Many cars that will line the parade grounds inside Fernandina Beach’s historic Fort Clinch on Saturday are old, no doubt about that.

But the brick walls that have guarded the St. Marys River and Cumberland South entrance to Florida and Georgia are way older — 176 years to be exact.

Visitors will flock to the state park Saturday to see an estimated 60 vintage and classic cars inside the fort at 2601 Atlantic Ave. The event will support the preservation of the recreational and educational opportunities at Fort Clinch State Park, said Tom Linley, head of Friends of Fort Clinch. The nonprofit group supports special events and educational programming at the park and raises funds for restoration projects and equipment to assist park rangers.

Last year’s car show netted $5,000 in proceeds, Linley said.

“That’s what the Friends are all about — benefiting the park and the fort,” Linley said. “The funds that are raised go into projects of the fort and the park itself. Sometimes we are buying equipment like a log splitter or an all-terrain vehicle so they can access the beach areas for management or sea turtle nests and other resource management monitoring. All the finds that come into this do benefit the park directly.”

More than 60 vintage and classic cars are scheduled to be displayed inside the fort from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday. The fort is part of a 1,400-acre state park at 2601 Atlantic Ave., where its brick walls overlook Cumberland Sound and the St. Marys River from Fernandina Beach on land intertwined with paths through arching live oaks and campsites.

Construction of Fort Clinch began in 1847 to protect the coast of southern Georgia. At the start of the Civil War, the still-incomplete fort came under Confederate control until Union troops arrived in early 1862….