Batman Returns....kinda

Saturday our small group left the WAWA in N. Stafford and cruised 32 miles to the Burger King on Rt. 28 in Manassas VA. The Bull Run Street Rods Club has managed a weekly cruise at this location for a lot of years. Years ago this cruise started at Jerry’s Pizza on the corner of Rt. 28 & Manassas Dr. in Manassas Park. Then they moved to Chubby’s restaurant on Rt. 234 across from Prince William Hospital. From there they moved to the present location right off the end of the Manassas Regional Airport’s runway! We have cruised all the locations but years ago it was with our Harley. This cruise always attracts a large crowd and in that crowd we usually find a rarely seen vehicle. This afternoon was to be a real surprise.

We were all sitting behind our cars with the umbrellas blocking the sun, it was hot. The sun was beginning to set so the umbrellas were down low, which meant we couldn’t see the cars as they came into the cruise. We were talking and almost oblivious to the vehicle traffic coming in when the ground shook! It was the black Model A sedan with the killer, 540 inch blown Rat motor. That car is a piece of work and about the neatest, meanest car around. It was almost 5PM and since we were going to leave around 5:30 I decided to get up and take some pictures of the noisy beast! But….when I got out in front of our cars I noticed a crowd gathered around something but it wasn’t the noisy beast? Something had attracted people so thick that I couldn’t see the vehicle. Holy flashback Batman whatever could it be?

The Batmobile! I had seen this car about 4 years ago at a cruise in Centerville, VA….I just noticed it as it was leaving! But now….in all it’s tricky Batmanness here it was again. Robin must have cloaked the owner, I waited a while to talk to him/her and no one knew where they went!? So I just fought my way close enough to take a lot of pictures and had to be satisfied with that. WOW, you have to check out the pics. Then wandering around the lot, I came across a traditionally hot rodded ’40 Ford PU….with a blown flathead! It had a lot of soldered copper in the engine compartment….and a very kool cutout setup. There was a green ’49 MGTC, very sophisticated in a snobbish sort of way. This cruise attracts a lot of blower cars and they started coming in as we were leaving, I guess as the weather got a little cooler they came out on the prowl. Just as we left a neat flat head Harley showed up…. another seldom seen vehicle!

We had picked up a new cruiser, Aaron & his daughter, with a black ’69 Chevy PU at WAWA when we left Stafford earlier in the day. The truck belongs to his buddy, who asked him to drive it around a little before he got back, from Afghanistan. Aaron’s wife, Anita, and their other daughter met him at the cruise in Manassas, then they followed us back to Stafford and the cruise at Bruster’s. We parked the cars way out in the end of the lot and walked to Sam’s Pizza for dinner….when we came back we were surrounded by other cruisers and their cars, and a very large dog! This cruise usually gets 70-90 cars. It’s not like some cruises in that they play music and give out trophies. The winners are picked by the other participants voting…. We stayed till the bitter end to watch the awards then wrapped up the evening. This is a friendly, dependable cruise that should not be missed when you are in N. Stafford, VA on any Saturday evening from April to October.