The shine coming off the chrome bumpers...

The shine coming off the chrome bumpers and sparkling paint of

classic cars at the Orange County Fairgrounds Monday was so bright it

might have been seen from space.

The air filled with the smell of fuel and the slow rumble of

revving engines. As oldies blared on loudspeakers, cars dressed in

candy-colored paint paraded through the fairgrounds on the final day

of the Orange County Cruisin’ Association’s Great Labor Day Car Show.

The cars competed for prizes in 41 different categories. The

competition winners were on display inside an exhibition tent Monday.

Doug and DiEtta Morris sat behind their shiny black 1937 Ford

Wildrod, the winner of a prize as the favorite car of the Orange

County Sheriff’s Department.

The Morrises owns several classic cars and travel the United

States attending car shows.

“It’s like camping -- everyone’s friendly and in a good mood,”

said DiEtta Morris.

Several cars down, the winner of the “High School Memories”

category, a candy-apple-red 1958 Chevrolet Bel-Air, had spotless

white leather seats and a pair of dice hanging from the rearview

mirror.

“The judging itself is based on personal pick -- it’s whatever

happens to catch the judge’s eye,” said Roy Nelson, a competition

judge.

The car show began as a Labor Day picnic and grew into a

multiple-day competition, Nelson said.

“It’s just a bunch of guys who get together,” he added.

Ron Beasley, a retired firefighter from Huntington Beach, brought

his 1940 midnight-blue Chevrolet to Monday’s show for the first time.

“I bought that right after I got out of high school,” said

Beasley, who’s owned the car since 1964. He has worked for seven

years to restore the car and estimates he’s invested more than

$20,000 in the project.

Mike and Sharon Karnes of Garden Grove, seeking shade from the

morning heat, parked themselves in two chairs under a tree.

“There’s a lot of nice ones out here,” said Mike Karnes.

His favorite?

A Studebaker, Karnes said.

“I come every year just to see the cars, see where people are

spending their money,” Karnes said.