Dreamcast18
07-10-2006, 12:43 AM
'Roadsters gun their engines and sound heavy, and the Chrysler Prowler seems to take a back seat in favor of the original'...Yicks :vomit:
http://www.oregonnews.com/article/20060707/NEWS/60707013
ERIK SKOOG, eskoog@newsreview.info
July 7, 2006
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One look at most of the cars lined up for the Thursday night Graffiti Weekend Surprise Cruise, and some modern designs don’t look so modern.
Roadsters gun their engines and sound heavy, and the Chrysler Prowler seems to take a back seat in favor of the original. Pickups from the 1940s and 1950s bear a striking resemblance to a new Chevrolet truck with the rounded front and grill.
The Thursday night cruise is a chance for all car enthusiasts to bring out what they’re most proud of and show it off, regardless of what year, make or model the car is.
The event helped kick off the 25th anniversary of Graffiti Weekend, which continues through Sunday.
A drive to one of the four locations, Pete’s Drive-In on Harvard Avenue, A&W 76 on Diamond Lake Boulevard, and the two Fast Stop Market locations on Diamond Lake Boulevard and Highway 99 in Green, is an introduction to a new car and car owner.
These old cars might be new again, but most still aren’t driven for the gas mileage.
“I just like old cars. I always have I guess,” said Bob Mattern, who’s participated in the cruise for years.
Mattern, a car broker who lives in Roseburg, drove his 1966 Oldsmobile Ninety Eight, a car he’s had for six months. A longtime car enthusiast, Mattern also has a red and black 1939 Chevrolet Coupe and a yellow 1957 Chevrolet pickup. He said his wife, Jeanette, would have driven the pickup, but a malfunctioning starter put the truck in the auto shop at the last minute.
“Usually one of my sons-in-law drives the ’57 Chevy pickup,” he said at Pete’s Drive-In on Roseburg’s Harvard Avenue.
For Bob Stehlik, a retired firefighter who moved from San Diego about seven years ago, the love affair with Studebaker reaches back to his first car.
Stehlik, who drove a 1955 Studebaker President Coupe in the cruise, said he’s had up to 12 different Studebakers over the years, and still has two others at home, including a 1960 Lark convertible he’s had for about 25 years.
“When I was 15 years old, I was looking to buy a car and I went through all the magazines to find a car that I liked,” Stehlik said at A&W 76. “The ’55 Studebaker is what I liked, so in 1960 when I was 16 years old, I went out and bought one with my paper money.”
He said the cruise was an opportunity for him to see the different cars and what people have done to personalize them.
“Every year there are different cars, so you never know what’s going to show up,” he said.
The Surprise Cruise started as an event to give people something to do before Graffiti Weekend’s other events, said Graffiti Weekend board of directors member Mary Zink.
Zink, who drives a 1946 Mercury with her husband, Jack, said she couldn’t explain why it became such an event except that it was a way for car enthusiasts to spend Thursday night and it seemed to fit nicely with the rest of the tour.
There has always been a variety of cars that have appeared from all over, including Washington state, California and other cities in Oregon, she said.
“It’s generational,” Zink said. “I think people collect what they grew up with.”
http://www.oregonnews.com/article/20060707/NEWS/60707013
ERIK SKOOG, eskoog@newsreview.info
July 7, 2006
Print Email Subscribe
One look at most of the cars lined up for the Thursday night Graffiti Weekend Surprise Cruise, and some modern designs don’t look so modern.
Roadsters gun their engines and sound heavy, and the Chrysler Prowler seems to take a back seat in favor of the original. Pickups from the 1940s and 1950s bear a striking resemblance to a new Chevrolet truck with the rounded front and grill.
The Thursday night cruise is a chance for all car enthusiasts to bring out what they’re most proud of and show it off, regardless of what year, make or model the car is.
The event helped kick off the 25th anniversary of Graffiti Weekend, which continues through Sunday.
A drive to one of the four locations, Pete’s Drive-In on Harvard Avenue, A&W 76 on Diamond Lake Boulevard, and the two Fast Stop Market locations on Diamond Lake Boulevard and Highway 99 in Green, is an introduction to a new car and car owner.
These old cars might be new again, but most still aren’t driven for the gas mileage.
“I just like old cars. I always have I guess,” said Bob Mattern, who’s participated in the cruise for years.
Mattern, a car broker who lives in Roseburg, drove his 1966 Oldsmobile Ninety Eight, a car he’s had for six months. A longtime car enthusiast, Mattern also has a red and black 1939 Chevrolet Coupe and a yellow 1957 Chevrolet pickup. He said his wife, Jeanette, would have driven the pickup, but a malfunctioning starter put the truck in the auto shop at the last minute.
“Usually one of my sons-in-law drives the ’57 Chevy pickup,” he said at Pete’s Drive-In on Roseburg’s Harvard Avenue.
For Bob Stehlik, a retired firefighter who moved from San Diego about seven years ago, the love affair with Studebaker reaches back to his first car.
Stehlik, who drove a 1955 Studebaker President Coupe in the cruise, said he’s had up to 12 different Studebakers over the years, and still has two others at home, including a 1960 Lark convertible he’s had for about 25 years.
“When I was 15 years old, I was looking to buy a car and I went through all the magazines to find a car that I liked,” Stehlik said at A&W 76. “The ’55 Studebaker is what I liked, so in 1960 when I was 16 years old, I went out and bought one with my paper money.”
He said the cruise was an opportunity for him to see the different cars and what people have done to personalize them.
“Every year there are different cars, so you never know what’s going to show up,” he said.
The Surprise Cruise started as an event to give people something to do before Graffiti Weekend’s other events, said Graffiti Weekend board of directors member Mary Zink.
Zink, who drives a 1946 Mercury with her husband, Jack, said she couldn’t explain why it became such an event except that it was a way for car enthusiasts to spend Thursday night and it seemed to fit nicely with the rest of the tour.
There has always been a variety of cars that have appeared from all over, including Washington state, California and other cities in Oregon, she said.
“It’s generational,” Zink said. “I think people collect what they grew up with.”