Word went out last week via the NJ Chapter of the Alfa Romeo Owners Club (AROC) about an event which was new to me: a Sunday morning Cars & Coffee in the parking lot of a Dunkin’ Donuts on Route 22 in Bridgewater NJ. This was all of 6 miles from my house, and was scheduled to run from 9am to 11am, so it was an attractive choice, especially if a few other members of the Alfa club were to show up.
I arrived 15 minutes early to find several dozen cars already lined up, most of them late-model Corvettes and Mustangs. I’ve been to, and have heard about, other Cars & Coffee events in NJ like this, and perusing row after row of newer high-horsepower machines driven by millennial hipsters looking for bragging rights isn’t my thing. It was with great relief that I spotted a current generation Alfa Giulia sedan and parked next to it. The owner, Neil, was a younger chap who, with his traveling buddy Caleb, took an immediate interest in my ’67, and we spent a few minutes chatting about the Alfa Romeo brand in general. They both were friendly and delightful, and showed themselves to be interested in all kinds of automotive machinery.
Soon after I arrived, 3 members of AROC’s NJ Chapter showed up, all driving Spiders. Tony had his blue Series 1, Mike arrived in his red Series 3, and Bob parked his immaculate red Series 4, with all of us adjacent to each other. It was a great opportunity to show Neil and Caleb the distinctions among the different generation Spiders.
I broke away from the camaraderie several times to take in the other vehicles. Frankly, a long row of C6, C7, and C8 Corvettes more closely resembles a used-car lot than a car show to me, but I get it. Scattered among the 21st century iron were a few gems. Standouts included a 1970 AMX, a 1970 240Z, a 928, and an early ‘70s Firebird.
The day was warm and sunny with low humidity, but as the temp started to climb, I decided on a slightly early departure of 10:30, which had me home by 11am. Would I attend again? There was no denying that the shortish drive was a convenience. If I knew I could count on seeing friendly faces, I would certainly pay another visit to this particular Cars & Coffee.
June has been a busy month for car shows, with Greenwich, Quaker Bridge, and now Flemington in 3 consecutive weeks. I had intended to drive the Alfa to Flemington Saturday night, as it’s all of 10 minutes away, but a later-than-expected departure from a relative’s house during the afternoon left me little time, so I darted over in a modern car and managed to take in the show just as some cars were leaving.
C2 Corvette behind C7 Corvette
The town of Flemington NJ has hosted a bi-weekly cruise night for several years. Held on alternating Saturdays, they announce “featured makes and models”, but from my observation, that doesn’t seem to have much influence on which vehicles arrive. Cars can park along Main St., but there also is a small parking lot which is where I tend to see the best cars. Not one but two live bands were cranking out the tunes, and show-goers were invited to vote for a “People’s Choice” best in show. Local restaurants stayed open, with a few of them offering outside seating. The weather, as it has been for much of the month, was near perfect.
Two nice FoMoCo products: 1st gen Mustang & Mercury Comet
The cruise-in started at 5 p.m. and I didn’t get there until a little after 7, so I don’t know what I missed. There were perhaps a few dozen vehicles scattered around, mostly domestic product. I photographed the cars which held the greatest interest for me, which meant ignoring the heavily modified stuff. I’m hoping to get back here at some point later in the season and put one of my own cars on display, and maybe invite a few of my local car club friends to join me.
VW Beetle convertible, a true “driver”
1967 Camaro
One of the few pre-war cars in attendance
Mid-70s Olds Cutlass
’64 T-Bird with ’68 Firebird across the street
(Above and below): This 1957 Cadillac was in the parking lot, hood up, windows down, with its owner nowhere to be seen. I lingered for a few minutes hoping he/she would show up, because I really wanted to speak with them. I go to a lot of car shows an see a lot of cars; this Caddy was truly a #1 condition car, and the truth is, there are very few #1 cars. It was so perfect that I found it hard to believe it was driven here. One question for the sharp-eyed and knowledgeable readers out there: look at the photo of the engine compartment. To the left of the brake master cylinder is a vertical cylinder with a removable cap. What is this??
A couple of Chevy pickup trucks
Above: I managed to chat up the owner of this ’49 Ford just as he was leaving. He was an old codger, and told me that he’s owned the car for about 20 years. He thinks it’s the original flattie V8 under the hood. The car looked and sounded great as he started it up and drove away. It had that look of an honest, old, fun car to me.
On Sunday, October 23, 2022, we once again took advantage of a spacious parking lot adjacent to a Dunkin’ Donuts facility to host our own Cars & Coffee event. No driving was included in the plans, and we had a small but enthusiastic group of eight people (plus two VCNA retirees who were surprise guests) willing to mill about on what turned out to be a beautiful autumn morning.
The Dunkin’ Donuts on MacArthur Blvd. in Mahwah did its usual fine job in serving us bagels and coffee, and plenty of Sunday morning visitors were distracted enough by our vehicular lineup to break their routines and come over for a chat.
Cars in attendance included two Corvettes, a Chevy Nova, two Porsche 911s, a Mercedes-Benz turbodiesel, a well-preserved and rarely-seen Volvo S70, and your author’s Alfa Romeo. Interestingly, the imports outnumbered the domestic entries (3 Chevys versus 3 Germans, 1 Swedish, and 1 Italian), something we normally don’t see at our gatherings.
We may try to squeeze in one more driving event before the weather turns inhospitable for the winter. If not, we shall see what 2023 will bring!
1961 Corvette (C1)
1967 Corvette (C2)
1967 Alfa Romeo
1972 Nova
’80s Mercedes-Benz 300D
’80s Porsche 911
21st century 911
Volvo S70 sedan
Nothing but nothing looks like the back end of a C2 coupe
This past Friday, July 15, 2022, I attended the Somerville, NJ Cruise Night, held on Main St. It’s been a few years since I’ve attended. In fact, I’m fairly certain that the Cruise Nights were completely cancelled during 2020 and 2021 because of the Covid shutdown. If my own blog is to be believed, I’ve not been in attendance since 2016!
It was good to be back. Both sides of Main St. were lined with a nice variety of special-interest cars. The sidewalks weren’t too crowded, and the warm summer New Jersey air, to my great relief, lacked the usual humidity. I strolled up and down the blocks several times, after which my wife drove into town so that we could share a pizza at the well-regarded Alfonso’s. By the time we were done, it was getting dark and having seen what I was there to see, we headed home.
As I’ve mentioned in previous posts, the town of Somerville was at first against the entire Cruise Night idea. But once they saw the crowds and the business these crowds brought to the local establishments, everyone was on board. Perhaps later this summer I’ll swing back and bring one of my own cars to park on Main St.
There were plenty of Corvettes in attendance: I spotted C2, C3, C5, C6, and C7 generations parked along the street. In addition, at least 3 different C8 Vettes were seen cruising up and down the main drag.
1st gen Mustang with custom tail lights
Mercedes-Benz 560SL
Custom hot rods still show up in significant numbers in Somerville
1969 Mustang
Rarely seen Chevy II wagon
’52-’54 Fords were at one time very popular with rodders
Olds Cutlass
1973 Pontiac Firebird Trans-Am
Triumph TR-6 sports cars seem to have survived in large numbers compared to some other ’70s sports cars
When did you last see one of the Franco-American Renaults? This poor Encore needed a jump.
Pontiac GTO
One of the last of the full-size Olds convertibles
1955 Chevrolet
DeTomaso Pantera. Drivetrain axle yokes are the size of my skull; they need to be to put that power down.
VW Beetle does duty as pizza delivery vehicle
I thought this pre-war (’39? ’40?) Plymouth was snazzy
2nd gen AMC Javelin (this one an SST)
The local Alfa dealer had this gold Stelvio on display
A mildly customized ’55 Chevy, not a Bel Air!
The ubiquitous ’57 Chevy
A 1968 King Midget. Had a long talk with the owner (Clifford) and we compared notes about what it’s like to own a small quirky car like a King Midget or Isetta.
Alfonso’s is one of the best Italian restaurants in the area. We walked in and were told (this at 7 p.m.) that the wait for an inside table would be 25 minutes, and for an outside table, 40 minutes. Instead, we sat at the bar to eat pizza and drank beer.
It turned out to be an eventful year, 2009, which in retrospect was no surprise at all. It started with me (again) telling my bosses at Volvo that I had every intention of taking voluntary retirement in December, to which they continued to react with disbelief. My recent promotion to Manager of Technical Engineering kept me busy, and my own work ethic wanted to ensure that I would depart without leaving unfinished assignments for others to clean up. I was informed that there would be at least one more business trip to Sweden, likely my last. Finally, I would be turning 55 in March, not a major milestone in my mind, but one that still deserved some reckoning.
I still had the ’68 Mustang, and I still had the Isetta, both tucked safely away in the garage. I had toyed with the idea of selling the Isetta, and even ran a few print ads, which got zero response. Since participation in the New England 1000 classic car rally seemed to be on hiatus for now (we last drove in it in 2007, and wouldn’t again until 2013), I continued to search for new opportunities to show the Isetta. The first such opportunity of the year came about when I saw an ad for the Readington Township Memorial Day parade: the parade organizers were looking for “old cars”.
Various old clunkers are staged before the parade’s start
My entry was accepted, and we trailered the car to the assembly area, a local strip mall. (In fact, we live in Readington Township which is quite large. I considered driving the car there but it would have meant crossing several major thoroughfares.) The variety of vehicles in the parade confirmed for me that there were no limits to vehicle type, as long as the cars were “old”. Volunteers handed us the obligatory red, white & blue accoutrements, and we were off.
Yes, a VW Beetle IS larger than a certain BMW
The King and Queen of the parade pose for a pic
Appropriately attired, we’re about to take off
You can’t be an introvert and ride in an Isetta during a parade
The challenge with driving an old car in a parade is maintaining an appropriate speed. Too fast, and you’ll zoom by spectators who’ll barely get to see their reflections in your shiny chrome. Too slow, and you might overheat, or, if you’re driving a stick, you may find yourself slipping the clutch. This parade was S-L-O-W. I had trouble maintaining a steady pace of, oh, about 2.5 mph. More than once I would pop it into neutral and coast, even if that meant leaving a greater distance between my car and the car in front of me. Nevertheless, it was a delightful parade, with Main Street lined with the cheering residents of Readington. The tortoise-like pace, though, bored me, until I got the bright idea to throw the door open while driving. The car can still be steered, however, the door opens both outward AND upward, which blocked my forward view. It was worth it, though, because the crowd (ok, just the kids) went wild with screams and laughter every time I did that.
A different kind of horsepower
Later that summer, I dragged the little red bubble to the Boonton Cruise Night, a Friday tradition in northern NJ. Boonton’s affair is possibly typical for a suburban cruise night, set in the large parking lot of a strip mall anchored by a WalMart, so there’s plenty of regular traffic along with that generated by the car nuts. A pizzeria kept us nourished with food and caffeine, and a few friends showed up. This September outing was the second and final one for the Isetta in 2009. In December, as promised, I retired from Volvo Cars of North America after 23 years of employment. I had no idea what I would do in 2010, but I certainly hoped to have more free time to play with cars.
Two red cars, one just slightly more powerful – note the Isetta Jeopardy board on display
The collector car hobby experienced tremendous growth during the latter part of the 20th and early years of the 21st centuries, a good part of which was fueled by small town “cruise nights”. The name is certainly a misnomer: participants aren’t cruising anywhere except into the town or lot where the evening show is being held. Each owner finds a parking spot while the general public wanders among the vehicles. It’s a nice way to spend a warm summer evening.
Compared to larger and more formal car shows, cruise nights have proven to be simpler to organize and run. Vehicles are usually not limited by make, model, or age; spectators do not pay a fee for the privilege of attending; weekday evening time slots makes it family-friendly and possible to sample while still arriving home at a reasonable time; and maybe best of all, local towns have benefited as restaurants, bars, and retail stores stay open during cruise night hours to service the increased foot traffic.
Sometime during the summer of 2006, my friend Richard Sweeney let me know that his hometown, Metuchen NJ, was hosting a monthly cruise night on the first Wednesday of each month, and he suggested that the Isetta would be a hit there. I had become friendly with Richard because his wife and my wife worked together for many years. Richard and I got along, but I would never describe him as a “car guy”. Yet, he knew about my Isetta, and from our conversations, I sensed that he was more interested in the public’s reactions to my car than he was interested in the car itself. Wednesday would be somewhat difficult, as Metuchen is 45 minutes from my house, and I didn’t relish getting home too late with work the next day, but I agreed, really for Richard’s sake, as he was genuinely excited at the prospect.
On the appointed night, my wife and I drove to Metuchen. Like the Friday night Somerville cruise night, Metuchen cordoned off its downtown Main St. and reserved street parking for show cars. After parking the tow rig and trailer and unloading the Isetta, I drove the Isetta along Main St., snagging one of the last available parking spaces.
Women practically lined up to pose with the car and me
This event was also the debut of a board game I created called Isetta Jeopardy. At every previous showing of this car, I was struck how show-goers repeatedly asked the same questions. I found myself reciting the same answers so often that I wondered if I should make up a sign with all the answers preprinted. This gave birth to the idea of a game whereby, when a question was asked, I would point to a board which would have a dozen different numbers on it. I would then challenge the questioner to guess which number correctly answered their question. The numbered “answer” would then be raised to reveal the “question”, a la the real Jeopardy game.
The Isetta Jeopardy board game
A few weeks before the cruise night, I revealed the Jeopardy game to Richard, and not only did he enjoy it, he committed all the answers to memory (a brilliant man, he was the Chief Librarian at NJIT, the New Jersey Institute of Technology), and, he volunteered to be the one to work the crowd that night! I made sure to pack a folding table so we had somewhere to place the game.
Richard Sweeney (in blue shirt) about to reveal an answer
Richard patiently awaits the audience’s best guess
Of course, the crowd loved the Isetta, and the usual questions arose. “How much did this cost new?” “How many were sold in the U.S.?” “What does it weigh?” Although I had known Richard for years and had always observed him to be mild-mannered, he was a different animal that night. Overhearing the crowd’s questions, he practically pulled people over to the Isetta Jeopardy display and dared them to pick the right answer. I’m not sure which Richard was having more fun.
From this angle, it appears that the tandem bike’s wheelbase is longer than my car’s
The cruise night continued well past sunset, and it was shortly after dark when a Corbin Sparrow pulled in behind me. The Corbin was a one-passenger all electric “commuter car”, and the owner, an enthusiastic young man, told me he was driving by when he saw the Isetta and had to stop. The Corbin was within 3 inches of the Isetta’s total length, and while the electric Corbin beat my little bubble for efficiency, I must point out that the Sparrow is strictly a one-passenger vehicle, while my Isetta, at least in a pinch, could fit three people (provided they really liked each other).
Some cruise nights have awards, and if they do, it’s “People’s Choice”. Well, the Isetta won. “We” got the proverbial blue ribbon, and I really wanted Richard to have it because of his relentless enthusiasm. But he wouldn’t hear of it. Richard Sweeney, the non-car guy, got full immersion into the sociological impact that a BMW microcar can have on the public. This was the first, but would not be the last time that Richard would join me and the Isetta at an automotive event.
After two consecutive years of successfully showing the Isetta at several shows, two of which involved a lengthy drive to Connecticut, I was ready to take some time off from the circuit. A glance through my photo archives reveals little participation in automotive events of any kind for the years 2002 and 2003. In the autumn of ’03, I purchased the 1968 Mustang California Special, which made me feel like I was cheating on the Isetta. Now I had to divide my attention between two cars, and the Mustang beckoned, not only because it was newer, but also because a trailer was not required. The medium-term plan was to drive the Mustang in an upcoming New England 1000 rally, a task that the Isetta was sadly not up to.
Before I knew it, it was 2004, and three years had passed since showing the little red car at Greenwich in 2001. Concours rules said “a vehicle displayed at Greenwich is eligible for showing every three years”, so I applied and was accepted.
Rain or shine, it was car show time
My Isetta with its BMW brethren
This time, my BMW was correctly placed in the same display circle as the other BMWs. But that was about the only happy element of the event. It was a day of miserable weather, with a steady cool rain which kept spectators away. My wife and I were dressed for the occasion, and worked to make the best of it.
My wife Margaretanne was a trooper for tolerating the weather
Parked directly next to my car was a BMW 600 (often incorrectly referred to as an “Isetta 600” –its officially name is “BMW 600 Limousine”). From the front, most people mistake it for an Isetta. It does share its front-hinged door and pivoting steering column with its little brother. Built on a slightly longer wheelbase, the 600 included a 2nd row of seats, one side door for access to that row, and most importantly, a two-cylinder boxer engine displacing about 600 cc.
The differences between the 600 (L) and 300 (R) are obvious here
The 600 is an interesting vehicle in BMW’s history. With the runaway success of the Isetta on a global scale (ultimately, 160,000 units produced, which made it BMW’s largest-volume model to date), company management wanted that success to be a springboard to a larger model, presumably to attract a bigger audience. Unlike the Isetta which was designed by the Italian firm Iso, the BMW 600 was designed in-house. Complaints that the Isetta was too small, underpowered, and lacked passenger room were all addressed in this larger model. Alas, the public did not respond in kind. Produced from 1957 to 1959, only 35,000 units were sold. The silver lining is that the 600 begat the “normal looking” BMW 700, which begat the Neue Klasse cars, and the rest, as several million people before me have said, is history.
The BMW 600, which some feel is less cute than the 300
Back to the car at the show: the young woman who piloted the 600 there was not the owner. She claimed that the car was owned by her boss, and he asked her to bring it to the show. Yet she seemed to be well-versed in its history. She had no issue with the idea that she would be driving her boss’s 600 back in the rain!
She was more than happy to display her boss’s 600
Awards were announced, and what’s this? No award for the Isetta this year? Hey Bruce, what gives? I was getting used to the accolades. Oh well, I told myself, I’m not here for the trophy, I’m here for the experience.
A few months later, I decided to bring the Isetta to the Somerville (NJ) Cruise Night, held every Friday between Memorial Day and Labor Day (and weather permitting, extended for as long as cars show up). This time, my stepson accompanied me, and assisted with trailer duties and photography. Like many cruise nights, there is no pre-registration, and parking on the street is on a first-come, first-served basis. We parked the trailer several blocks away, and got to drive the Isetta on some local streets through town. Luckily, as soon as I turned onto Main St., the show’s location, a parking spot appeared.
Stepson John takes first known photo from inside my moving Isetta
Just another red car out for a cruise
Managing to avoid Dodge Durango while turning onto Main St.
Blowby from tractor-trailer threatened to flip Isetta
It’s one thing to look at the Isetta and say “that thing is small”. It’s another thing to park it adjacent to other vehicles and see how truly tiny it is.
Isetta’s length matches hood of Torino behind it
As has been the trend, I spent much of the evening answering what seemed to be the same half-dozen questions:
Is this thing street-legal? (Sure, I drove it here)
How much horsepower does it have? (Thirteen, but a healthy 12-year-old boy on a bicycle can outdrag me)
What the top speed? (50 mph, downhill with a tailwind)
What kind of gas mileage does it get? (60 miles per gallon, so the 3-gallon tank gives me a cruising range of 180 miles)
How many people can you fit in there? (Two, but they really have to like each other)
The Isetta was proving to be a consistent attraction
The repetition was encouraging me to shoot back the same zany answers every time. By 9 p.m., it was time to get the Isetta back on the trailer. At least home was only eight miles away.
Later that year, while attending Hershey, I saw a beautiful yellow Isetta at the show. This was the germination of an idea: perhaps I could look into entering my Isetta at a future AACA event….
The Boonton (NJ) cruise night has been a Friday night tradition in that town’s WalMart parking lot for at least a decade. Known for its ability to draw upwards of 300 cars, the show on Friday August 10th of this year was well below capacity, possibly in part due to vacation season, but more likely a result of a sudden change in the afternoon’s weather from sunny and hot to cloudy and threatening.
This was my first time back to Boonton in several years, and I enjoyed the smaller number of cars and trucks as well as the lighter crowds. It made for a very relaxing evening. Oh, and it sprinkled for about 5 seconds, causing a small number of drivers to jump in their rides and split. It was their loss, as the evening stayed dry.
Cruise nights in general have a greater variety of vehicles on display. By that I am referring to a large mix of pre- & post-war, stock & custom, and original & restored. It provides a chance to look over cars that I otherwise might not go out of my way to see. If there was one ‘class’ of vehicle lacking, it would be imports. I could count on one hand the number of non-domestic vehicles on display. That made the few there all the more interesting.
The pictures below are displayed in random order, which is how the vehicles are parked, unless family members or friends arrive together. (Although if you didn’t know better, you’d think that the night’s festivities were sponsored by the local Buick club.) Enjoy the photo-documentation of this classic NJ cruise night.
1941 Buick Roadmaster sedan
1948 Pontiac Silver Streak
1965 Buick Gran Sport
1967 Buick Gran Sport
1968 Buick Gran Sport
1958 Dodge Coronet
1967 Ford Mustang
Buick Reatta convertible
1953 Chevrolet
1966 Chevrolet Corvair
’57 T-Bird in white….
… and in green
His-&-her C1 Corvettes, ’62 on left and ’58 on right
2nd generation AMC AMX
1963 Corvette with steelies, dog dish caps, and redwalls
Ford Pinto Runabout
Naming a car after a cartoon character was a huge success for Plymouth
The Friday tradition known as the Somerville NJ cruise night took place as expected on August 26, 2016. However, the usual swarm of domestic muscle cars and old-school hot rods was invaded by members from the NJ Region of the Alfa Romeo Owners Club (AROC). In total, there were 9 Alfa Romeos present, which was an excellent showing for this sweltering late summer evening.
The club had reached out to the cruise night organizers to request a group parking spot. As has been done in the past for other clubs, the spaces in front of the Somerset County Courthouse were reserved for us. The first Alfa was in place before 5pm, with the majority of cars claiming their spots by 6pm. Based on the steady flow of foot traffic parading past our cars, we can presume that the audience enjoyed the rather unexpected gathering of Italian machinery.
There was great model diversity, with Alfetta GTs, Spiders, a 164, two 4Cs, and your scribe’s GT 1300 Junior. The Junior was the sole vehicle from the 1960s, but we had great representation from the ‘70s and ‘80s.
The 4Cs were the surprise of the evening, with one privately-owned car in attendance, as well as a brand new one from the local dealer, Fullerton Fiat-Alfa (thanks, Dave!).
No mirrors were used in this shot
Gorgeous interior (note carbon fiber)
Engine hidden under shroud
Old friends got reacquainted, new friends were made, and with darkness arriving by 8pm, most of us were back on the road by then. It was an enjoyable way to spend an evening with like-minded people, and we hold out hope that our local Alfa club can find its way to organize one more gathering before the cars are stored for the winter.
1977 Spider
Still owned by original purchaser
Interior a mix of original and refurbished
Spider in obligatory red
1993 Spider looking sharp in black
’70s era Alfetta GT
In case you didn’t know the marque
Rare twin-plug engine
Earliest Alfettas put tach in front of driver, with speedo pushed to center
The 164: V6 & FWD
So clean it looked a year old
Detailed engine compartment
My 1967 GT 1300 Junior
A V6-equipped ’80s GT Coupe
Sixty years later, Alfa still using manual release in 4C’s door jamb to open trunk
The Boonton NJ cruise night, held on Fridays in the WalMart shopping Plaza, had its first show of the 2016 season on June 10. This year’s festivities were scheduled to start on June 3, but that show was cancelled due to inclement weather.
The cruise night, sponsored by the Starlight Cruisers car club, began in 2007 and has proven to be one of the better attended events of its kind in northern Jersey. The parking lot is roped off to allow parking for up to 250 cars. Because of the show’s popularity, vehicles are limited to those with QQ (NJ antique automobile) plates, or those which are at least 25 years old. The club provides music and door prizes.
The weather on the 10th was perfect – sunny, warm, cloudless, with low humidity, which brought out the crowds. The show cars were 99% domestic product, with a large percentage of them easily defined as “modified” – everything from bolt-ons to full customs in the old-school sense. GM vehicles from the 50s and 60s dominated, but there was also enough variety to keep things interesting for those who seek the unusual. There was a smattering of pre-war iron, including a lovely 1940 LaSalle convertible. Original owner and/or unrestored cars were present, such as a 1967 AMC Marlin whose owner has had it since 1971. And some imports dared to show up among all the Chevys and Fords, including an Opel GT, a Saab 93, and your author’s Alfa.
AMC products are rare sightings at any car event. This cruise night featured a number of them, including this Rebel “The Machine”, and this 1978 Concord AMX.
AMC Rebel The Machine
1978 AMC AMX
This 1967 Marlin was striking in several ways, most notably because its owner told us that this was his first car when he bought it in 1971. His daughter was dutifully deployed to attend to polishing duties. When asked about the missing fuel door, he replied that the door has been shipped to Sweden (!) for color-matching. We were left unclear as to why.
1967 was on Ambassador platform
Sign nicely captures history
She’s only half-way done
The number of Corvettes in attendance easily reached several dozen. What was especially impressive was the large number of C1 and C2 cars.
’58 and ’62 C1 side-by-side
1961 C1 in Fawn Beige
Iconic ’63 Split Window- note the plate
These C2s lined up their beautiful rear ends
It is often stated that American car styling reached its bizarre peak in the late 1950s. While that may be true, what is sometimes missed is that interior styling also captured some of that strange creativity, and that included functional items such as transmission controls. This 1958 Edsel and 1960 Plymouth both used unusual solutions for transmission control placement. (Note that the Edsel has a floor shifter as part of a complete drivetrain swap.)
Quarter panel trim for a ’58 Edsel? Yeah, we got that.
Tranny buttons front and center
Chrysler didn’t get the memo that tail fins were out
Trans push buttons and square wheel
Studebaker’s history began 50 years before the dawn of the motorized vehicle, when the Studebaker brothers manufactured covered wagons. By the 1950s, they struggled to compete with the Big Three. “Daring to be different” was a strategy employed by them (as well as by AMC), as borne out by this Hawk and Avanti.
Studebaker Hawk with side pipes
’63 (first year) Avanti
Despite the dominance of 50s-60s muscle, a few cars from an earlier time were also on the show field. None was more striking than this 1940 LaSalle. The LaSalle brand was a “junior Cadillac”, but alas, could not compete in the marketplace. Production ended in 1940, making this car a representative of the marque’s final year.
1940 LaSalle convertible
Gorgeous Art Deco logo
Grille badge is subtle
Not all T-Birds are restored to AACA standards. This ’56 was ready to rumble.
This Saab has been in Boonton before. Although we did not have the pleasure of seeing it run on this particular evening, the owner has kept the 2-stroke motor and has opened up the exhaust a bit, resulting in some glorious albeit raucous noises.
Saab 93
Sounds like a popcorn machine when running
Proof that Erik Carlsson has not driven this Saab
DeLoreans never went away; they’ve been hiding in plain sight all these years. For a vehicle which was manufactured for only two years (1981-1982) and in limited numbers, one always seems to turn up. Their collectibility may be on the rise, though, as a recent change in government regulations will allow the “new” DeLorean Motor Company to begin to legally manufacture cars again.
No BttF jokes, promise!
In 1970, if you could not afford a new Corvette, you may have been drawn to the Opel GT. Buick dealers sold them as captive imports. Built in Germany, the Opel GT was available with either a 1.1L or 1.9L inline 4-cylinder. You certainly didn’t pay the Corvette’s price, but you didn’t get the Corvette’s horsepower either.
Rarely seen Opel GT
Was called the “Corvette Jr” when new
This ’67 Firebird has the optional hood-mounted tach
The Alfa may have looked lost among the sea of U.S. built cars (it certainly is physically smaller than all of them), but several spectators stopped by to tell the typical “I had one of those” stories. The car ran flawlessly up and down Route 287 that evening.
richardscarblog 