Mt. Juliet picks up the American Jewelry Cruise-In

The weekly cruise at the Mt. Juliet/Providence Chick-fil-A was still going strong right up until they decided to stop doing it last season. The demand never went away, however, and now there’s a new place for the car nuts to go on Saturday nights. The new Mt. Juliet Cruise is still in the Providence area, just moved to the American Jewelry parking lot. It’s still in the early stages, so they don’t have any music or D.J. or anything, but the turnout was pretty strong, and there is definitely some good potential here. And this was all happening on the same night as a Predators game, so that ought to tell you how bad people around here want to get their cars out.

2013 Volkswagen Beetle TDI Convertible test drive review. Herbie's long, lost cousin

As a child of the ‘70s, Herbie the Love Bug was part of my cultural upbringing.  Disney’s plucky Volkswagen kind of gave every Beetle a little more personality.  So when I recently got the chance to spend a week behind the wheel of a 2013 Beetle TDI convertible, I thought that sounded like a good deal.  This latest iteration of the Beetle draws even more design cues from the original than the previous generation, and my persona could use an infusion of cuteness.

The car that started it all (at least for me). History of the Chevrolet Corvair

Finally—a story that my mom can appreciate!

A couple of weeks ago, I wrote an article on the history of the Volkswagen Beetle. What you may not realize is that Chevrolet built a car to compete head-to-head with the popular German compact. And while you might not think about it in the same way as the Beetle, Chevrolet’s Corvair was one of the most innovative, advanced cars of its time.

Beetles and Busses. The story behind Volkswagen's air-cooled icons

The unmistakable smells of ether and gasoline fill the air. A turn of the key. A crank of a wrench. Another turn of the key; then a sputter. Followed by silence. Once more—a plume of smoke, and that distinct, air-cooled rasp wheezes to life. And if the driver is lucky enough to get out of his parking space without the engine dying again, the reward is a white-knuckled drive at a maximum speed of 42-mph.

Such is the life of a vintage VW owner. And you know what? They love every bit of it.