Return to the Hendersonville Cruise

Check this out. I’ve been a Nashvillian long enough now that I’m actually starting to hit some of the car stuff for the second time. Friday night, it was a repeat visit to the Hendersonville Cruise, where I got to see a bunch of different cars that I hadn’t seen before. This is a pretty big event, and organizers try hard to make this a fun, family get-together. Door prizes and kids dancing to the Hokey Pokey are all pretty nice perks, but as you know, I’m there for the cars. Let’s take a look at some of the standouts.

This 1930 Model A is different than most. It’s a panel delivery; a pretty unusual body style. This would have been like a light-duty cargo van back in the day. That means that in 80 years, you can expect someone to bring an impeccably restored 2013 Ram Caravan Cargo Van to a car show near you. That would make me like 120 years old, so I may never see that happen in my lifetime. But I’m glad I got to see this one. The paint, whitewalls, and interior are just the way you want them to be. It has a couple of modern gauges that indicate it was used in some sort of timed road race. It’s just a neat little car (truck?).

They had a couple of IROC Camaros at this cruise, but I was kind of drawn to this ’87 Z28. Of course, today the Z28 is the Mac Daddy of all Camaros, but in the ’80s it was one step below the IROC. They had the trisected taillights and hood louvers like an IROC, but the silver rocker panels, different striping, and smaller five-spoke wheels gave them away. You always hear a lot of mullet jokes and stuff with these cars, but I don’t think they get enough credit. They might not have been as fast as today’s cars, but they sat and drove great, they sounded fantastic, and I think they still look good today.

This ’66 Chevy C-10 long bed was a nice one. If it had been painted, it was a very long time ago. It was essentially a nice, original old truck that you could enjoy without restoring. This was a real Custom Cab, with the steering wheel, window trim, chrome bumpers, and everything. And yet, it was pretty much a stripper, with no radio and no heater. Someone had added two spotlights, which it pretty cool. I tend to pay attention to these trucks since I own a ’63, but mine isn’t nearly as nice as this one.

This ’68 Ford was no slouch either. It was a Ranger, which made it a high-end model. That got you some nice baroque seat material that looked just like grandma’s scratchy old couch. Red and white always works on these old trucks. And the vintage bed rails would keep your stuff tied down. Unlike the Chevy, this one did have a radio and heater, but you still needed to row through your own gears with that column-mounted three-speed. It still has the old Crown Ford dealer badge affixed to the cowl sides, and it looks like a mostly original rig.

There were a couple of these ‘70s Chrysler compacts in the lot, including this ’74 Plymouth Scamp. The Scamp was sort of an affordable, sporty-ish version of the Valiant. You could get virtually the same car at your Dodge store badged as the Dart Swinger. I remember these very same cars running around by 1979 covered in rust and doglegged. That’s why this one stands out. It’s actually really nice all over. I especially liked the pearl white interior, which was exceptionally well-maintained.

Here’s a nice ’56 Chevy Two-Ten two door sedan. The Two-Ten was the midlevel model in 1956, slotted between the price-leading One-Fifty and the ever-popular Bel Air. They had a little less chrome and flash than the Bel Air inside and out, but they were still pretty nice. If you had one of these originally with a Del Ray interior, they came with some really cool rectangular pleats. This one had a red and white pleated interior that had been added later. It still looked good, and matched the exterior paint scheme. It was sitting on later-style Rally wheels with little hubcaps.

Take a look at all the pictures from the Hendersonville Cruise in the slideshow below, or click on this link for a nicer version.