STUART ETTINGER/For the Courier-Post Last year's car show at the Cherry Hill Mall will be reprised this year on June 7.

This year's 18th annual Courier-Post Antique & Classic Car Show promises to be even bigger than last year's event, when almost 300 cars entered the show.

This year's show is scheduled for June 7 in the Church Road parking lot of the Cherry Hill Mall, providing better access to the public than last year. Admission and parking will remain free, too.

In addition to hundreds of antique and modified vehicles on display from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., there will be contests with prizes and music by DJ Elite Entertainment.

The biggest change is that all show vehicles must be pre-registered, according to Alan Vogelson, president of Ankokas Region Antique Automobile Club of America, which handles the judging. Registration is $10 and will be limited to 350 vehicles.

Registration forms for the show can be found almost every day in the Courier-Post newspaper. The deadline is June 4.

"Car owners will only have to pick up a registration package and let Courier-Post photographers take photos of their cars," Vogelson said.

Photos of every registered vehicle will appear in a special section of the newspaper in July, when readers can vote on their favorite. All vehicle owners will receive a color photo of their car.

An addition to the show is the co-sponsorship of Eckenhoff Buick, located on Church Road across from where the show will be held.

"For the past five years, we have been sponsoring our own show," said Scott Eckenhoff, president of the Buick dealership.

"At first, our show was just for Buicks, but last year we expanded it to all GM vehicles and got 100 entries and 2,000 spectators. It got too big for our space, so we decided to join the Courier-Post in sponsoring the June 7 show."

In addition to the regular awards, Eckenhoff said he plans to hand out his own trophy to - you guessed it - the best Buick on the lot.

"Though judged classes remain pretty much the same, there are a few notable changes," according to Vogelson.

"In reviewing last year's records, we discovered many classes for cars of the 1960s were too broad. So, we have created a separate class for each year from 1962 through 1969."

There will be 22 judged classes, plus a class for senior cars, which get a special recognition award. Cars which have won a first place in 2000, 2001 or 2002 may not compete, but are welcome in the senior class.

The class for production cars starting with 1970 now includes cars up to 1978. The same is true for foreign sports cars and two-seat Thunderbirds, Corvettes, Mustangs, trucks, commercial vehicles and fire engines. Class 20, for exhibition vehicles, will contain cars from 1979 through 1983 and the customs and street rods class will include up to 1982.

The rain date for the show is June 14. To check, call (856) 662-3636 and enter the code RAIN. Call anytime after 5 p.m., June 6.

For more information, call (856) 429-8372 after 6 p.m.