The 22nd annual Orinda Classic Car Show will be held on Sept. 12, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. outside the Orinda Classic Car Center at 61 Orinda Way in Orinda Village. Admission is free for all spectators. A special exhibit on Porsche Through the Decades will trace the legacy from the iconic 356 Roadster in 1948 through the RAD era (’70s-’80s 911s, 930s, 928s, 944s) to modern-day performance.

    The car show promises to feature over 150 vintage and modern exotic vehicles, along with food, music and more.  Some proceeds of the show will benefit the Orinda Association’s programs including the Seniors Around Town free seniors ride program. 

    One of the exhibitors who will be showing his vintage Porsche is Neal Brockmeier.  A Lafayette resident for 21 years, Brockmeier grew up in Orange County working on cars with his father. His passion is affordable nostalgia.  

    Brockmeier’s Porsche was used for 180,000 miles as a commuter vehicle for a doctor who lived in Fort Bragg but worked in the Bay Area.  He loved his car and did all the work on it. The 1997 vehicle is the last generation of air-cooled 911s. It doesn’t have a radiator but does feature the flat-4 boxer engine. 

    Brockmeier will also be exhibiting one or two other vehicles in the car show. He loves his 1972 Mercedes 220, which he purchased from a military woman in Moraga who bought the car in Germany and drove it around Europe before bringing it home to Lamorinda. Brockmeier acquired the car with all the original paperwork.  The gas-powered vehicle has only 53,000 miles on it, and the original blue paint and cream vinyl interior are pristine.  

    His other vehicle is a 1982 GMC Jimmy, a square body truck he acquired from a friend’s father in Orange County. Its former owner was an immigrant from China in the 1950s, and he loved the American Dream. Brockmeier drove the truck to the celebration of life when the former owner passed away.