Story: Summer Car Culture.

The summer has always been the time of year most enjoyed by car people. The warm weather brings car shows, picnics, and cruising under the bright city lights on those warm summer nights. Many of the well kept classics, or restored muscle cars, are never driven in bad weather. Some specialty cars may spend the entire winter in storage, especially in the areas that see annual snow fall. My Shelby GT500 Mustang has never been driven on a wet street, and the under carriage looks show room fresh. Sooner or later, I will be out on a trip, or at a car show, and get caught by a passing rain storm, but it hasn’t happened yet. It’s all about preserving these cars in as nice of condition as possible. Most “car guys”, like me, enjoy driving our cars. After all, that’s what they were made for. Especially the high performance muscle cars, and sports cars. They have to be driven to fully appreciate the uniqueness of the particular mechanical upgrades that distinguish them from the millions of other vehicles on the road. Seeing a muscle car out on the street at night, is like seeing a wild animal in its natural surroundings. The occasional performance contest between two muscle cars, is a rare bonus these days, but not unheard of. Street racing is not what it was 20 years ago. (Check out my book “Grab Some Gears – 40 Years of Street Racing” available from amazon.com). As summer turns to fall, and the car events start to wind down, the time is right to take advantage of the few remaining nights of late season cruising. Some of the most fun cruise nights are the cooler fall evenings anyway. Get out and enjoy.