Natalie Capezza, 40, hesitated at first, then agreed to slide into the front seat as her friend Stacey Quinn snapped a picture. "I wanted to drive off with it," Capezza said.
Papaneri's Lamborghini joined several Corvettes, some from the 1960s, at least one Chevrolet Impala also from the '60s, Camaros, new-model BMWs and Mustangs, and other antique show, muscle, classic, and custom cars, trucks, and motorcycles lining East Passyunk Avenue.
Trophies went to the top 50 vehicles, and several "best of" awards were doled out.
Ray Patrick, president of the Northeast Muscle Car Club, which organizes the show to benefit the East Passyunk Avenue Business Improvement District.
Entries have nearly doubled to 110 since the club started the event. Patrick has owned nearly as many antique cars as have been featured in the show.
His 1932 Ford Vicky, with red flames on the side, is his 76th antique car in 20 years, Patrick said.
Two cars away from Papaneri's Lamborghini, Carlton Alston, 49, parked his mirage blue 1979 Chevrolet Monte Carlo low rider featuring a hydraulics system and water graphics on the door and door jamb.
Alston, a married father of two girls who manages a Midas automotive repair shop in Germantown, bought the Monte Carlo 25 years ago. He has refurbished it three times out of "boredom," he said.
The car boasted a 13-inch flat-screen DVD player and 18-speaker stereo system. It has beige alligator skin on the roof, ceiling, and seats.
"I had to kill two alligators," joked Alston, president of the Universal Motor Sports Association, a Philadelphia automobile club.
His organization had five additional cars entered in Sunday's show.
Papaneri does not treat his Lamborghini exclusively like a show car. His 19-year-old son, also named Anthony, drives the Lamborghini more than his father does.
The elder Papaneri, 43, said he mostly takes the Lamborghini to car shows to raise awareness of Carz 'n Toyz, a nonprofit led by car enthusiasts who raise money and collect toys for sick children in South Jersey hospitals. Papaneri is the organization's vice president.
Over the years, Papaneri, who owns a company that builds water and sewer plants for municipal governments, always talked about the Lamborghini. In 2011, son Anthony saw an advertisement for the Gallardo. The next day, the two men hopped a plane to Miami to buy the car.
"It was a 'bucket list' item," said Papaneri's wife, Christine.
Contact Darran Simon at 856-779-3829, dsimon@phillynews.com, or follow on Twitter @darransimon.
