Tuesday, July 29, 2014

Chicken sandwiches and custom cars at the Mt. Juliet Chick-fil-A Cruise

I hate to make excuses, but there has been so much going on the past week that I’m behind on my blogging.  Take this coverage of the Chick-fil-A Cruise in Mt. Juliet.  I actually took all these pictures more than a week ago.  But even though it has taken way too long for me to hammer out a story, I think you’ll agree that it was worth the wait.  This was a nice cruise with some nice cars on a nice night.  And who doesn’t enjoy a delicious Chick-fil-A chicken sandwich while they’re surrounded by hot rods?  Let’s take a look.

Nashville is Darrell Waltrip country.  Ol’ Jaws is from nearby Franklin, Tenn., and the three-time Cup champ cut his teeth at Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway.  This street-legal Monte Carlo SS is painted up to look like DW’s 1986 NASCAR ride, complete with hand-painted sponsorship from Budweiser and Kentucky Fried Chicken (sorry Chick-fil-A).  It even has a driver’s side window net.  Those crying baby things sometimes get under my skin, but I appreciate that this one is wearing a BUD jacket.  All told, this setup was quite an attention-getter.

This ’68 Chrysler Three Hundred two-door hardtop was an original old beast.  Under that Meadow Green hood was 440-c.i. of honkin’ MOPAR power.  It even says “TNT” right on the air cleaner, so you could expect it to explode at any second.  I really like the looks of this car.  Chrysler did a good job of making that fastback styling work here.  The white interior was also a nice touch, and this one was so clean it barely looked like it had ever been sat in.  This was a huge old car, but everything really comes together on it.

I’m not going to lie to you, though.  As much as I appreciate that big green Chrysler, I’d still rather have this ’66 Corvette roadster.  Let’s face it, I’d rather have it than any other car at the show.  This one was pretty Nassau Blue with matching blue vinyl.  According to the emblems, there’s a 427-c.i. big block under the domed and chromed hood.  And you put all that power to the pavement through a four speed transmission.  I would just love to drive a car like this over a nice weekend.  What a great Corvette.

This ’57 Ford Custom 300 had possibilities.  The Custom 300 was actually the base model for Ford in 1957, but you couldn’t tell by looking at this car.  They’re pretty popular with hot rodders today, because they had shorter wheelbases than their upscale Fairlane counterparts.  This one had a ‘50s custom vibe happening with its full-length Lakes pipes and red and white pleated Naugahyde.  I don’t recall ever seeing such a big chrome gauge pod like the one on top of this dashboard before.  This was a nice car that really reflected the owner’s vision.

There were other cool cars besides these at the Mt. Juliet Chick-fil-A Cruise.  But don’t take my word for it. Decide for yourself by checking out the slideshow below.  Or, click on this link for a nicer version.

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