RENO, NV (Oct. 19) – Weather was great this weekend, which was nice as there was a big cruise in on Saturday evening. On Sunday there was both a Jeep and Car meet.
•• A few weeks ago there was the first Saturday evening Cruise In at the Sparks A&W. It was such a success another was scheduled and it happened this Saturday night.
As the parking lot filled the row by Baring Blvd. had more and more cars park in it. In fact one of them had Trick or Treat candies for the kids and later a couple more did the same thing.
One of the cars was a 1956 Chevy that also was part of the recent Hot August Nights as well as Street heat at the GSR. The car has a history and Lonnie Vance is the current owner.
“My Dad, Dan Vance, and I originally built it. He bought the car as a basket case but the paint had already been done, so we just assembled it, we stuck a LT1 350 out of an IROC Camaro in it. So it’s pretty generic when we did it.
“Before I lost my dad, used to polish it all up and take him to his favorite car show in Los Angeles. One day he just called me up and asked when I was going to buy it. Just taken money out of the house to do a remodel and this is my remodel.”
Since then he’s installed a 427 cubic inch, a LS3 4080 automatic transmission along with a full floating 9 inch rear. Both are computer controlled and match each other.
Asked how it rides, he said, “It rides like a ’56 Chevy, beautiful, smooth as silk, kind of floats. The only thing that really been done, still runs leaf springs in the rear, on the track straight as an arrow, it has tubular control arms and disc brakes so it stops a whole lot better than the original ’56.”
Not far away a Aston Martin parked next to an older Mustang
A retired Sparks Policeman bought the first car he used when the department retired it. It’s fully equipped and he brought it to the Cruise in.
Shawn Hopkins brought his drone and has posted some shots he took. This one is of the line closest to Baring and shows a lot of the Ford Mustangs that were at the show.
Parked by the A&W entrance was a bright and shiny 1972 Plymouth Road Runner.
Over on another row there was a Chevy El Camino from the Good Nuff Stuff Car Club.
The tallest ride was this Ford 350 pick up. Not only did the suspension raise the truck but there were various colored lights that illuminated the insides of the wheels.
•• Reno Jeeps & Coffee had its meet start early. Seems there as a later Rock Hound Cruise later.
There wee only four early birds but more were expected.
•• Reno Cars & Coffee had its second meet of the month in the usual area; the parking lot on Kietzke between Cal Ranch and the Human Bean Coffee stand.
As usual there was variety of cars, pick-ups and even a trailer. Spectators had a lot to check out.
One car attracting a lot of attention was a Bentley sedan. The owner would open the door and show the interior as well as answer questions about it.
Not far away was a 1957 Chevy with a great paint job. It’s been in several meets as well as in Hot August Nights.
The car is owned by Jim Griffith and he said, “It’s a ’57 Chevy 210 Custom. It was a frame up restoration done around 2000 and I bought it about 5 years ago and I updated a lot of stuff.
“The paint job, I didn’t like it at first but it grew on me and now I like it. I don’t have much history but the motor is a fairly new 350 Crate Motor. Seats all custom interior. It needed work when I got it. The guy that owned it died unfortunately but he had hand controls and I took those off and got it back to normal.”
Asked how it rides he said, “Rides great, very fast. I took it to the drags last year and did a flat 15 that I thought was bad but turns out it’s a pretty good speed for an old car.”
While there wasn’t the usual Corvette Row there were a trio of them parked side by side.
One car pulling in late was a great looking black vintage car owned by John Abs.
Asked about the car he said, “It’s a 1962 Lincoln Continental Covertible Triple Black. I’ve had it about a decade, done some small stuff like, brakes, wheels, tires and engine stuff. Just keeping it up to snuff but mostly it was pristine condition by the previous owner.
“Got discs all around and the engine is stock. The wheels are billet. Those are just made to look like hubcaps bur they’re actually 18 inch full aluminum wheels.
He said, “It drives like a boat, slow and comfortable. I’ve never pushed it to the limit but it will go easily 80 miles an hour on the freeway. It’s got more but I don’t feel comfortable going more than that. Very comfortable, very sable but it sways like a boat.”
Over on another row there were three Toyota Supra cars parked side by side. Two were black while the third was red.
Over all, while it wasn’t packed, there were plenty of cars and trucks to see. And the crowd of spectators wasn’t bad as well.
Next Sunday will be Sparks Cars & Coffee’s second meet of the month.
•• This Tuesday, starting at 6:30, Trucks & Tacos of Northern Nevada meets at Tacos Jalisco. Location is 9105 Lemmon Drive.
•• There are bike things happening on Wednesday evening. Attendance probably depends on the weather.
- Starting at 5 p.m., PJ&CO has its weekly bike night, the location is 1590 Wells Avenue. There are usually great bikes to see, good people to meet as well as great food and drink.
- Further south, and starting at 6:30, its Crazy D’s Hot Chicken Bike Night. All bikes are welcome and location is 3652 South Virginia Street.
OTHER RACING NEWS:
• Next round of the BBMX Fall Series is this weekend. Sign ups are open and the location is E-Street MX Park in Marysville.
• If you have a youngster racing Motocross or with MRANN the Moto Mouth Mini Team is accepting resumes for the 2027 team.
• If you’re in a car club or head one this is a meeting you want to attend. The goal is making sure scheduled events don’t conflict with each other. So if interested please send them a RSVP and attend this one.
– Every want to help out with the special car shows we have in this area? Well here is your opportunity as Nevada Car Coalition is looking for new team members.
• Davey’s American Racing can be found on Face Book.
He also posts schedules for various tracks and there related subjects.
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• Our newest sponsor is State Farm agent Kelby Schoorl, who was a racer in his younger days. He has some supplemental insurance that racers might be interested in checking out.
There is medical that covers visits to the ER, ambulance rides and if a person has to stay in a hospital. In addition trailers as well as tools and tools in shops can be covered with additional policies.
If Kelby isn’t available the other guys at his office will be very happy to explain what they can offer both to racers and those enjoying motorized recreation.
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• One of our sponsors is General Transmission and Power Train Specialists owned by former motorcycle racer Pete Attashian. The shop is located at 890 Gentry Way.
The shop services older and new transmissions and now has a section for high performance units and those used in towing. Phone number is 775-786-5888 and the shop’s website is www.generaltransmissionreno.com.
Two of our sponsors are first class motorcycle shops located in Reno.
• Our first sponsor is Reno Motorsports (RMS). Not only do they have about anything a rider might want or need and the store also has a full service shop.
Their location is at 964 Terminal Way, by the intersection with Mill Street. Store’s phone number is 775-322-1499 and the site is, www.rms-renomotorsports.com.
• The next shop is Moto-Source located at 3180 Mill Street. Once again they are a full service shop plus the showroom has about any thing a rider might need or want.
The shop services not only dirt bikes, especially those used in motocross but also road bikes and quads. The phone number is 775-856-3855 and the website is,www.moto-source.com.
• Hungry, want a great place to eat, then try PJ&CO for Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner and it’s a great place to watch your favorite sports. Wednesday evenings, starting around 5 p.m. is Bike Night, good time to meet fellow riders and have a great dinner.
The location is 1590 South Wells Avenue, just north of the round about. Phone number is 775-323-6366 and their website is www.pjandco.net.
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