I realize this is tantamount to blasphemy for some, but I haven’t had good experiences with car cruises at all. These are the usually weekly events where owners of classic cars park a bunch of them in a public parking lot, open their hoods and sit in lawn chairs next to them.The reason I don’t care for them is that they are not very friendly toward the casual admirer like myself. If you know a lot about cars, they’ll smile and talk your ear off, but someone like myself who knows nothing(but is interested in learning more) is shunned(on at least one occasion I was told to “go home and mind my own business”).
I’m curious, has anyone else had this experience?
Dude, I totally agree with you. I live near Detroit and I don’t much like car cruises(something people here think is blasphemy).
We have a street called Woodward where they have this huge(one of the largest) classic car cruises every summer. It’s stupid. “Hey look! Cars!! On the Road!!”
I’ve never gotten that into cars, even though I’ve grown up around everyone who makes them.
I live near the Canada/U.S.A. border, and pop over every month or so to visit Grand Marais for a pizza at Sven and Ole’s. Unfortunately, I drive a pimp-mobile. The nice folks at the border usually stop and search my car. They have a ‘driving’ desire to know why I am visiting, and don’t buy that I am simply on a pizza quest, so they assume the worst. If there is a cruise on, they assume I am part of it, and waive me through.
BTW, the folks at the cruises in my area (Thunder Bay, ON and Grand Marais, MN) have always been very friendly.
If Scotty does not have the transporter working, they have to cruise to get there and cruise to get home. Sometimes even if the transporter is working, they meet at one site and cruise together to another just for the hell of it.
That kind of amazes me. Every car dude and chick I know will talk the ear off of anybody who is interested. And if the person isn’t knowledgable it is an oportunity to preach their version of the gospel of Ford vs Chevy vs Mopar, or turbo vs supercharger, or whatever, to the unaffiliated. Cars people can be a little defensive of the “you like cars so you must be a stupid redneck” sterotype and sometimes detect condesension where there isn’t any, But as a rule they love to talk to anybody.
Oohh…The Dream Cruise. SO & I took his '57 Caddy there three years ago & had a blast. I didn’t think it was stupid at all, and neither of us are gearheads.
I enjoy classic car shows…There is one every year in a park walking distance from my house, all old British cars & bikes. I always walk over there and find people really friendly & informative.
The reason I don’t like it is this. Basicaly, we are looking at other people going, “Hey, look what they have that we don’t.”
It’s not like one person has the huge collection(like Leno). It’s a whole bunch of separate people driving old(not that impressives some of them) cars. It’s dull.