Classic Car Show returns to State Street for 14th year

MADISON, Wis. (WMTV) - One of Madison’s finest downtown summer traditions is returning to State St. on Saturday.

Cars on State Classic Car Show will take over six blocks of State St. from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. and will attract between 7,000 and 10,000 visitors.

Now in its 14th year, the car show started as a way to support local downtown businesses and restaurants.

“The original thought was to bring people down. We were trying to figure out how to do it and the car show was going to bring extra people down. They’re up at Cows on the Concourse, Farmers’ Market, they make their way down,” one of the event organizers Cas Salas said. “It is a good event but it also helps State Street stay alive.”

The car show will be making a return for the first time since 2019 after taking a break during the pandemic. Organizers are excited to be back on State St. and they said the event grows every year.

“For this show there will be 122 cars but we can put up to 150 so we’ll slowly build that up again and do a full show again,” Salas said.

Salas adds that it’s a great event for the whole family.

“Bring the kids down even the grandparents because a lot of the cars that they had they were driving are the cars that they’re seeing and they can tell their kids about it. How we traveled here, how we traveled there and it brings back fond memories. Bringing the parents down, the grandparents, the kids, they can learn about cars. They’ve all got character to them,” Salas said.

People showing their cars come from Illinois, Iowa and northern Wisconsin. In years past, some people came from Minnesota.

Car fans can expect a 1966 Mustang, a 1993 Bentley and a 1981 DeLorean. And, yes, it is an exact replica of the DeLorean from the classic film Back to the Future.

The Cars on State Classic Car Show is organized by the Greater State Street Business Association (GSSBA) with support from Madison’s Central Business Improvement District (BID).

Two new sponsors of the event this year include University Book Store and Witkins Realty.

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