For the past decade, LLC Dogwood has worked with Atlanta Pride to place cars in Piedmont Park on Pride Saturday.
“We have 25 to 30 each year,” says Muller. “We try and get a variety.”
Some of the highlights this year include a ’59 Chevy Apache pickup truck, a ’72 Mustang Mach 1 and a late ’70s VW Beetle Convertible. It’s not just an assemblage of old cars but specialty ones as well.
Some members, for instance, are into miniature cars. According to Muller, there’s a rotation of automobiles each year. The cars belong to individual members and some of them are used the next day to transport grand marshals in the parade.
Part of the club’s function is outreach — getting the word out to others that there’s a group with similar interests. Members can share an online database to look up other LGBT car lovers or specific cars. Men make up the majority of members although some women are involved.
Heterosexuals are welcome too. The chief ingredient is sharing the sentiment that cars are about more than transportation. More than 2,000 auto hobbyist and enthusiasts are involved nationally, as well as some in Canada and Europe.
LLC Dogwood used to have a booth at Pride but then they decided to do an exhibit of cars instead. Something the group is considering for the future is to keep the exhibit on Saturday but return to having a booth on Pride Sunday for more personal interaction, says Muller.
Yet the group’s activities aren’t once a year gigs. LLC Dogwood coordinates other events throughout the calendar year to boot, such as Cruise Ins, visits to auto shows and various social outings.
Muller feels gay and lesbians like old cars for the reasons they like anything vintage.
Gay society has a sense of preserving what was strong and special in their previous day,” he says.
Muller has 14 vintage cars. His first — purchased in the early ’80s — was a 1966 Lincoln four-door convertible. But his pride and joy is a 1960 Cadillac El Dorado Brougham.
Buck Cooke, executive director of Atlanta Pride, feels that the Car and Motorcycle show is a unique addition to the already busy weekend, adding to the multi-faceted element of what Pride is about.
“The fact is, (the LGBT community) is full of stylish people and some people exhibit their style through their cars,” he says.
Adjacent to the exhibit will be motorcycles displayed by the Lost Boys, which is a queer Atlanta motorcycle group, which Muller calls a great supplement to the exhibit.