4th-Annual Tennessee Motorama keeps car show season alive

I moved to Nashville from Kansas City, and so far, the winter is considerably milder. Sure it gets pretty chilly, but I haven’t seen the snow, slop, and misery. The thing is, car show season gets over as soon, if not sooner here than it does in KC. Why not have some car cruises on through November and December? Come on, guys, let’s do this! Anyway, I was happy to see an announcement for the 4th-Annual Tennessee Motorama, which took place last weekend in Murfreesboro. This was an indoor event, although the rain probably kept some show cars away. But it was still a fair little car show and swap meet, and it was definitely something fun to do after a slow couple of months.

The car Craig could most relate to was this ’77 Caprice Landau coupe. My family had a lot of these cars when I was growing up, so even though you don’t see very many of them anymore, they seem quite familiar to me. 1977 was the first year of the “downsized” GM full-sized cars, and at the time they caused quite a stir. This was a pretty decent, 85,000-mile car, with a fair red respray somewhere along the way. Little things like bodyside moldings would really help the looks of it. It was actually for sale for $12,500. That’s a little too much for me, but I would like to have it.

This little Model A was a good looking car too. I don’t know how hot-rodded it is, but the lowered stance, later-model wheels, and staggered tires lead me to believe that it had some work done. It really looks sharp, though, doesn’t it? Black tires and all. From dolled-up stock to full-on street machine, there are unlimited ways to make these cars cool. But I can’t honestly say that I’ve seen too many of them that I like much better than this simple approach.

The most impressive, high-end custom at the show was this ’58 Volkswagen Beetle. I don’t think this is what they had in mind when this “People’s Car” hit the road 57 years ago. Lavish attention was paid to every inch of this car. From the two-tone paint, to the suspension, to the engine, to the high-end interior, owners Don and Daniel Jones set out to build the ultimate Beetle. And although they elevated the luxury and comfort of this car exponentially, it’s almost too nice to drive!

I enjoyed the swap meet part of this event even more than the car show. There were all kinds of interesting parts, car literature, and memorabilia to go through. I love old promotional models, and they even had a few of those. In the picture, we have an AMT 1960 Corvette promo on the left, and a PMC 1959 Corvette promo on the right. The AMT’s were nicer and more detailed, whereas the PMCs were more of a toy store offering. The PMC came with a hardtop. I like both models, though. The PMC in this picture ended up coming home with me, and as it turns out, I already had the hardtop needed to complete it.

The Tennessee Motorama was a nice cure for the cabin fever I’ve been suffering from the past several weeks. I hope it was successful to encourage people to have more events during the “off-season.” The car people need to run free! Check out the pictures from this event in the slideshow below, or click this link for a nicer version.