2nd Annual Cruise For Parkinson's--Ottawa, June 29, 2019

With the lousy weather and other activities, our first car event for 2019 was the 2nd Cruise for Parkinson's. It was held in the parking lot of Overflow Brewing and although I arrived pretty late I still got a dash plaque, so only around 40 cars were in attendance from 9:00 until about 2:30. It was pretty hot so it was nice to pop into the brewery and have a cool one (or two).  This helped to make up for the savage beating the poor Corvette took on Ottawa's now unbelievably bad potholed streets.

I spoke with one of organizers, a nice lady whose husband succumbed to Parkinson's Disease last year. I was happy to make a donation but the turnout must have been a disappointment in spite of the good weather. It is a long weekend so that could have been part of it but I personally think the idea of "cars & coffee" or "cruise-in" events where you come and go is preferable to car shows where you are there for the major part of the day.

There were two other Corvettes present (a C4 and a C7) and I spoke to the owner of the newer car for a while. He bought his C7 in September 2016 and has put 64,000 kms on it--bravo! He was about to depart on his "trip of a lifetime," heading down Route 66 to Arizona, but stopping at the National Corvette Museum in Kentucky as well.

I also spoke with the owner of a pristine black Miata, as well as Chris, who brought his recently customized '55 Chevy, and who does great paintwork (as my Corvette can attest!).

There were some peculiar cars that drew attention.  There was a 1970 Vanagon, a VW Beetle conversion to become a minivan which looked quite nice.  But the weirdest was a first generation Mazda RX-7, which was produced from 1978 to 1985, but this example had its Wankel rotary removed and replaced with a Small Block Chevy 350 V8, a truly time-consuming project but apparently one that is done fairly often.  Later versions of the RX-7 have even received LS-series motors (like the one in our Corvette).

Orleans Cruise Night, May 24, 2018

Invited by my friend Bill Mason, my Corvette Guru since 2015, I attended the weekly Thursday night cruise-in at the Fallingbrook Centre with the C6; Bill came with his nice C7.  Other Corvettes present on this hot (28C) evening included a red C6 convertible, a blue C6 coupe, a later model C3, and a C4 ZR1.  But there were some other very interesting cars present and it was fun to chat with the owners.

1957 Cadillac Sixty Special Fleetwood Sedan, including electric vent windows!

1969 Plymouth GTX, fine example of a muscle car

Corvette ZR1 and a 1965 Plymouth Valiant

1935 Auburn 851 Speedster Replica by Elegant Motors,  powered by a Chevy small block V8, flanked by a Firebird on the left and a Plymouth Prowler on the right

Polaris Slingshot

A flock of old Fords, including the very nice Model A Station Wagon which has been at every single auto event we have attended in the Ottawa area!

White Dodge Challenger R/T, with a nod to the famous white  1970 Dodge Challenger  R/T driven by the anti-hero Kowalski in the 1917 cult film "Vanishing Point." The license plate is "KOWAL RT."

Hwy 43 Car Club Cruise Night: September 22, 2017, Kemptville, Ontario

Not exactly a cross-country trip for the Corvette, the Capital Corvette Club put in an appearance at yeasterday's Hwy 43 Car Club Cruise Night, held on a regular basis every Friday evening in Kemptville, around 50 minutes south and west from Ottawa.  It was the last Cruise Night for the 2017 season and there was a pretty good turnout.  There were a dozen cars from the CCC, as well as several non-affiliated Corvettes.

The event started at 6 pm and it was surprising to see how quickly it got dark.  Summer is really over (actually this was the first day of Fall!) even if there plenty of mosquitoes still at dusk and soon the cars will get put away for that long sleep again.  But not quite yet!

There were hot rods, a number of muscle cars, and a gargantuan 1959 Lincoln.  It was fun to talk to other Car People and I think I may have persuaded the owner of the nice Triumph TR3 that he should consider a Corvette as his next car!

1949 Mercury hot rod, with cool "ghost flames"

1959 Lincoln: Detroit excess personified

The sticker in the rear window says: "Yeah.  It's big!"

On the drive back home to Ottawa I had an interesting experience. There was quite a bit of traffic on the 416 highway on this Friday evening.  I was in the passing lane and a VW GTI (with a very loud exhaust) was in the lane next to me.  We could not get any further ahead as the traffic was too heavy so we were cruising along at 100 km/h side-by-side.  To my astonishment, a motorcycle suddenly appeared ahead of me, having gone through the space between our two cars!  I turned to look at the VW driver just as he turned to look at me and both of us must have had the Totally Jaw Dropped expression.  Crazy.

Corvette Night at the Rideau Carleton Raceway: June 7, 2017

Every Wednesday from May to September the Rideau Carleton Raceway (RCR), a standardbred horse track and casino with slot machines, offers a venue for car enthusiast to get together and hang out at the RCR Cruise Night.  This night was specifically for Corvettes as the featured cars, although all special interest cars are welcome as on every Wednesday from 5 pm until dusk.  The Capital Corvette Club had a strong presence at this event!

A regular visitor to all the cruise events in the Ottawa area has been a replica Cobra which is being raffled for charity.  My friend Brian, a true Cobraphile, was aghast that this one uses a small block Chevy V8, but otherwise thinks it is pretty good.  The kit comes from a manufacturer in Buffalo, New York.  Of course, we both bought some tickets to help the cause.

Of course there were lots of other cool cars at the cruise night, from Euro classics to American muscle and even three Model A Fords:

American Motors AMX two-seater

Dodge Monaco (left) and Shelby GT350 (right)

Chrysler Crossfire Convertible (left) and 1957 Chevrolet (right)

Ford Model A Tudor Coupe

Ford Model A Roadster

Fiat 124 Spyder

Dodge Charger

Another vehicle present at many events in the Ottawa area: Ford Model A Woodie

One of the cars getting the most attention was a Honda Accord, done up as an Art Car.  There is a big parade of these in Houston, Texas, annually, an event that has gone on for 32 years.  Truly a "special interest car" for those who do not mind being stared at!