all day long,” he said. “I meet a lot of people and I see a lot of my customers and people that I have known through the years.”
Building cars and preserving them is a hobby that takes a lot of time, Plontus said, and being able to showcase that hard work in a show like this is so important to the car community.
“It’s like raising a kid; you take care of your kid, and you nurture them and raise them, and you know a car becomes the same thing to people — it's their passion and something that they can work on and take care of,” he said.
Brown said that he has already heard a lot of the excitement from the community leading up to the show.
“People stop us all the time. There is enthusiasm all the time with people that have visited the car show, have heard about the show, are wondering when the registrations are coming out so they can preregister,” he said. “So, there is interest.”
For more information on the Clawson Lions Club Down on Main Street charity car show, visit clawsonlions.org.