Despite the heat and early afternoon thunderstorms, there was an impressive turnout of shoppers, car buffs and hot rods at the Shops at Wiregrass Mall for the Premium Productions Car Show on July 14, including the sleek 2013 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1

Paseo Dr. is a long, winding road through the Shops at Wiregrass in Wesley Chapel that has any number of cars on it each day. But, on the afternoon of July 14, the entire road was a parking lot of cars most people only dream about driving during the mall’s Premium Productions Car Show.

More than 200 cars lined Paseo Dr. as shoppers and car show attendees alike marveled over the impressive machines that included everything from classic roadsters to 2013 Chevy Camaros in an open show for all types of vehicles.

“There are a lot of nice cars out here,” said Premium Car Show judge Allen Moledor. “The judging is going to be tough.”

Moledor, who lives in Lehigh, FL, and who travels from Miami to Georgia to judge cars for Premium, explained that judging in an “open show” is based primarily on cleanliness and the condition of the vehicle. Considering the judging was delayed due to an early thunderstorm, all of the cars got a pass on water spots, Moledor said.

Bob Batz’s replica “General Lee” from the popular 1980s television show “The Dukes of Hazzard” was a crowd pleaser, complete with the authentic horn jingle. Batz’s “Lee” had previously won “Best In Show” for its class at Downtown Disney’s Car Masters Weekend in Orlando on June 3. “It (the car) usually does well when I bring it out,” Batz said.

The judging was broken down into 21 different classes based on year and vehicle type, with a “Best In Show” in each category. Premium does not release a final list of winners in each category, so a full breakdown of the winning vehicles was not available as of our press time, but Batz’s “General Lee” once again took “Best In Show” in its class.

And, this special event — like so many others before it — also helped bring new customers out to many of the mall’s businesses, which means that the winning vehicle owners weren’t the only winners that day.

“As the owner of a new business in the mall, we were thrilled with all the people who came to the car show,” says Kristin Green, the co-owner of the new Monkey Bizness kids’ play place on Paseo Dr. “We got to introduce ourselves to a lot of new customers!”