The Friday Nite Cruise at Old Town
as reported by Gregg Nelson Sr.
September 2nd, 2005
As Published in V2-I3-#56 September 8th 2005
Flash! Flash! Crash,
Bang, Boom, Pound, Tinc, Tinc, Tinc, Splash, Swoosh. Any guesses what
these sounds are?
First three don't count. No I didn't
wreck PT although I did come close to wrecking my Diplomat. All of the
above occurred on my way to Old Town Friday night. I was driving in from
Winter Park where I was signing up for school. I was on the 417 and just
before the toll plaza close to the 535 exit it started to rain. The sky
got so dark you would have thought it was about nine at night. The
thunder roared and the lightning crashed. After going thru the toll the
traffic in the right lane slowed dramatically and I checked my mirrors
and looked thru my fogged up windows and then put on my directional to
pull into the left lane. I don't know where the gold Lincoln Town Car
came from but I know where he went. Let's say it is a good thing the
shoulder at that point is very wide because he used every inch of it
when I ran him off the road. I just didn't see him. I finally arrived at
Old Town at about quarter past four where I was supposed to meet Emma
and Gregg Jr..
Gregg Jr. needed to be there at four
because he was going to be working the cruiser appreciation cruise
evening. The weather put a stop to us arriving on time and also his need
to work because the event did occur but without the fanfare that was
expected. When I did arrive however I did notice that a few of the Old
Town faithful regulars were already lined up at the gate, so I drove
Florida Plaza to the back where I could rope off my boat. Most find my
Diplomat large enough that it should carry an anchor. The water in the
streets was close to three feet deep, I drove thru anyway and made my
wake in the surf as I drove thru. I came back around to the front and
came in the access road next to Burger King and parked next to the left
of the stage and waited for Emma and GJ.
I then began hearing tinc tinc tinc.
It was hail hitting my car along with the deluge of rain. The rain
slowed to a trickle at about ten minutes to five and my companions
arrived. I found Ron who told me where I had parked was reserved for
cruisers and they expected to fill Trophy Row with cruisers this
evening. My choices were to move my Diplomat or register it for the
cruise.
Dippy isn't the show poodle she once was but what the heck she was here
so I registered both cars. To me it was kind of sentimental to see both
cars on Trophy Row again with numbers
hanging on the dash. The gate opened at five and slowly the cruisers
rolled in. When all was said and done there were a total of 64 cruisers.
The numbers were low for a Friday and
especially low for an event weekend. There were a few interesting rides
that showed up.
The first vehicle that really caught
my eye was a 1997 Ford F-150 pickup. This truck was red, white, and blue
with lots of graphics all over it. There were numbers on it as well. The
numbers were 88 and the graphics said Ford Quality Care and Ford Credit.
It was painted up to look like a certain race car from a few years ago.
Upon further inspection of the truck I found a letter on the dash
written by Walker Ford in Clearwater, Fl. that confirmed that this truck
was in fact Dale Jarretts' personal transportation before being offered
for sale. I could almost envision Dale Jarrett being interviewed next to
the truck at the finish line of many different tracks and he would have
been saying " Well the Ford Credit Quality Care Ford F-150 was a little
tight thru 3 and 4 but was awesome in 1 and 2 and a rocket ship in the
straight away and just bested the rest of the field today." The truck
was a delight to see with all the sponsor decals and the memories of
when Dale Jarrett was at the top of the Winston Cup standings week after
week.
Another vehicle of interest was a
Scorpion. It was a red fiberglass vehicle that I think is a kit car and
it looked like Bradley GT with a Datsun 240 Z nose and gull wing doors.
The car was built on a VW chassis. Inside were a set of black racing
bucket seats and a 4 speed shifter.
Again there were four checker flag
winners with the addition of two 100.00 Old Town gift certificates and a
set of four new tires to be won.
The first checker flag winner was Don
Peters with a yellow 1984 Mercedes 380 SL convertible. The car had a
yellow interior as well and was in great shape.
The second flag went to Bobby Holder
with an aqua 1973 Mercury Cougar XR 7 two door hardtop. This car is
equipped with a 351 and an automatic. It also has a console and blue
bucket seats.
The third checker flag was won by
Doug Cain with his red 1977 Chevrolet Corvette. This car was red all
over.
The next flag winner, well is it won
if it is bought? How much did you have to pay Richard? Just kidding.
Richard Stewart won with his nice 1985 Chevrolet Monte Carlo coupe.
Richards car is blue inside and out and Richard is constantly working to
make his baby better. I constantly give Rich a hard time because he
drives a Chivy, but it all in fun and Richard you do have a car to be
proud of. In the weeks to come I will start a series on what it takes to
get into the old car hobby. This series will explore the differences and
the challenges involved and will look at a simple Friday Night Old Town
Cruiser like my PT and some of the Latin low riders we see to a full
blown flame off restoration that you can see on any show field. Until
next week have fun and cruise safely.
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