Fall is here

Saturday morning six cars left Bob Evans for Bowling Green, VA and the Fall Festival there. Ron and his 28 Dodge, Ed and his 39 Ford, Jim & Linda and their 08 Vette, Dan and his 55 Chevy and the Princess and I with our coupes. John arrived with his T-Bucket soon after we set up, ask him if he was cold! This is a neat show where the town closes down the main street and sets up vendors, displays, bands and a car show to celebrate Fall. This year makes the fourth year the Princess and I have attended the event and it seemed to be a little down on attendance this year....not much but it just didn't feel as crowded as years past? There was over 150 cars in the show and as usual many that we haven't seen before. The most unusual was the '39 Fiat Topolino that appeared in stock configuration outside. I have seen one other Topolino with fenders and stock hood....usually these little cars are used for Altereds in drag racing. Many famous AA/FA cars were made with the Topolino bodies .... Bradford and Mondello are two cars that come to mind. Anyway it was neat to see one in near stock external condition. Another unusual car was the '64 Studebaker Wagonaire....I have never seen one....it is really trick the way the roof slides open for more room in the back, check out the pics. There was a '37 Ford sedan delivery with trick mirrors, it un-clutters the outside but I think it complicates the interior to the point it might be distracting? Check them out! The AMC Marlin was a unique piece too. The evil little Triumph....my dad had one of those and it felt like the thing was falling apart every time I drove it....and the door was so low! I'm not into jacked up trucks much but there was a red Ford that was pretty impressive. Jim's remarkable '54 Ford glasstop from Lorton just about took my breath away....I'm a hot rod guy and am not usually impressed by a 'stocker' but Jim's '54 was an exception, you have to look this car over when you get a chance....and Jim has a '54 Ford museum in Colonial Beach....we have to visit it next year!

There were many car clubs represented too....The Tri-County Cruisers came in force and they brought the Red Camaro that deservedly won the Best of Show award. Thanks to Steve we had two '34 Fords at the event and they were all red! The Virginia Stockers came with Jerry's yellow Willys (I wonder where the Dragonfly is?) and all the rest of their primo cars....and that wild and crazy guy, Willie, looked like he was having way too much fun. And I'm glad Mary didn't have to wear Dave's sweatshirt again! Some of the other clubs represented were Fredericksburg Street Rods, Fredericksburg Classic and Muscle Car Club, Stafford Classics, Culpeper Cruisers and others I didn't know. The Princess bought some little rubber ducks....some for Dan and one for herself....she says now she can schmooz the judges at the Wings, Wheels & Ducks show next year! I didn't know the Princess schmozed? Please check out the pics as I can't do justice in this commentary to all the cars that attended.

The day was perfect and they had the awards a little early and the Princess did not win one....Dan and I did but the Princess didn't, and she didn't win the 50/50....does that make the Princess a looser now? I didn't say that.

The day was so nice we decided to take a route to Orange on roads less traveled. We left Bowling Green on Rt. 2 then took Rt. 605 to Rt. 1 to Rt. 606 at Thornburg then to Post Oak and Rt. 208 to Rt. 522, then to Rt. 20 and on in to Orange and Rt. 15 to the BK. We arrived at 3:30 and there were already 20+ cars there! It was going to be a big deal since it was the last cruise of the year and I guess a lot of people wanted to get good parking spaces. DJ Ron was spinning the tunes and made the deal more fun. He had contests with the hula hoops and costumes that all enjoyed....the Princess said I could go up as an old unemployed slacker guy....she has such an evil sense of humor sometimes....I need to find her a job with more stress so she doesn't have the time to think these things up. There seemed to be a lot more 'traditional' hot rods, primer & rust, than before....the blue '32 r window with the dual quad W motor was there, I didn't get a chance to talk to the owner about his crankcase ventilation system, I first saw it at the Occoquan show this year. The neatest car was the yellow '32 roadster, that is one trick Deuce! The '30 Ford gunmetal sedan with the dual quad SB Ford is always nice. And of course Paul's '34 lakester with the passenger....good thing Anita wasn't there! I think there was over 200 cars there in the end but it was getting very cold so we left about 7:30. It was a long day and we drove about 160 miles but that's what them cars are for....driving!