Cruise Night | Grumpa Joe's Place

Urban Evolution

Posted on 28/05/2017 by Grumpa Joe

Antique-Graham, Street rod

Last evening I took a rare after supper walk into town. As I turned the corner to return I walked east down Kansas street and realized it was Thursday night. Traditionally, the Frankfort Car Club hosts Cruise Night on Thursdays. Usually, the entire town is descended upon by antiques, hot rods, street rods, and muscle cars. They are parked along both sides of Kansas, and fill the parking lots surrounding the Grainery building.

Hot Rod

People from all around town drive, bicycle, and walk into town to buy an ice cream cone and to visit with the car people who show their master pieces. Last night was totally different. The town was filled with cars, but not the kind people like to show off. The cars brought people to the five restaurants that encircle the Grainery. For many years the Village Admin has been working with the Chamber of Commerce to increase the population density of the historic district as a way to develop a good business climate. They are succeeding. Town houses, condominiums, and apartments surround the district. Small businesses are doing much better. The real reason for the growth are the restaurants. People like to eat, and historic Frankfort provides food. People who eat are using the parking spots the car club filled previously, and the neat community meeting of neighbors coming to town for a nostalgia trip is waning.

Pre-muscle antique

There were car club cars, a bevy of Corvettes, and 1970-80 vintage muscle cars but the volume of cars was minimal. SO the Chamber succeeded in making its goal, but the car club is losing its unique display area. Frankly, I like the club nights better than I do the restaurants. It was nice to be able to meet and talk with friends on these balmy summer evenings. The event was so popular that neighboring towns began to conduct their own cruise nights. I have attended some of them, mostly by accident while driving through on my way home, but none compare to the ambiance of the Frankfort cruise night.

Street rod

Hybrid Street rod

Filed under: family, Hot Rods, Memories | Tagged: Antique Cars, Cruise Night, Hot Rods, Streetrods | Leave a comment »

I Like Street Rods Better Than Hot Rods

Posted on 12/02/2010 by Grumpa Joe

After I win the Mega Millions lottery, I am going to buy a new car. It won’t be an Obama-de-ville, but rather a custom built street rod. I will begin with an older U.S.built car from the 1934 through 1959 period. I will have it designed and built to my specs. It will be as stylish as anything from today’s car makers. The reliability will rival cars from Japan. The design will include all the modern technology that makes a 2010 car what it is: Electronic ignition, fuel injection, four wheel power disc brakes, automatic transmission with overdrive, power steering, and more. The cabin amenities will include air conditioning, power windows, keyless ignition, heated leather power seats,and more. In other words, it will be a 2010 car with a slightly used and reconditioned body.

Today’s street rods are an offshoot of the hot rods that are made for speed, and drag racing. Street rods are totally drivable. I am amazed at the design ingenuity of hot rodders that build their own cars. I recently met a man who has customized a 1939 Buick (shown below). He’s been building, and re-designing car for twenty years.

Why does it take so long? Well, one reason is money. The builders usually have a day job with limited money to spend. A second reason is time. Most of these guys are family men and spend time on their cars after family and work obligations are met. Some of them run body shops, so they can work on their cars when business is slow.

The hobby of custom hot rod building is a huge business in America. There are many organizations dedicated to supporting the builders. The National Hot Rod Association, Good Guys, National Street Rod Association are a few of them. One of my most popular weblogs is I Prefer Hot Rods With Fenders. This simple report keeps my BLOG alive with viewers. Hopefully this post will be enjoyed as well. I photographed the cars in this collection at the Tinley Park, Illinois Cruise Night on a Friday in August, 2009.

All of these cars were saved from the junk yard. They all look pretty and go like hell! ENJOY.

After this post, I may even buy a lottery ticket.

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Filed under: Characters I knew, Hot Rods, Manufacturing, Sports, Uncategorized | Tagged: Cruise Night, Drag Racing, Good Guys, Hot Rods, Junk yard, Lottery, NHRA, NSRA, Street Rods | Leave a comment »

I Prefer Hot Rods with Fenders

Posted on 27/07/2009 by Grumpa Joe

The yellow thirty-two duece hot rod in American Graffiti is the icon of hot rodders across the states. It is mine too. I love hotrods, especially street rods. The car that drives me wild is a thirty-four Ford three window coupe that has been channeled, chopped and modernized with a hot fuel injected engine, power disk brakes, and air. I prefer my hot rods with fenders.

Every summer the Frankfort Car Club sponsors “Cruise Night,” in the historic area. Cars come from all around the south suburubs and fill the streets. Owners sit by their vehicle and answer questions. The evening brings out the locals to gawk. Most of the hotrods elicit memories of our father’s car, or the first car we owned.

I grew up watching a kid who was just a few years older than me build a hot rod. It was my habit, to ride my bike to the alley where he rented a garage. Dick lived in the house next to the alley. He could see the garage from the kitchen window of the second floor apartment where he and his mother rented. I watched the garage door, if it was open, Dick was working. The thirty-four coupe he built was his second hot rod, and it is the one I fell in love with. Someday, if I win the lotto, I’ll buy a thirty-four Ford.

Each time I visit cruise night, I find another car to love. I can’t make up my mind as to what I really want anymore. Is it the thirty-four, or should it be a thirty-nine roadster, or a fifty Mercury? Confusion, confusion, confusion. I”ll have to win a big lotto, so I can buy one of each, and afford a place to keep them.

The beauty of a street rod lies in the builder’s vision to take an antique car, and re-style it into a sleek modern vehicle. They have all the features of a two thousand nine Chevy. Each is a unique work of art designed by the builder who is usually the owner too. They are craftsmen with a pocket book, often spending over fifty thousand dollars to complete a project. Many owners limit the use of the car by driving them only to cruise nights or to other shows.

There is nothing quiet about a street rod. Not the rumble coming from the powerful engine, or it’s squeeling tires, or from it’s paint. Some of the most eye appealing colors are applied on hot rods. Some have very ornate flames and pinstripping. Other’s have multi-colors with silver and gold sprinkled in.