Marietta car show raises $25,000 for local charities

At the 27th annual Creepers Car Club Fun Run show, on Saturday June 10, 2017, a diverse crop of classic cars and trucks were on display at the Fun Run. Chad Rhym/ chad.rhym@ajc.com

A jam-packed charity car show last month raised $25,000 for the Children's Miracle Network and Special Olympics Cobb County.

The 27th annual Fun Run was hosted by Creeper's Car Club, which was founded in Smyrna back in 1960.

The Club has grown to represent members from all over the state, brought together by their love of show cars, hot rods and drag racing. Membership requires owning a car from year 1972 or older. The name "Creeper" comes from the device used to slide underneath a car.

Unlike some other clubs, Creeper’s donates 100 percent of their earnings from car shows to charity.

“I do this for the love of the hobby in the name of helping children,” said Greg Grier, the club’s chairman. “It’s a lot of hard work and volunteering from start ‘til stop but it’s worth it.”

VIDEOS: Atlanta classic cars on myAJC.com

At the June 10 show, Grier said there were more spectators than they’ve had since 2002 and more vendors than ever before. There were 300 cars registered for the show, but that number doesn’t include club member’s cars or motorcycles, he said.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution awarded Mike Garrett the inaugural AJC Creepers Club Cup for his black 1933 Ford Coupe. Since retiring as the postmaster general for Clarksville 28 years ago, car restoration has been Garrett’s main hobby.

The newspaper awarded Garrett the prize not for having the flashiest or oldest car, but the most solid daily vehicle, said Todd Duncan, a senior editor at the AJC.