Car enthusiasts will rev their engines this weekend at the Douglas County 4-H Fairgrounds for the Lawrence Street Rod Assn.’s fifth annual Wizard Run car show.

The show is open to the public from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sunday.

This year, show organizers hope to bring visiting participants into the heart of the city.

“We’re trying to get these people to come downtown and shop,” said Bryan Sorenson, association member.

At 3 p.m. Saturday, cars from the show will begin parading down Massachusetts Street from 11th Street. Sorenson said the number of cars in the parade was not set but could reach as many as 300. Free shuttles sponsored by the Lawrence Chamber of Commerce will run between the fairgrounds and downtown every 30 minutes.

Admission to the exhibition is $2. After covering expenses, the association will donate remaining funds to the Lawrence Humane Society and the Lawrence High School Auto Club.

The show is open, which means featured cars will include antiques, street rods, custom cars or any other special interest car or truck. Sorenson said the variety of automobiles should encourage a large crowd.

“There will be a lot of really nice cars,” he said. “If you’ve got one person in your family interested in cars, the whole family can come out and see lots of different kinds of cars.”

Motorists can enter a car on any day of the show for a $20 registration fee. Sorenson said more than 100 cars had preregistered. Last year’s show included 250 cars and trucks, but he expected closer to 400 this year because the 2002 show was on the same day as a car show in Tonganoxie. Participants come from across the Midwest and from as far as Kentucky and Tennessee.

If you get a chance to cruise in Bryan Sorenson's 1934 Ford 3-window coupe, you'll be taking a mighty rich ride. Sorenson, right, will have his coupe, worth from 2,000 to 5,000, at this weekend's Lawrence Street Rod Assn. Wizard Run car show at the Douglas County 4-H Fairgrounds. At right is Sorenson's son Tanner, 10.