There’s no question Dan Quinn would have loved to attend a car cruise set for July 18 in Derry Township.

Instead, members of his Latrobe family will represent him at the event, organized by a friend as a memorial to the classic car enthusiast who lost his battle with cancer on April 24, at 67.

“Any time there was a car show, he would go, if it wasn’t too far away,” said his wife, Millie. “He was interested in cars all his life.”

The cruise is slated, rain or shine, from noon to 4 p.m. at Palombo’s Restaurant, 1085 Industrial Blvd. Organizer Sally Bane is a fellow car hobbyist who met and became friends with Quinn at area shows.

“We were like the dynamic duo,” said Bane, of Derry Township, who shows her 1990 Corvette. “If he was going to a car show, we both went together.”

Of the show circuit, she said, “It’s like a family if you’re into cars. Everybody knows everybody, unless you go some place out of state. They take you under their wing.”

Bane hopes members of that extended family will come to the July 18 show, as donations will be accepted to help Quinn’s family deal with his final medical expenses, which have grown to thousands of dollars.

Quinn, who had survived three heart attacks and meningitis, waged an initial battle with stomach cancer three years ago, his wife said. But, the disease returned and he finally succumbed.

“He was really hopeful he was going to beat it again,” said Bane.

Dan Quinn, who was was a laborer and driver for Stone and Company, was able to attend one last car show on April 3. The gathering at Mountain Laurel Plaza in Unity was organized for him by a cousin.

“He would have kept on going but the cancer took him out,” said Millie Quinn.

Dan Quinn’s collection of cars grew to about a dozen over the years — among them muscle cars, including a 1969 Dodge Dart, a 1970 Dodge Challenger and a 1979 Trans Am. His 1965 Dodge Coronet, complete with blower, took Best in Show at a Norwin event.

It all started with the 1967 GTO he purchased after graduating from high school. “He worked two jobs so he could pay for it,” his wife said. “That was his baby.”

Though the car was relegated to the back of the garage for a number of years, he began to restore it in 2000, with the help of his two sons, Shawn and Eric.

“There wasn’t anything he couldn’t fix,” Shawn Quinn said of his father. “He would have bought more cars if he’d had the space.

“He also loved hunting and fishing, but when it came to his cars, that was second to none.”

During the past year, many car shows were canceled because of covid-19 pandemic restrictions. The Quinn memorial cruise is among events that are starting to populate this season’s show calendar, though Bane said, “It’s not back to the capacity it was before the pandemic.”

While the first 50 vehicles at the event will receive dashboard plaques, Quinn’s family will select 10 cars they like best, to receive specialty trophies.

There also will be food available for purchase, along with a 50/50 drawing and a Chinese auction.

Quinn’s sons are carrying on their father’s passion for maintaining and showing classic cars.

Shawn Quinn regrets that his father won’t get to see his own son, Shawn Michael, 10, take his first spin behind the wheel of the prized GTO.

“When he turns 16, he will drive that car,” Shawn Quinn said of his son.

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