Does anyone in central ohio just cruise anymore?

Back in the day, used to be that there were various places around town where the local gearheads would gather and hang out and bench race. Doesn't seem like theres anything like that here anymore, with exception to a few local car clubs that host cruise ins at fast food joints. but thats always accompanied by restaurant traffic pissed that theres no place to park, kids with ice cream and greasy fingers, and the ever present d.j. that thinks your hearing is as bad as his. So, does anyone still do this sort of thing? I mean just for the hell of it. no planned events, just hanging out.

 

Well, scotbot, I think the answer, sadly, is not really--at least as far as the hanging out part goes. People seem to be too busy and lives too diverse. But cruising has potential and can lead to meeting other guys.

I looked for others that like the cruise aspect but area clubs are mostly shows only. Good grief. I'm 61 and my youth was cruising in my '37 Chev coupe. My buddy ('29 roadster) and I drove around the Springfield area last week via Rt 70. Roads smooth as gl*** and the weather perfect. That was the closest to a cruise I can recall and opens the potential for rides to distant shows or whatever. Maybe Washington Court House or Lancaster, Brookville, Dayton etc. Lots of nice cars in these areas and many shows are loosley-formed groups of great guys. My ride is a small ('gl***) '33 modified coupe.

Maybe this is some sort of a start with you asking. The Cols-Springfield-Dayton-Indy area is one of the street rods capitals of the U.S. and would seem to offer great potential.

 

Cruising to me is just that. Driving for the enjoyment with no destination.
Cruise in's are everyday of the week in the Akron/Canton area. I am not for setting around car shows. I have stopped by them for a few minutes just to check out the cars and then I'm on my way.
Why do that if I can drive or build something??

 

When I lived in Hinckley, Ohio (about 15 years ago) there was a big cruise at a place called Carneys every Saturday night in Brunswick. Probably 500-750 cars sometimes. Anyone know if it still goes on?

 

I cruse every chance i get......drove the hot rod to McDonalds to eat and soon you will start up a conversation with someone......Friday or Saturday nights I cruse by myself.....I'm 62.......crank up the oldies...and cruse the strip.........some people think im crazy.....but you know what I dont care......helps me bring back memories.....when as a younger guy we crused Friday and Saturday nights all the time ...just as soon as we got out of school......one burger joint to another......Larry

 

I know what you mean. In the younger days we would run the 'circuit' from the Big Boy out on East Main across from the Drive-in movie to the Mainliner on Livingston to Green Gables @ Central Point & up High St. to Jerry's @ Morse Rd. Cruisin' the night away & catchin' the occasional street race......Good Times (& cheap gas)

Now the only thing I know of in the Cap city area is a Fri & Sat night stop & go @ Jeg's east in Reynoldsburg.
Let us know if you start anything.
Al

 

I guess I do want to get something started. The E. Main Jegs is all tuners and ghetto ricers and crotch rockets. I went a few years back and it was a lot of **** strokin and nobody wanted a fair race or whatever. I'm near Olentangy river rd south of N. broadway. Nice open roads, a couple 24 hour joints and a quick jump over to campus and a few big parking lots along the way to congregate bench race. Its still an idea, but I'm open to any and all ideas and critique. I'm no promoter, but I love hangin out and b.s.'n and talking cars, so let me know

 

Around here no one drives their cars anymore... Once I get mine moving people are going to see me ALL the time.

 

I have never understood that mentality.I personally can't see spending all the time and money it takes to build a cl***ic and then never drive it. I realize that old cars are costly to run ALL THE TIME. And its probably not the best idea in bad weather, but I drive my truck damn near every day. I have a newer late model that I use for more utilitarian purposes, but I like my truck. I actually enjoy driving it. My wifes grandfather has a 31 A 5 window that hasn't seen more than 10 miles in 10 years. I guess restoring a model A is great for bragging rights, but not for me. Eventually we'll own it, and You'll all see it.....alot

 

I barely remember Green Gables, but it was a big treat when dad took us there for strawberry pie. I remember Jerrys very well though and loved that place. Funny, I was just thinking about this topic, maybe because I just watched Hollywood Knights again. But if I ever get my hot rod done I plan to cruise it all over the Polaris area every chance I get. It'd be great to have some like minded car guys around doing the same. On a related note, there doesn't seem to be any car clubs around here either.

 

Some of the most fun I had was at the Patio Shops on Morse Rd back in the early 80's. We could do it again just bring a big gun.

 

I remember Jerrys a bit. I was still pretty young when it became Tee Jayes. There used to be central point near cooper stadium. Racing out at West Belt industrial park, and even my wife remembers cruising to Stardust lanes in Grove City, which is where I grew up. Used to go there and head up high street on campus. Funny you mention hollywood knights. I just watched American Graffiti for the first time in years the other night and got fed up by the guys that only bring their cars out if theres door prizes or dash plaques to be collected

 

Been to Stardust myself back in the eighties. I grew up in C**** Winchester and was all over the south end.

 

So maybe we should let this stew awhile and see how much interest it gets. It would be really cool to meet up with a few HAMB'ers, trade stories, and check out some of the rides out there. It seems like theres a ton of this thing happening in the middle of the country from Chicago, mid west all the way down to Austin. I'd like to see it again here in Ohio. Hell, I know of at least 20 guys in my town alone that don't even know what the HAMB is! let alone where they can cruise without having to pack lawn chairs and reg. fees.<br><br>So, I'll spearhead this one and field all ideas and see what we can come up with. <br>

 

I think we are making progress. Guys could hang out or maybe those that want to cruise together to some distant show or diner or meet or whatever could do that. We have all winter to figure it out.

 

Up on Polaris we have a pretty new Sonic drive-in. I see vintage vehicles there from time to time. It has the right vibe but I think the problem is kids just don't seem to get into cars like they used to. My daughters are in high school and I just see any "car pride" (for lack of a better term) in their school parking lot. I think if the older guys with cool rods and muscle cars don't start getting them out and used in front of teenagers, the hobby will slowly die off. I guess I need to finish a car and start practicing what I preach.

 

Yeah, I have a few ideas brewing, and I think as long as folks respect it for what it is and not trying to relive the days of street racing on Woodward Ave., then we could have alot of fun and get Columbus guys back into driving their cars.

 

I can name you at least 3-4 other car guys in your neighborhood.....maybe more. Maybe you should get to know them and start something.

I'm up in Sunbury. Don't really care about/for cruising, I'd rather be building **** in the garage.

 

OK Sorry to say the steering is on the floor now for the winter rebuild but if you want to get together someplace to hash it out say the word.
Al

 

Getting a group together over the winter sounds like a good idea and a potential for getting some old time cruising plans for next year. I would like to see some attempt to get fellow Hambers together over the winter. All of us eat, and according to my wife, like to sit around and ******** about cars and the past. If anyone comes up with a plan, keep me in the loop

 

Here's how we did this when I was a kid. I'm 61 now and those were the days of T-buckets and homebuilt everything. This is about the cruising aspect because the hanging out thing develops later. You need a couple key players in different locations that know the roads and conditions and places to go. Not everyone thinks the same so you go easy. Most of our rides were short notice because of the weather. You have to pick rides in different area at different times to treat people fairly. As well, you want to have some sort of behavior standards and exclude street racers or unsafe vehicles. You need low traffic areas and a nice destination. It sounds odd but you have to be organized in order to have a spontaineous ride.

Let's say we decide a long cruise to the west would be nice; maybe a drive-by at Brookville Roadster and we know the way and the roads are smooth. Maybe at 8AM some Sat.four guys in different areas begin to drive to the central location and pick up the next closest guys along the way. Maybe you stop for breakfast but you have groups of guys cruising to differnt places and picking up others along the way. That's a cruise by itself.
The groups meet at maybe 10AM or whatever and start a leisurerly drive to the destination via back roads. Stops along the way. Groups of people may begin to like each other. Maybe at noon you hit the destination and look around, if only for a short while. They really don't even have to be open since it's about the ride. Maybe lunch and meander around and drift back as a group and check out stuff along the way. Some other day you go the other direction and someone else does the roads and this way everyone is treated fairly.

Out of cruising, groups will naturally develop and some guys might want to bump into each other at Polaris on Friday night. Or Thursday or whatever. Maybe Friday or Sat. night after a hot day. It's important to not have any prima-donnas or to exclude any group of people or ride until you work out the bugs.
Did this as a kid and it was very successful. We had many cars and cruising during the middle of the week was balanced by occasional longer trips on the weekends. Because most rod guys are such odd ducks it's hard to ***emble a template in advance but there are possibilites and once our cruise thing was successful others begged to ride along. You can even have your own show and charge admission. Whatever; life is about the ride.

 

Scroungers down in the KY/cincinnati area have been sucessful at setting up an organized cruise. They call it Rabbit Hash I think. You can get ahold of rebstew on here and ask him. I think he was involved with setting it up.

I personally think that the poker run concept would be the best to follow if you only wanted to "cruise" and not have a "cruise-in". That way people are making stop locally and still driving. Plenty of places around here. Got a cool little 1/8mi track up in Mt Vernon (pacemakers), maybe you could convice the Rod Shop to give a tour, several machine shops, etc. I'm pretty sure there's other hot rod related companies that would be willing to host tours and such.

Just takes time and dedication on somebody's part.

 

It looks like we could probably get something started. I'm gonna do some nosin' around and see who's open to what. Like someone stated previously, "we got all winter to hash it out". Theres also Kil-kare s.w. of cols too, for the Springfield/Dayton crowd.
I'm just really happy to see that theres interest in getting out there and keeping it alive. Thanks

 

I'm gonna stop a couple places while I'm out today and rattle a cage or 2 and see who's receptive.

 

OK, I'll kick in: I'm kinda with Oldsrocket on this. My 62 Comet won't be running any races, but I dig learning from other guys and swapping stories. I could get into a car club that was NOT about hanging out at Drive Thrus but rather got elbows bent and greasy helping another guy with a major chore. I've done some welding and simple fabrication but do not own my own gear, would love to do some sandblasting, learn how to better tune my engine, throw out my back helping someone drop in a new engine, etc. I personally don't drink but have no problem hanging out while others throw back a few cold ones. More than anything, I look for knowledge-generous folks that dont' cop a 'tude just because someone's car is only 40 odd years old instead of 60 or 80.

 

I believe many of us are more into driving our cars instead of sitting in a parking lot all day to see who's won a 5 buck trophy. BORING. I can stop by for 30 minutes admire the cars and be on my way. I like the idea of getting together and actually driving someplace. It's no the destination it's the journey!

 

Check out this thread..http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=353496. We started cruising Van Nuys Blvd again back in June after a 28 year hiatus. In the October Hot Rod, the editorial was about the demise of cruising and how good it was to see it back on Van Nuys. He also challenged rodders and cities across the country to bring it back. The November issue of Car Craft had a 5 page spread on the cruise and talked about how a whole generation of rodders has grown up and never experienced cruising.
It wasn't hard to do...Started right here on the HAMB and has grown every month...I spent time going up and down the street talking to merchants and letting them know what was going to happen a week before...Food joints are packed and have actually run out of food... A little hot rod economic stimulation....The cops are cool as long as YOU keep it cool...We have flyers stating no burn-outs, light to light runs, drugs or alcohol...So far very little activity from the squirrels.
Check out our web site...www.vannuyscruising***ociation.com.
If you build it, they will come. If you do it right, it will grow...Take the Hot Rod challenge...Bring cruising back to your town.

 

PS...You'll need lots of volunteers to pull it off. Find them early.. If you are a member of a club or just hang with a bunch of guys, get together and organize it...Trust me, your wife will appreciate it.. They hate doing all the work at the last minute when no one else shows up..

 

Dont know about where you are friday nites around here is jumpin I can go south to the ****ord cruz probably 300 cars and can go north to bevercreek and about the same,thursday nite at kil-kare raceway in Xenia test and tune is packed like a huge party and the rusty nuts in lebanon ohio have a good deal on monday.I have been to the scroungers road trips them guys have a good time and make you feel right at home .All you have to do is get in the car turn on the tunes and hit the road.

 

I'm talking about good old fashioned American Grafitti style cruising...Lots of fun!