WINCHESTER BAY — Want to see a car enthusiast cringe? Ask how he would feel if his classic car qualified as a clunker.

Fortunately, none of the models on display at the 17th annual Kool Coastal Nights car show were eligible for the Car Allowance Rebate System — better known as Cash for Clunkers.

“If (the government) had their way, they’d smash all these,” said John Feeback, gesturing to the rows of shined-up autos before him.

He came from Winchester with his 1954 Chevy pickup.

A lobby of antique car collectors was instrumental in putting a 1984 limit on the clunkers program. The program provided rebates up to $4,500 for consumers who traded in gas guzzlers for new, more fuel-efficient vehicles, but trade-ins built before 1984 were ineligible.

 Ron Scott, who brought his 1970 American Motors AMX to the show, praised the lobby as well.

“It was an excellent idea,” he said.

Jim Bales was there to show off his 1959 Corvette. He’s glad cherished cars were exempt from the program. Antique roadsters weren’t protected when California initiated a similar effort designed to reduce pollution. The state paid car owners to ditch their dirty rides despite their value as vintage vehicles.

“They got rid of a lot of classics,” Bales said.

The event drew record participation this year, said Virginia Hert, treasurer for Kool Coastal Cruisers, the local car club that organizes the show. The show drew more than 400 cars, and Hert credits the recession for attracting so many auto lovers.

“A lot of people are looking for something to do closer to home,” she said.

It also was the recession that took 700,000 gas guzzlers to the scrap heap, given up by those who cashed in on the rebate program designed to boost the ailing auto industry.

 Feeback isn’t so sure all those cars were necessarily clunkers.

“There are a lot of people who could’ve used those cars,” he said.

While many vehicles produced in the late ‘80s and ‘90s aren’t held in high esteem by the vintage auto community, there are some notable exceptions.

Fourth- and fifth-generation Chevrolet Monte Carlos and late-model Ford Thunderbirds will be “classics in time,” said club President Bill Otis.

“There are a lot of people looking for those cars and putting them away because they’re going to be worth money,” he said.

Auto appraiser Jim Mohatt isn’t worried that many future classics were traded for rebates and subsequently smashed into metallic cubes.

“I think most of what was being crushed was junk,” Mohatt said.

Bales, who organizes Florence’s yearly Rhody Days Show n’ Shine car cruise, disagrees. He said it’s likely many fine machines were junked thanks to the $3 billion federal program that ended last week.

Among his collection of vehicles is 1989 Chevrolet Camaro IROC convertible. It’s a two-seat roadster. Only 800 were made. It was eligible for a cash-for-clunker rebate, but he’d never swap the rare gem for a mass-produced economy car.

Coincidentally, he paid $4,500 for it.

“That would’ve been a Cash for Clunkers deal,” he said.