Hover Motor Company milestones and shameless panhandling

This week, the Hover Motor Company blog hit a couple of pretty neat milestones. And while I do try and keep this sort of thing to a minimum, sometimes a guy just has to toot his own horn.

I posted the first car story here on August 18, 2010. The weekly car show calendar that went up on Tuesday marks the 400th story here on http://www.hovermotorco.com/. I can hardly believe that I can come up with one 400-word story sometimes, not much less 400 different stories!

Fritz's car cruise in Shawnee is the only place you can look at old cars and have your food dropped off by a train

Most Kansas Citians are familiar with Fritz’s burger joint over there in Crown Center, because if you have kids or want to take an out-of-town guest someplace fun and different, that’s just the place to go. And really, what’s not to like? They deliver your food with a model train. That’s what I’m talkin’ about!

What you may not realize is that there are two more Fritz’s locations in addition to the Crown Center restaurant. The original Fritz’s is on 18th Street in Kansas City, Kan. And then there’s the newest location, the subject of our story today, at Shawnee Mission Parkway and Pflumm in Shawnee, Kan.

The Armacost Museum is a Studebaker paradise

Last year, HMC reader Dan McConnell provided some pictures from the incomparable Armacost Museum in Grandview, Mo. From that time on, I really wanted to see that collection for myself. And last weekend, I finally got my chance.

People who had a car on display at the 6th Annual Art of the Concours were given the opportunity attend a private showing of the museum, and since my dad’s car was in the show this time, I tagged along with him. I’m glad I had that chance, because even though looking at pictures is nice, it doesn’t tell the story quite like seeing this great collection in person.

2012 Art of the Car Concours at the Kansas City Art Institute gets award for "most prestigious"

Many of Kansas City’s car shows are the best of their kind for one reason or another. The World of Wheels may be the oldest. The Goodguys show is likely the biggest. The Greaserama is the most eclectic. You can go on and on. But if you want to give out the award for the most prestigious car show in Kansas City, look no further than the Art of the Car Concours, which was held on the campus of the Kansas City Art Institute.  This show was created by Kansas City attorney and avid car collector Marshall Miller, and is a benefit for the KCAI scholarship fund.

Nearly 200 fine Fords occupy parking spots at the Bass Pro Shops in Olathe

Kansas City has a lot of great automotive traditions.  From our auto assembly plants to our local car racing, this cowtown keeps the wheels turning.

We also have several significant, long-running car shows here.  And for 28 years, one of those shows has been the Mustang and Ford Show, presented by the Mustang Club of Kansas City.  Held at the Bass Pro Shops in Olathe, this is the show where all the high-interest Blue Ovals, both old and new, gather each and every year.

Past, present, and future in this week's Thursday Drive-By

A new week, a new selection of links for this week’s Thursday Drive-By. Gotta love the Internet.

Two of these are inspired by Disney, including the new Carsland at the Disney California Adventure Theme Park, and a great look at cars of the future—as told in 1958.

From the same era, we have another Hollywood-inspired link with the classic TV show Highway Patrol. Man, those old mid-‘50s Buicks really leaned over in the corners!

Check out all the fun links in this week’s Thursday Drive-By.

Good things come to the small crowd at the Riverside Red X Cruise

The Riverside Red X monthly cruise has the potential to be a pretty nice gathering.  Too bad more people don't attend it.

It seems like the eclectic shopping center has been trying to have a successful cruise for years.  Sometimes they get a few cars, but for the most part, attendance has been fairly spotty.  So instead of scheduling it in the evening like a normal cruise, this year they decided to try and have them on Saturday afternoons at 2:00.  The idea was to keep it from conflicting with other cruises in the area.

Titans of design represented at the KCI Airport Cruise

One of the car cruises that everyone seems to look forward to in Kansas City is the KCI Airport Cruise, which is held at the old Ambassador Building in northern Kansas City.  But if you had been paying attention to the weather forecast for this year's installment, you may have had your doubts that it was even going to happen.  Storm warnings were north of town, the wind was blowing like 100-miles-per-hour, and there were some spooky looking clouds off in the distance.