Good stuff at the Goodlettsville Cruise

No matter where you go in the United States, people who love cars will find a way to get together.  Take Goodlettsville, Tenn.  Every Saturday night throughout the summer, a big group of car nuts meet up at the Goodlettsville Cruise, which takes place behind the Publix grocery store.  And true to form, when you get this many cars together, you’re bound to see some good ones.  Let’s take a look at a few of them that stood out.

This might look like just another old truck to a normal person, but car lovers know it’s a 1956 Cameo Carrier, one of the most desirable collector trucks of all time.  Basically, Chevy took their stylish stepside pickup, replaced the rear fenders with high-tech fiberglass bed sides, and trimmed it out like a luxury car.  These were the Corvettes of the truck world.  This one stood out because it was largely in unrestored condition.  The dings, chipped paint, and pitted chrome made this one arguably more interesting than the restored versions that you typically see.  The bed had recently been restored, however, so chances are what’s left of that originality is about to be eliminated.

In 1961, this little Chevy stepside wasn’t considered fancy at all.  This was a truck, and trucks were meant for utility.  This one wasn’t restored, but things had been sort of maintained and freshened up over the years.  It’s just a neat old truck that has been used and cared for remarkably well for more than 50 years.  I mostly honed in on it because it reminds me a little of my ’63, and I’m kind of missing it because it’s still in Kansas City awaiting transport arrangements down here to the Nashville area.

While we’re on trucks, let’s focus on this ’68 Dodge Sweptline.  If you’re a Mopar guy, you have to like this one.  It’s got the stance.  It’s got the wheels.  It’s got the look.  And more importantly, it’s got a Hemi. That old-style Red Ram with three carburetors looked right at home under that big, wide hood.  I can’t honestly say that I’m a huge fan of these old Dodges normally, so someone must have hit the mark for me to call it out.  You see a lot of guys try to build these old hot rod shop trucks, but rarely do they do it as right as this one.

Caliente means “hot”, and that’s what the emblem says on the quarter panel of this ’65 Mercury Comet.  The Caliente was the top model in the Comet lineup in 1965, and this one had a 271-hp, 289-c.i. “High Performance” V8 under the hood just like the one you could get in a Mustang.  This was a nice little car here, looking good inside and out and feeling good with air conditioning under the dash.  You obviously see a lot of Mustangs around, but fewer of these to be sure.   With similar performance potential and considerably more rarity, I can see why someone would be attracted to one of these.

Finally, here’s a ’54 Chevy Bel Air two-door sedan.  I’ve seen this car at a couple of cruises now, and it seems like the perfect car to just take out and have fun with.  This car isn’t pristine.  It has plenty of dings and scratches.  The stuffin’ is coming out of the seat.  If you’re OCD, this one’s not for you.  But as a car that you can take to an event like this, draw a lot of positive attention, and not have to worry too much about, if couldn’t be any better.  I’d like to have a car like this—it just looks like it would be fun to own.

There are 171 pictures here.  Check them out in the slideshow below, or click this link for a nicer version.