Summer could essentially be considered the season of the automobile.It’s the time of year when the protective covers come off, the restored or preserved classic models come out of storage, motorcycles are back on the road where they belong and the sound of revved engines cuts through the air.

It’s that kind of feeling and a unique experience that Marc Milhander is hoping to bring back to the streets of downtown Niles.

“We’re looking to create an old-fashioned downtown Main Street cruise-in, and the goal is to have it occur in a regular way,” Milhander said.

He’s talking about the Bring It Cruise-In, presented by Milhander’s The Kar Club Inc., taking place from 4 to 10 p.m. today in downtown Niles.

“This is simply a trial run,” Milhander said. “We hope for a good turn out but we also have a lot to learn in the process.”

Those interested in bringing their vehicles or motorcycles will register with Niles Main Street. Special hang tags are being made for the event and “any vehicle that registers at all on the hotness scale will be given display parking,” Milhander said.

It’s an event Milhander is hoping to perfect and continue bringing to the area. And behind the logistics of participatory parking for this inaugural cruise-in is a fully fueled passion.

Milhander, director of the Haelan Family Counseling Center, which recently relocated into the Greater Michiana Healing Arts Center building at 109 North Third Street, has been a connoisseur of unique and collectible vehicles for years.

“I’ve been blessed to have an amazingly cool collection over the years,” he said.

He parlayed that passion into business when he created The Kar Club Inc.

And when he moved into the new building, it seems as though he was in the right place at the right time to drive that affinity for automobiles into a higher gear.

“The building has taken on different incarnations over the years,” he said. “But really it started out as Smith Tire and Brake in 1936.”

Built around 1927-1928, the structure used to feature an open lower level and is set up to accommodate a car dealership. Moving in, converting the upstairs back into a car dealership was not necessarily on Milhander’s agenda.

“Not even a little,” he said. “The only thing that we did was joke about it because we thought it was impossible and ridiculous. There was no question about the desire to do it, but because the vehicle sales had been banned in the central district around 2004, I never imagined that there would be or could be a possibility to selling vehicles in downtown Niles.”

But there is. Milhander does have the ability to sell cars indoors and that’s exactly what he has in store for the upper level of the healing arts center.

Renovations are already under way; a small but suitable driveway is being completed outside the center’s current front door, which will be replaced with 8-foot double doors now being built, to allow for easy vehicle access.

A number of motorcycles are already in the space now, Milhander said.

A grand opening for the dealership is planned for later this summer along with another cruise-in.

In the meantime, Milhander is focused on generating a specific cultural aspect to tonight’s event.

Rather than an impromptu gathering of cars in an empty parking lot often seen during the summer season, Milhander wants the cruise-in to go back to being a community gathering and he’s gathering the help of neighboring businesses like Third Street Pizzeria, which will have picnic tables set up outside and will be running specials.

“That’s what we’re trying to get away from,” Milhander said. “We’re trying to get away from parking in a large parking lot at Kmart or Walmart. Instead we want to attract people to what has been voted the best Main Street in Michigan, which is Niles.”

A special section will be dedicated just to motorcycles, “and you’ll see people just talking and gathering and mingling,” Milhander said. “There’s going to be some special, some really unusual vehicles that some people have never seen,” he said. “There’s going to be two Cobras. There’s going to be a … a hand-built Chevy truck that’s to die for.”

Car and motorcycle enthusiasts, start your engines.

For more information, visit www.thekarclub.com.