looking to move to fort myers north need to know about car shows cruisen and any thing happing must be a car place or i do not want to be there i know some body must have the skinny!!
It is...and it isn't. I moved to the Lakeland area in 2006. There are a lot of cars down here. In fact, both Grundy and Hagerty says they have more policies in Florida than any other state. There is typically a car show somewhere every day or night. But, the summer is like a midwestern winter. The rainey season (and hurricane season) starts in May and the rain usually stops around the begining of October. It is also hot & humid. Of course you don't have to shovel humidity. Being from Detroit, I was shocked that it didn't have a lot of vendors down here. A lot of stuff, even the local internet forums are geared more towards the ricer crowd (gosh, I hate fart cans!). There doesn't seem to be places like Ididit or other places that manufacture parts within driving distance down here. No plating services. There are some great shows at Daytona (Turkey Run & Daytona Dream Cruise), Dade City, Plant City, Kissimmee (Old Towne) and Ocala (Billitproof). A lot of smaller shows at restaurants. I don't know a lot about Ft. Myers other than there is a hurricane bullseye painted on it. Hurricane Charley (Cat 4?) tore thru there in 2005(?) and Fay went thru there last year (Cat 1). I like the center of the state because it should survive a hurricane and the homeowners insurance is a lot less (still expensive) than along the water. With property values in the tank you should be able to get a good deal on a house.
thanks for that infor! i been to daytona =z-hills-ocla you are rite on great time!! hoping for same in south west-i will be outathere when she blows!! kindalike a snowbird,
I'm looking into moving to this area, or maybe Orlando in the next year. Are there any updates on information for the Ft. Myers area for shows, shops, or general car scene?
The OP guy must be long gone. But Florida has good car gang all around the state,there are a fair number of show sites for Fla. Here is one I like;; https://flacarshows.com/
I’m in north Fort Myers. There’s car nights down town every fourth Sunday of the month between October and May. There’s a car museum on US 41 by Punta Gorda that has a shitload of restored cars and has swap meets every month. Smaller car shows are always happening ( all before corona not sure about future with all the madness running amok ). Last year was also the first annual Rockabillique in Immokalee. Bike nights every second Saturday of the month from September till April. Even Henry Ford had an enormous estate here across the street from Tomas Edison. Needless to say Fords are definitely popular here. Good area overall. The wife and I’ve been down here from Long Island for almost three years now and no regrets. Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
Look on The Ford Barn for sale section for V8 Ford. Rich Grossarth is a transplanted New Yorker with a deuce roadster, and a 1940 ford pickup. he lives in north Fort Myers. a good guy to know.
Nearby Naples also has some good car shows during the high season. I also like to go to the Immokalee drags occasionally.
We recently sold our Florida beach house. Florida has no state income tax so they make up for it with high property taxes. We paid $6500/year in the Panama City Beach area. Another issue is high HOA fees throughout the state. Hurricanes are also a PITA. We missed a direct hit by Michael with 175 MPH winds the year before last by 18 miles when it destroyed Mexico Beach and parts of Panama City. They still haven't rebuilt. The hurricane forecast for 2020 is for 4-5 more named storms. I'd also check out the Red Tide issues in the Fort Meyers area. It has vitually destroyed the tourist industry in Sanibel Island which was known for sea shell hunting. Not much in the way of car activities in the Pan Handle. South Florida probably much better.
Thank you for the information. We live close to Top Sail Beach in NC so hurricanes are common for us too. We were one of two houses in the neighborhood that didn't take damage from Florence two years ago. I hope we can make another one without damage so we can sell. I'll check out the red tide issue. I know we had something called red tide in San Diego, but this sounds a bit different.
Naples has grown up a lot in last 20 years. South Florida back 30 years ago was a hot bed of stock car racing,an back then it had a 1/4 mile stock car oval. That was a ton of fun to race at,towed over from Miami 8 to 10 times a year back then. My home track was Hialeah Speedway< that was a small town next to Miami. All gone now,but for one oval still running above Naples,called 471 Speedway in Punta Gorda,I'm sad we lost 8 speedways in south Florida in the last 30 years. Clewston is a dirt track that still kicking but that's it race wise.
Get ahold of Vic on Fordbarn. He heads up the Cigarcity guys and has an amazing concours de elegance show later in year
I think Naples was voted best city to retire to recently Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app