Monday, July 4, 2011

No, Parkville isn't flooded. Yes, they had their annual Fourth of July parade. Yes, there were some nice cars in it

Parkville, Mo., has been a pretty popular place lately. It seems like every day, the local news stations are doing a live remote to tell everyone how bad the Missouri is flooding. And it is a little scary. The river is out of its banks near the historic little town, and Parkville's English Landing park is indeed underwater. When you see the river like this, it gives you the sensation that you have when you're on a really high ladder. If you don't like heights. And you're me. The point is, it isn't a good feeling.

But that wasn't enough to stop the annual Fourth of July Parade, which snaked its way down Main Street just like it always does. Luckily, the heart of downtown remains unaffected by the flooding so far.

This isn't exactly a car show, but there are a few interesting vehicles in the parade. Local Miata and Mini Cooper clubs always seem to get a good turnout. And there are lots of really great fire trucks. Who doesn't like an antique hook and ladder?

The neatest group has to be the Model A club. Those cars are amazing. Where most old cars would overheat in the hot, humid conditions, those Model A's just tick down the road with no trouble at all. And they had a long line of the bulletproof Blue Ovals representing the Daughters of the Revolution.

My favorite car was a blue '69 Impala convertible with white parchment interior and a 396 engine. It also had the optional 15" wheels, which would indicate disk brakes. The wheelcovers, which are correct for this car, actually showed up on Buicks in 1966 with a different center emblems. I'm not sure why it was in the parade--maybe just because it was a cool car and they wanted to show it off.

The Hover's were represented in the parade too. My seven-year-old son holds the "Mr. Parkville" title this year, so he donned his sash and crown and waved to the crowd from the back of my old '63 Chevy pickup.

The truck did pretty well, but I was concerned about overheating. I've never had a problem with that in this truck, but it was so hot, I didn't want to chance it. Luckily, I never had to worry about it, because most of the parade was downhill, so I just shut her down and coasted most of the way. I heard a lot of comments along the way about how quiet people thought the old truck ran. Someone even thought it was electric!

Beneath this story is a slideshow with all the cars and trucks that were in the Parkville Fourth of July Parade. My sister, Heidi Andre, was the photojournalist this time. She really did work hard at it, and I appreciate her efforts. Check 'em out!


1 comment:

  1. ummm... One of the pics was blurry.

    I like the blue car with the yellow wheelz. Thank you.

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