Car enthusiasts get a few hours to show off Sunday
When the rain started Sunday, June 23, the plastic covers came out, because there are only so many cruises classic vehicle owners can take their rides to in Western Pennsylvania, and the Cruise-A-Palooza is one of them.
About 1,200 vehicles crowded Butler, for the 29th annual Cruise-A-Palooza, an event by the Rodfathers of Butler. Dan Cunningham, publicity director for the Rodfathers of Butler, said the event has experienced some bad weather in the past, but people usually still check out the vehicles while they can.
“At the Farm Show Grounds, we just shut it down, we had a rainout over there,” Cunningham said. “That was about six years ago. Things are great today.”
The Rodfathers choose a charity to donate proceeds from the event to, but the Cruise-A-Palooza is meant to be a community event first and foremost, with Cunningham saying there is no charge for vehicle registration or anything else, other than raffle tickets and merchandise.
The Cruise-A-Palooza is so popular, Cunningham said, because people who own classic cars want to take any chance they get to show them off. Some people spend years restoring cars dating back to the mid-20th century, so car cruises give them the chance to share their knowledge with other car enthusiasts, and learn from them as well.
After four years of work, Cunningham finally finished restoring his 1966 Ford Mustang GT, which he brought to the Cruise-A-Palooza for the first time since its completion.
“It was stripped down to nothing, and I had to bring it all back up,” he said. “It goes out four or five times a year, that’s it. That way I keep it pristine. It’s like a brand-new car.”
Many people who showed off a vehicle at the Cruise-A-Palooza had a favorite make or model that they stick to when buying and restoring a classic vehicle. For Wayne Weckerle, of Harmony, that make is the Pontiac Fiero, which is the first American-made car with its engine in the middle.
Weckerle said he is drawn to the look of the Fiero, which is low to the ground with an aerodynamic look. He said although the car looks fast, the speedometer tops out at 85 miles per hour, because that is how fast they could make them in the 1980s when the Fiero was built.
Weckerle has put only about 20,000 miles on the vehicle over the two decades that he has had it, miles mostly gathered on his trips to Illinois and Michigan for Fiero anniversary events.
“It’s just a pleasure to take to car shows,” Weckerle said.
The cruise also gave groups like the Butler chapter of the Antique Automobile Club of America the chance to show off some vehicles with historical importance. The club brought its 1922 Standard Steel Car Company car, which is one of only a few the club is aware of in the nation.
Dan Sum, vice president of the Antique Automobile Club of America Butler Old Stone House Region, said Standard Steel Car Company, later Pullman-Standard, only built about 10,000 of the cars, and the club restored the vehicle to take to events around the county.
According to Sum, the car is the only one of its make that still runs, which is possible thanks to the work of the AACA Butler chapter.
“We try to take it out as much as possible,” Sum said. “I don’t believe they had to do a whole lot of work, but it did need some touching up, some TLC.”
The Rodfathers will choose a charity to donate the proceeds from T-shirt sales and raffle tickets to at a group meeting later this year. Although the Sunday cruise was cut a little short by the rain, Cunningham said the few hours the event had accomplished its goal.
“My favorite part is seeing uniquely different cars every year — there’s usually a dozen or more that are really different,” Cunningham said. “It’s common to talk to someone, ‘I have been working on this for five years,’ and they finally get to bring it. They’re as happy as a pig in mud.”
