A CLASSIC SPLIT

COEUR d’ALENE — The engines that have made the flaming-popular Car d’Lane cruise and classic car show go in downtown Coeur d’Alene each June are shifting gears after a split.

The 28th anniversary of the event, set for June 15-16, will be presented by the Coeur d’Alene Downtown Association without involvement from the North Idaho Classics Car Club — the organization that started the event all those years ago.

By not reaching a contract renewal agreement that included changes proposed by the downtown group, the car club is planning its own summer cruise and car show, the Rod Run, set for July 20-21 at Tedder Industries at the former outlet mall site in Post Falls.

Car club member Tad Leach said that in the business world, the split could be considered a "hostile takeover" by the Downtown Association. The motivator? Money.

"We believe the revised contract by the Downtown Association left us with no other choice (than to decline)," Leach said. "We were willing to keep the contract the way it was. The Downtown Association utilized the 90-day cancellation of contract clause, and then proposed a new contract."

Car club members said the proposal, which included additional expenses such as paying for more security officers and less revenue from sources like T-shirt sales, would have cut the nonprofit’s income in half. The club’s net income from the event last year was $6,400, which was lower than some years because of poor weather during the cruise.

"It was a double-whammy for us," Leach said, referring to increased expense and reduced income in the contract.

The club returns the vast majority of its revenue — between $5,000 and $7,500 each year — to local charities. The nonprofit has given $126,000 to charities since it formed in 1984. That amount does not include special requests for assistance the club receives during the year.

Car club members say their group volunteered more than an estimated 340 hours at the event itself, not including planning sessions throughout the year, soliciting donations, distributing flyers and other time.

Terry Cooper, Downtown Association manager, said his nonprofit, which has a mission to clean, maintain and market downtown to make it a vibrant place to work and play as a 22-block business improvement district, has made more than $30,000 from Car d’Lane per year in recent years.

He said the Downtown Association wanted to tweak the event, including extending the car year cutoff from 1975 to 1980, to generate more interest to ensure the success of the event.

"(The car club) would receive less money than they would have in the past, but it would still be a nice amount to help them continue with their programs," Cooper said. "They told us they wanted what they had in the past, so we decided we’d go our own way to continue Car d’Lane and make it a fun weekend.

"The car club has great passion for what they do, but sometimes you need to make changes to keep life and energy in an event for it to continue on. We believed that, as we go from one car show to the next, we should try to increase the number of cars."

However, car club members said the cruise is already maxed out with between 600 and 800 cars and the city is not open to expanding the route again.

Cooper said the DTA has spent its funds from Car d’Lane on its core activities, but is considering contributions to downtown efforts such as the K-27 Memorial in honor of Coeur d’Alene Police Sgt. Greg Moore at McEuen Park.

Car club members said Car d’Lane grew to the point that their 60-member, all-volunteer club couldn’t take on the event on its own, so it partnered years ago with the DTA, first on handshakes, then a contract in recent years.

"Unfortunately, the club does not have the financial resources to put on Car d’Lane without assistance," Leach said.

Cooper said perhaps it was time for both groups to move on, considering the differences of opinion on the proposed contract and event changes.

"The car club has a lot of passion for its hobby and we have enjoyed our relationship, but our efforts to make some tweaks have not been well-received, so it’s time we go forward," he said. "At some point, you need to decide that it’s been a great experience but it’s time to go on our own and see what we can do. We want to make it better, so we’re going to try to do that."

Car club members said the split is unfortunate because ultimately it’s going to hurt the charities that benefitted from the group’s donations. They said they’ll continue to give to charities with proceeds from their new show, but it’s going to take time to build up to the Car d’Lane level.

"I find this very insulting," said Nate Simmons, a car club member. "We wanted this to become more of a partnership and share the income on a percentage basis. The weather can have a significant effect, and their primary income is on the show and ours the cruise (on separate days). It would be more risk-sharing as far as reaping the rewards, but they didn’t want to do that."