We went on our last cruise of the season yesterday on Now & Then Vehicle Club's Fall Foliage Cruise. About 60 cars showed up for the roughly 100-mile trip. The ride started at Phantom Fireworks, Our first stop was at a Dunkin' Donuts about 20-25 miles from our start-off point. Although it was overcast, we were never rained on, and we enjoyed a number of beautiful views throughout the trip. New England is a great place to be in the fall! We had a second stop at an overlook where there were some beautiful views, and then we finished up at Tom's Hot Dogs for a snack while the cars cooled down. All said, I think everyone had a wonderful trip! During the stops, I had a lot of time to take some pictures of some of the individuals and cars that helped make this a great trip. Although I did not get great pics of every car, I did get some good pics of many of them. Enjoy!
9/8/2018 0 Comments Cruise Night At The Drive In!
The Cars From The Drive In!On Saturday we took part in the Now & Then Vehicle Club's Cruise Night in Hinsdale, New Hampshire. The show usually attracts more than 50 muscle cars, trucks and classic cars from Vermont, New Hampshire and Massachusetts. Weather permitting, I try to make this show every week. The weather was perfect this week and many cars showed up for the event, including some new faces!
There were a number of other Plymouths at the show this week as well. In fact, I remember photographing three 1940 coups and at least two Dusters. There may have been more Plymouths at the show as well, and I just missed them. Below are pics of the Two Dusters, followed by pics of the 1940 cars. Enjoy! Sometimes I am amazed at how clean some of the owners can get and keep their engines. My engine is dirty and greasy, and I think I will have to remove it before it will make any progress in the getting clean department. Check out these engines below and tell me that they are not cleaner than some of the rooms in your house! I know they have my office beat hands down! Engines To Envy!One thing that always draws my eye when I look at a car is the interior. Sometimes they are immaculate, other times they are a work in progress. It doesn't matter, nearly every time I end up looking at the steering wheel. A great looking steering wheel can make or brake the look of a car. Below are some of the steering wheels that caught my eye. Some are original, and some are after-market finds. Either way, these really helped to set off the interiors of their cars. These Won't Steer You Wrong!There were three Chevelles at the Cruise Night this week, and all were impressive. One was powered by a 502 engine, one by a 400, and the third was a Yenko Chevelle! The Yenko's are exceedingly rare. How rare? Well, in 1969 only 99 Yenko Chevelles were produced, and only 50 are still known to exist! If this Chevelle is the real deal, it is likely worth about a quarter million dollars! I did not get a chance to talk to the owner, so the answer to whether it is real or not will have to wait for a future post. In the meantime, here are pics of the three Chevelles. Chevelle Heaven!There were a lot of cars at the show this week, and we are not going to talk about all of them. A 1962 Volvo caught our eye, as well as a 1930's era blue Chevy coupe. We don't always use all of our pictures on the site, and that will be the case today as well. (There are just too many!) Instead, I am going to add one or two pics apiece for the rest of the cars. Let me know what you like, and I can always highlight one of them in our "Car of the Week" segment. Note that the Car of the Week section will become more prominent during the winter months when we are not hitting Cruise Nights or going on trips. That's about it for this week. Remember, if you are up near Northfield, Mass on Saturday afternoon, the Now & Then Vehicle Club is hosting its Drive-In Cruise at the Drive-In. Gates open at 4:00 and there will be a lot of great cars being shown. When dark hits, Cheech & Chong's Up in Smoke will be the movie! see the flyer below.
On Saturday we took part in the Now & Then Vehicle Club's Cruise Night in Hinsdale, New Hampshire. The show usually attracts more than 50 muscle cars, trucks and classic cars from Vermont, New Hampshire and Massachusetts. Weather permitting, I try to make this show every week.
Personally, I am going to love watching the Bel Air in the bottom pic go through its restoration process. One area of the classic car collecting market that I don't know too much about is pick-up trucks. Each week, a number of beautiful trucks pull into the shows, and I have a tough time identifying many of them. The funny thing is I also own a classic truck, although its in rough shape. I own a '92 GMC z-71. I bought it 10 years ago to use as a plow truck, and I am still using it as such today. My truck is NOT in shape to bring to a meet, but I may bring it one day to get advice on whether or not it is worth fixing up. Below are some of the trucks that were at the cruise night this week. Rat Rods are always popular at the shows, and at least three showed up this week. My favorite was a Dodge that was totally revamped. The detail on the engine really stood out and the ram's head hood ornament just topped the whole look off. A mini Mack was also in attendance, as well as one other Ratter. Pics are below: My love affair with all things with running boards continues. And as usual, the Now & Then Cruise Night did not disappoint! My favorite runner this week was a '36 custom. The car was totally redone and had a fiberglass body. In fact, the owner had just bought it a day before the show, and was excited to talk about it and show it off a bit. I don't blame him! It is a beautiful car!
Hood ornaments have always fascinated me. They are big and ostentatious, and totally do what they were intended to do... totally impress the hell out of people! When I can, I get up real close and take a shot for the record. Here are the ones I saw this week. As usual, I had a lot of extra pics after I finished telling you what I wanted to write about this week. These extra pictures are below.
It has been two weeks with rainy weather on the weekend, and I have been shut out of car shows. Even so, I did manage to drive "The Beast" in a parade on August 11th. I was asked to chauffeur the Grand Marshalls of the parade for the 250th Anniversary parade for the town of Rindge, New Hampshire. Since I live in the town, I was very happy and proud to do it! The two Marshalls were Amy Raymond and Roland Goddard, two lifetime residents of the town. Roland turned 90 this week and he has 53 great grand children! Both of the Marshalls were very nice and told me all sorts of stories about the town. Roland's family have lived in the town for generations, and had even helped to build the meeting house in the town square. In fact, three generations of Goddard's have wound the clock over the years including Roland, who wound it for about 40 years! Amy Raymond, meanwhile is a descendant of the first settler in the town of Rindge, going way back to the mid-1700's! Both of the Marshalls had great stories of the people who grew up with them and about the properties in the area. Who built what house on our way down the street, and even where houses used to be that were no longer standing. The parade route was about two miles long and ran down Main Street until it hit Route 119. We travelled down 119 until we made a right down East Main Street. On the way, I would stop The Beast so that the Grand Marshalls could hand out candy to the children. We tried to keep the children from running out to the car by calling to the adults to come get the candy, but it rarely worked. The children would get excited and run out to the car anyway and many of the adults just stood there waiting for someone else to do it. Some did come to the car, but many others didn't seem to know what we were asking them to do, or why. Overall, the children were happy, and that is what to me a parade should be all about. I was happy to be a part of the town's historic moment. Two more photos are below.
On Sunday we attended the Dine & Dash Classic Car Show at the Hometown Diner in Rindge, New Hampshire. Shows are held during the first Sunday of the month, weather permitting. The show was small this week likely due to two other shows being held nearby. Autex Mazda was holding its annual show in Keene, and another large show was being held in Merrimack. Altogether, about 30 cars showed up in Rindge, but many left early, likely looking for a larger show. I got some interesting pics nonetheless, and I won the 50/50 for the second time this season. It was a small pot, but it was enough to fill the tank of "The Beast!"
other hand, was a well driven, long-distance champion! Indeed, the car had been in the owner's family for over 40 years, and the car had twice driven all the way across the country; once to California, and a second time to Alaska. The paint on this beauty was chipped, scratched and faded, but it only added to its charm. It was obvious the driver had pride in ownership, and he was taking care of the vehicle lovingly. In fact, he had just finished rebuilding the engine and the car was running good. For me, a lot of the fun I have with this hobby is found in driving my car. In this regard, the car's owner was a kindred spirit. I have posted pics of both cars below.
Right near the Model "A"s were two cars with turbo chargers. The first was a "Baby Stang" with a four-cylinder engine. Even so, the car pumped out a very respectable 310 horsepower!
stunned disbelief, as the unassuming Honda Civic si blows them off the line! Here's a side view of the "Baby Stang" My friend Josh was also at the show this week! Josh, and his wife Aleysha have been working crazy hours and I haven't seen them at the dojo in quite a while, so it was nice to catch up. Josh and Aleysha just happen to be into American muscle.. Mustangs specifically, and they had their car with them. Josh has a 2014 Mustang,
point, and I will update his progress in a future post when he gets it all in place. There was a nice showing of cars from the '50's at the show, as well. I have been seeing a lot of Ford Victorias at the shows this year, including the 1955 model below. These are nice-looking cars that don't seem to have the same cache as the Chevy's from that era. Even so, these cars clean up well, and seem to be becoming more popular in recent years. want. I know that I love to drive my Centurion. And most of the owners I meet also seem to get a gleam in their eyes when they talk about their rides also. "Forever Young", we will all ride towards our deaths in style... remembering the dreams of our youth (I always wanted a rag top!), and making new memories for our children. Two other 50's era cars were at the show also. A '51 Mercury and a '55 Chevy. The Chevy was for sale, and as far as I could tell, very little needed to be done to it. I believe the owner was asking $32.500, but I could be off by a couple thousand on either side of that number. In general, if I don't write it down, I will usually forget some of the details since I try to talk to as many drivers as I can. Pics for the Merc and the Chevy are below. 8/1/2018 0 Comments Sunday Cruise To Hampton BeachThe best part about owning a classic car is actually taking it for a cruise! And New Hampshire is the perfect place for cruising! On Sunday, the weather was perfect for a ride and we set off for Hampton Beach, New Hampshire, about two hours from our house following Route 101 East.
started talking to us about our car while we were waiting for Seth to come down his driveway to get into the car. Another girl yelled out "Nice car!", while we were sitting in traffic. The most amusing thing to happen was when we were travelling down the road at about 80 miles per hour. Traffic was passing us in the two lanes to our left, and when I looked over at a car that seemed to be pacing us, the guy in the passenger seat was furiously taking pictures of the car. After he was done, the car sped up, and they were gone! Once we reached Hampton Beach, the search for parking began. We cruised to the end of the town and then traveled back down the strip, checking out all the sites. We saw a couple of classic cars along the beach, but not as many as I would have expected. We finally settled on a lot about a block from the water slide. They had spots up front for larger cars, and we ended up in the front line of cars. It was easy to park, and more importantly, very easy to get out. The Centurion is about 18 and a half feet long, and tight spots make it hard to maneuver! Given we reached the beach in the late afternoon, it was easy to find an uncrowded spot with a great view. We all went into the water, and I even got a chance to catch a nap on the blanket! it's the little things in life that can really make you happy. Once we all were back at the blanket, Maddie and Seth buried Ashleigh in the sand and made her look like a mermaid. I snapped some pics to commemorate the experience. After spending time at the beach, we grabbed a pizza for dinner and then went to the arcades. Both girls enjoyed collecting tickets for their efforts, and everyone walked away with some candy... except for me. On the way home, the oil light came on in the Centurion. The big block engines have a tendency to run hot, and we may have burned off some oil on the trip. I am giving the Beast an oil change this week, and changing some of the filters, and we'll see if the problem persists. All in all, though, we had a great day... even if I got us lost on the way home trying to skirt a large traffic jam caused by construction! 7/25/2018 0 Comments Classic Car & Muscle Car Cruise Night Hosted by Now & Then Vehicle Club of Southern Vermont
The weather was nice this weekend, and many cars showed up. While I try to get pictures of all of the cars, I often miss some either due to bad angles, crowds, or just not getting the picture into focus. Below are pictures of some of my favorites, as well as cars that I did get a good picture of. One of my favorite cars at the show this week was this 1968 Corvette. The owner had painted this car himself, and its paint was flawless. Although 1968 was the first year that T-roofs were offered, this car is a convertible, so you don't get to see that feature here. Two more pictures are below. If you look closely, you can actually see the tail lights' reflection in the chrome of the rear bumper. The bumpers on this Vette were the most flawless I have ever seen on a classic car. There was a 1955 Hudson Metropolitan at the show this week too, These cars are rare. In fact, only 2,368 of these were produced. Less rare are the Nash versions of this car.
The marketing slogan was “America’s entirely new kind of car”. This vehicle was never meant to be the family car. Instead it was made for Mom to go do the shopping or to take the kids to school. One interesting thing about this model, is that it doesn't have a trunk. Instead, a key is used to unlock the top of the back seat to reveal storage space. There were a lot of Mustangs at the show this week, and I took pictures of a bunch of them. Check them out below. Two other cars I really liked are below. The one I believe is a '36 Ford coupe. I am not certain about that, but it is one beautiful car! The custom paint job on this classic really makes it stand out. Being a Buick owner, I have a soft spot for the large land cruisers. Below is a 1973 Buick Riviera, appropriately named "GASHOG". Similar to the Centurion, "boat-tailed" Rivieras only had a three-year run. The first of the boat-tails appeared in 1971, and Riviera sales fell off a cliff. By 1973, Buick let the boat tails sink and redesigned the Riviera. The design is a bit better loved today and prices for these cruisers have been rising. Below is a nice example of the last year of the boat tails! Below are pictures of other cars at the show '56 Ford Victoria '66 Dodge Charger
On Sunday we took a road trip to Kringle Candle's Cars & Coffee Classic Car Show in Bernardston, Massachusetts. It was a beautiful day and about 200 classic cars and muscle cars showed up for the event. We were the 193rd car through the gates and had to park in the extra rows across the Street where overflow rows were set up. Our favorite car at the show was an older Mercedes Benz, which was parked near the beginning of the overflow parking. Oddly enough, I am usually a bigger fan of American muscle cars than European luxury cars, but there were so many American classics at this show that the Mercedes really stood out to me. For the first time this season I saw a Buick Centurion at a show that wasn't my own. That's right, There were two Centurions at Cars & Coffee! Mine (red, 1972 Buick Centurion convertible), and a 1971 green rag top. The green vehicle is for sale, and the owner is asking $9,500. Over the three years that Centurions were produced, only 10,296 convertibles rolled off the production line; 2,161 in 1971, 2,396 in 1972 and 5,739 in 1973. Compare that to most of the other muscle cars from the era, and you have a rare car here! It is not a hot commodity on the collector's market, however. In 1971 and 1972 All of these beauties had 455 big-block engines. Thus, you get a beautiful ride, rarity, and muscle-car power all in one package! As usual, there were a lot of classic Corvettes at the show. My daughter Ashleigh loves Vettes, so below you will find her one obligatory picture with her favorite, as well as a number of other Corvettes. Chevelles are always popular vehicles at the classic car shows, and this one had a number of them in attendance. A few of my favorites are below. Luxury cars were out in full force on Sunday also. Aside from the Mercedes Benz I showed you above, there were many others there as well. Jaguars and BMWs were also well represented. We only saw one Porsche and one Rolls Royce, though, and our snaps of these are below. As many of you know, I have a soft spot for cars with running boards. And the Kringle Candle Cars & Coffee show did not disappoint on this front either! There were many cars with running boards, and I think I got pictures of most of them. I have placed some of my favorites below. This '31 Ford was a real stunner! A pair of Buick Grand Nationals showed up for the car show, as well as a beautiful Buick Skylark convertible! I'll finish up with a few more of my favorite car pics from the show. Here comes the Judge! After viewing all of the cars, We stopped by The Farm Table Restaurant for a tasty meal before heading back home. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. Archives
October 2018
CategoriesAll Car Show Drive In Massachusetts Mountains New Hampshire Now & Then Peterborough Scenic Trip Seashore Vermont |