Aug 23: A weekend away

Yes, this is one whopping big off shore boat. Stats? Two jet turbine engines each producing 3000 HP! The heat from the two giant exhausts, each about  two feet in diameter, can be felt thirty or forty feet away. A nice little weekend run about, assuming your weekend runs are at 224 MPH (358 KPH for us Canadians)! This was the centre piece of the weekend Poker Run in Kingston, Ontario. We were visiting my brother, taking in these hot rod boats, dining at a nearby winery and also going to a local, weekly old car show. The boats were great, but this blog is about things on wheels, not on trailers, so let's move along, shall we? I haven't been to a cruise night in Toronto this year, so I was looking forward to see what showed up in Kingston. Not a lot of cars, but a nice amount and interesting.

What says the '50's better than a long and low, baby blue convertible (no, not a cabrio) packing one of those, in my mind ugly, continental rear tire mounts?

This Meteor was a Canada only car, a slight modification of a Ford, but one that could be sold by Monarch dealers (another Canada only car). Speaking of which........

 Another '50's icon a chopped top Mercury, except this one is a Monarch. Slight grille change, but otherwise the same car. Chopped Mercs are common, but a chopped Monarch, not so much.

These days, every show has to have a few rat rods. Rat rods? Those cars built for personal enjoyment, not for show.

These two are slightly evolved from real ratty rat rods, but a far cry from this old Willys, that was beautifully turned out with immaculate paint and bodywork, more my kind of hot rod. Check out those lines .........

Every old car is welcome, but a 1989 Cadillac? Nothing special for sure, but it did fit the criteria of being more than twenty five years old (next time scrub those whitewalls for Pete's sake). No picture of that one.

Personally, although I enjoy all the old cars, I really go for the cars of my youth. The ones that bring back those nostalgic memories of the cars, that I either really liked or had experience with in my hometown. Cars like this '64 Pontiac or the '69 AMX or the seldom seem '66 Olds convertible.........

And definitely these two big bruisers, a '64 Galaxie and a '64 Dodge, which resonated muscle, before the intermediate cars like the GTO took over the crown from them......

 

 And of course, any car running those great looking Torq Thrust rims always looks good in my eyes (remember Steve McQueen's Bullit Mustang?). And weren't those old interiors just a little much, although this one is a bit subdued compared to many. Nothing says the fifties and sixties like red and white, whether it is this vinyl interior or the '59 Edsel wagon below it.......

And beside this Edsel is that, give me a break, '89 Cadillac. And with the hood up no less to show everyone that weakling motor. Now I ask you, was that really necessary?

One final question.......with a choice of two very nice Japanese cars or 'Murican iron, what would you drive to the cruise night? Yes, that was the right answer.......

......and although my brother's Mustang's wheels are not my favorite, the Torq Thrust, they sure do have the look. And speaking of my brother, yes, he is in one of the pics above. Something for him to look for as he peruses today's blog.

All in all a great weekend. Hot boats, old cars and very good food. This car guy's heaven. Oh, and one more thing, also having my wife with me (whew, that was close).

Until next time.........