Saturday, September 8, 2018

62nd-Annual 2018 Red Boiling Springs Fall Meet features humid weather and hot cars

The Red Boiling Springs Fall Meet claims to be the oldest car show in the south. After 62 years, this seems like a pretty safe proclamation. Held at the picturesque Thomas House Hotel, this event draws in cars from everywhere. I’ve seen some of them, because I go to a lot of car shows. But there were many that I have never seen before. The humid, steamy weather didn’t keep too many people away from here. It was a great turnout for a very historic event. This one is organized by the Middle Tennessee Antique Car Club, which is a chapter of the AACA.

Take a look at this 1950 Oldsmobile Futuramic 88 Holiday Hardtop. Aside from being a good looking car, these were strong performers in 1950. They were relatively small, but packed the punch of a 303-c.i. “Rocket” V8 engine, good for 135-hp. Oldsmobile was the winner’s choice in NASCAR competition, and that was in the days when stock cars really were stock. This one was obviously too nice to have seen any track time. A lot of it still seemed pretty original, and you can’t go wrong with black paint and red wheels. There are lots of great little artistic details on these cars. You could spend a lot of time studying it and never catch everything.

From the other end of the decade, check out this 1959 Ford Fairlane 500 Galaxie convertible. I’m not sure a ’59 Ford could look any better than this one. I like the Raven Black finish with no two-tone. I love the Torch Red interior with black and white accents. And the mirror/spotlight combo is my favorite Ford accessory on one of these. I even kind of like that it’s a regular Sunliner convertible and not a Skyliner retractable hardtop. I mean, I like Skyliners, but these had overall better proportions. This one even had the big ol’ 353-c.i. Thunderbird Interceptor engine with 300-hp. Bonus points for the stick shift. I’m not a Ford guy, but I could make an exception with this car.

Here’s another outstanding Ford; this a 1937 coupe. The Washington Blue paint has been restored along the way, but the rest of this car appears to be very original. That originality is especially evident under the hood, where the 221-c.i. Flathead V8 and firewall look untouched. When I look at all the quality, Art Deco styling touches, and fine materials that went into this car, it’s hard to remember that this was not a high-dollar machine for the rich. Unbelievably, this would have been as common as a new Ford Fusion. It also has a spotlight, and as I mentioned before, I like those. Most of these cars are street rods now days, and I appreciate them. But I’ll tell you this, if this had been a street rod, I probably wouldn’t have stopped to write about it. Non-customized almost makes it different at this point.

In 1962, this Studebaker Lark four-door sedan would have been as ubiquitous as a Toyota Corolla is today. But when you fast-forward 56 years, it suddenly becomes very interesting. The fact that it’s still with us and still this nice makes it interesting. This was the second generation of the Lark, a style that lasted only two years before it was revamped again. Don’t let the fancy turquoise finish fool you—this car was very basic. There’s no sign of a radio or heater or anything in there. The hood was closed, but I’m going to guess that it had a 170-c.i. inline six, good for 112-hp. That’s not terrible for such a small car, but you wouldn’t want to face-off with a Chevy V8. But unlike something with a Chevy V8, you’re not likely to see another one of these at the car show.

Not too many things more impressive than an Ebony 1960 Cadillac coupe. This one is spiced-up with Eldorado wheel covers. There’s a lot of luxury here, including fancy Baroque upholstery, factory air conditioning, and power windows. Obviously, a ’60 Cadillac has big fins and it’s almost 19 feet long, but compared to the over-the-top styling of a ’59 Cadillac, it’s almost subdued. There are some vast painted panels that need to be taken care of here, so it’s a real commitment to maintain one of these in this condition. This one is clearly pampered in an extra-long garage.

And now, let me pamper you with an extra-long photo gallery. You can see 455 photos from the 62nd-Annual Red Boiling Springs Fall Meet by clicking this link.

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