A gorgeous day, loud classic rock 'n' roll, and cars dating as far back as the 1920s highlighted the annual Vagabonds Super Cruise, held Sunday at the Lancaster General Health Campus in East Hempfield Township.

More than 400 cars, many with their hoods up to show engines that bespoke power, sat fender to fender, their high-gloss paint jobs reflecting the gleaming sunlight as throngs of spectators strolled by or stopped to chat with the owners.

One car that stopped people in their tracks was a 1966 Dodge Coronet black-and-white police cruiser. Bearing the emblems of the Allegheny County, Md., sheriff's department, the car still had a working siren, radar unit and "bubblegum machine" style roof lights.

Owned by Mike and Pat Todak of Honey Brook, the car gets a lot of attention on the road.

"I like getting on the highway and doing the speed limit and everyone else is behind me," Mike Todak said. "The only ones who dare to pass me are the 18-wheelers. They know better. They're looking at a 42-year old car."

The car is authentic. It was owned by a sheriff who retired and sold not only the vehicle, but also his hat and uniform, which are displayed inside the car.

Recently, driving to a car show in Blue Ball, Pat Todak was pulled over by an East Earl Township police officer.

"The officer told me 'You're giving the wrong impression,' and I'm thinking they haven't used that bubblegum machine in 20 years," she said. "I wondered why he was hassling me. It's obviously an old, antique car. Eventually, he just told me to stay out of the township."

John LePage of Conestoga has a 1965 Plymouth Satellite that he calls Problem Child because of the many problems he had restoring it. He bought the car in 1991 but only began restoring it in 2002.

"He kept saying 'I bought the car for you, baby,' " said his wife, Susan LePage. "That's how he justified how much he was spending on it. In fact, the engine sat in my living room for 10 years as an end table, and he kept saying, 'It's for you.' "

Heavily customized, the car has roll bars, a trunk-mounted battery and a huge 505-cubic-inch engine, giving the creamsickle orange Plymouth plenty of speed.

"It's hard to keep the tires on the blacktop," John LePage said.

"It's fun," his wife added. "It keeps you young."

David and Louise Watson of Lititz displayed their British-made 1952 Allard J2x, a two-seater sports car weighing just 2,220 pounds, but with a large Cadillac engine that, as Watson put it, allows the speedster to merge onto highways "very adequately."

The green sports car was "resurrected from the dead" a few years ago after it was discovered in bad repair, stuffed into a large storage box. Watson bought it about six years ago and restored it.

Dave Renninger, who deals in antique cars and car parts in Bird-in-Hand, displayed a 1929 Model A Ford touring car owned by Al Gillis of Lancaster. The 40-horsepower engine can take the car to about 50 miles per hour, but Renninger said it was never meant to go that fast. But the car is durable, and spare parts are readily available.

"Ford made about 5 million Model As, and they guess there's about half a million left," Renninger said.

Al Huss of Leola believes his 1971 Plymouth Barracuda is "a survivor." He bought the car in 1971, and it still has its factory paint job and its huge 340-cubic-inch engine beneath a Shaker hood.

Paul Leed of Lancaster is a Chevy guy and owns six of them, including a 1955 Bel Air sports coupe, of which only 525 were made.

"It has every option Chevrolet offered on it, including power windows, power seats, power steering, power brakes, power everything," he said. "I'm afraid to drive it."

On Sunday, however, he showed off his latest acquisition, an aqua-and-white Chevrolet El Camino built in 1959, the first year General Motors made the car-pickup truck hybrid.

Leed first saw the vehicle about a year ago and "fell in love with it." He convinced himself, though, that he did not need another car. Recently, however, he saw a TV show about El Caminos, including an aqua-and-white 1959 model.

"I thought that's it, and I got on the phone and called the guy and said, 'If you still have it, what would it take to buy it,' " Leed said. "So we negotiated a price, and he delivered it."

E-mail: lalexander@lnpnews.com