Longbranch Cruise proves that the Kansas City car scene is still going strong

My family is in the final stages of our transition from Kansas City to Nashville, and I was back in KC over the weekend to meet up with family and friends. I also managed to take in a car activity or two, including the Longbranch Cruise in Overland Park on Friday night. They’ve usually got some nice stuff at this one, and since I haven’t been in town since the beginning of car cruise season, much of it was new to me. One of the things I’m going to miss about Kansas City is the collection of exceptionally nice cars out there. Here are a few examples.

Longbranch Cruise coverage whether they want it or not

I know I shouldn’t bring this up, but I’m going to anyway.  Over the years, I’ve listed the Longbranch Cruise in Overland Park on every weekly calendar I’ve ever published without anyone there asking me to.  I’ve driven from Parkville to Overland Park specifically to cover this event maybe a dozen times.  And as sort of a last-minute idea, I loaded up my family Friday night and headed down there to write about it again. 

Longbranch Cruise rides off into the sunset

What do old car guys do when the place that their favorite car cruise is normally held closes down?  Well, in the case of the Longbranch Cruise in Overland Park, they keep going to it.

For many years, this was the destination for old cars on Friday nights.  It wasn’t unusual to see 150 or more cars packed into the Longbranch and adjoining closed-up Chili’s parking lots.  People would file into the Longbranch, and sit out on the patio listening to the D.J. and keeping an eye on their rides.

Tables of talent at the Heartland Model Car Nationals in Overland Park

Model cars are great, aren't they?  You can build or own anything you want, and it really doesn't matter how weird or crazy it is.  Nobody wants a '57 Chevy Bel Air with a six-cylinder in it, but put one in a model and it's kinda neat.  Likewise, most people don't have a stock-appearing V8 Chevette, but in a model, why the heck not?

For skilled model builders, the only thing that limits what gets produced is their imagination, and honestly, there aren't many restrictions on that.  So it can be a real treat to go where some of the best modelers in the Midwest have gathered to check out the Heartland Model Car Nationals.  As in most years, this was held at the Overland Park Convention Center, and there were lots of great models to see, critique, and even buy if you are so inclined.

Longbranch Cruise not dead after all

For several years, when you talked about the best weekly car cruises in the Kansas City area, the Friday night gathering at the Longbranch on Metcalf in Overland Park was usually right at the top of the list.  Even at the end of last season, they were pulling in what appeared to be well over 100 cars per event.  It was a social hot spot.

This year, I kind of wondered if it was going to happen.  The Longbranch shares the parking lot with what was a vacant Chili's, so they had lots of unused space to spread out.  During the off-season, that building was re-inhabited by an IHOP.  The scuttlebutt among cruise participants was that it would put an end to the weekly festivities.

Shiny bikes and acres of leather at the 2012 Wide Open Bike and Car Show

Warning … several animals were skinned in the making of this story.

In spite of the unusually nice winter weather, we haven’t had a car show in the Kansas City area for quite some time. So when the Wide Open Magazine Bike and Car Show turns up on the calendar each January, people are typically ready to go see a room full of shiny objects.

This year, the show moved from its traditional location at the Kansas City Market Center to the Overland Park International Trade Center. And from the looks of things, the spectator turnout was quite a bit greater.

We step down for some Hudson history, and check out the Big Country Hudson Meet photos from Kansas City

If you have a kid between the ages of three and ten, or if you are a kid between the ages of three and ten, you know a little about Hudson automobiles. Because when we learn that Doc Hudson (voiced by Paul Newman) was an exceptional 1950s race car in the 2006 animated movie Cars, we are actually getting a bit of a history lesson.

Hudson, the real, non-animated car company, actually did win the NASCAR manufacturer’s championship in 1952, 1953, and 1954, and they certainly would have won it in 1951, but the award hadn’t been created yet. Between 1952 and 1954, Hudson won 66 of the 108 NASCAR races held. That’s an amazing record, especially when you consider how stout the new Oldsmobile “Rocket” V8’s and venerable Ford flathead V8’s were at the time.

The sun (literally) sets on the Longbranch TGIF Cruise in Overland Park

One of the latest-running car cruises of the season in the Kansas City area is no more. Amid the harsh setting fall sun, the Longbranch Saloon TGIF Cruise in Overland Park held their last event of the year Friday night.

This final cruise was sort of a melancholy affair. For most of the year, they tend to get a huge turnout at this event. For this last one, however, the car count was quite light. If it hadn't been for the Corvette guys, there barely would have been any cars here at all.

While other car cruises are ending for the season, the Longbranch cruise keeps getting stronger

As many of the car cruises are starting to end around town, I decided to take the trek to Overland Park on Friday night to check out one of the latest-running cruises of the season at the Longbranch Steakhouse on Metcalf Avenue. Not only does this event run all the way until the end of October, but it happens every single Friday night.

The Friday cruise at the Longbranch Saloon proves that things have mellowed since the Gunsmoke days

Back in the Old West, Marshall Dillon spent a lot of time running the killers and the spoilers out of the famous Longbranch Saloon in Dodge City. Many a gunfight, fistfight, knife fight, or whatever other kind of fight took place on those rickety, whiskey-soaked wooden floors. It was a rough place to be sure.

But on Friday nights in Overland Park, the Longbranch is a little less volatile. The outlaws and murderers have been replaced with Oldsmobiles and Mercurys, and the batle of the best gunmen have been replaced with the battle of the best wax jobs. For at this Longbranch Saloon, it's all about the car cruise.

When you get to the Longbranch Car Cruise too late, it's a little tough to see anything

Friday night my mom had some of her little gnome dolls that she makes featured at Images Art Gallery in Overland Park, Kan., so we went down there after work to check it out. My wife drove, and just as we were about to head north toward home, I casually sprung out with, "hey, just turn down here and let's see if there are any cars at the Longbranch Cruise."

To which she shrewdly observed, "um, it's dark out, you know."

And she had a point. Fact is, at 7:15, the sun was completely gone. Pitch dark. Nothing to see here. Why does summer have to end, anyway?