Robert Truex of Gridley, Calif., turns on the hood ornament light of his 1951 Desoto station wagon. The ornament is in the likeness of the Spanish explorer Hernando Desoto. (Ben Hillyer / The Natchez Democrat)

(Ben Hillyer / The Natchez Democrat)

Sandy and Randy Carlson from Colorado pull up to the front porch of Stanton Hall in their 1931 Studebaker. (Ben Hillyer / The Natchez Democrat)

Lani Wilkes from Nevada is seen through the window of the 1928 Hupmobile that she and her husband brought to Natchez. (Ben Hillyer / The Natchez Democrat)

Mike Smith of Wetumpka, Ala., lifts the hood to his Pontiac Star Chief, to show the straight eight-cylinder engine that was characteristic of the classic Pontiac car. (Ben Hillyer / The Natchez Democrat)

(Ben Hillyer / The Natchez Democrat)

Randy Carlson, left, and his wife Sandy, right, talk to Lee Wilkes from Reno, Nevada. (Ben Hillyer / The Natchez Democrat)