8 June 2013 Mayfield Cruise

It was Mayfield's annual Cruise Night. Streetlights don't matter cause the roads are closed. While most of the hundreds of cars are parked and on display, the street is open to anyone who wants to cruise their ride. Mayfield police turn their head and say nothing if you light up your tires and make a little noise. Every car is welcome even the new retro wannabees. I've done yard work for years on the day of the cruise and enjoyed the rumble of muscle cars heading to the cruise. This year, the yard work was wrapped up and we spent the evening walking in the village. I had a great time remembering being young. If you remember these, enjoy. If not, don't worry, we'll be back in the woods soon enough.

Yes, you can wear your poodle skirt to watch the cars cruise even if you were born three decades after poodle skirts.

If you wanted to buy a vintage trailer to explore blue highways and quiet campgrounds, this was the place to be.

It looks like something from an I Love Lucy episode.

If you've never seen how Japanese cars got their start to becoming such a part of the US motoring scene, here's your chance.

The 100mph speedo seems to indicate the Japanese had a sense of humor when they sent their first Hondas to the US. If you were born after 1980, that small rectangular box below the glove compartment is an FM converter. They were used to turn the bad sounds emitted by AM Radios into even worse static filled noise once FM radio took over the air waves. At the time, FM was actually a place to go for new and varied music instead of a gathering point for Clear Channel profits.

Did you ever wonder where those bright engineers at GM got the idea for a retractable roof on the Envoy? The answer's easy. They looked at 30-40 year-old Studebaker designs from the 60's. This Wagoneer was rough, but it is a rare surviving example of an interesting idea.

It was a fun evening with lots of cars to see. It brought back memories of a different time and to sigh when looking at a few cars I would have liked to own in a different time...

I'm not too sure Mayfield sanctioned the activity below. Not that I have any idea of what they may have been doing. ;-)

"Tonight, tonight the strip's just right
I wanna blow 'em off in my first heat
Summer's here and the time is right
For racin' in the street"

-- Bruce Springsteen