So, early this past Saturday morning, this olelongrooffan decided, well, actually I knew a few weeks ago, that I would head down to
Holly Hill, Florida, the home of
Motorsports Marketing, publishers of
Classic Motorsports and
Grassroots Motorsports, to check out the second annual Rods on the Hill car show.
I parked the olestationbus in the shade of one of several trees on the grounds of City Hall, across US 1 from the show, and headed on over to the show. Holly Hill's finest were directing the pedestrians and drivers on how to interact accordingly and this olelongrooffan got across the busy US 1 without a hitch.
The first thing I spotted at that show was this vintage "Arrive Alive" license plate that used to be the slogan emitted by the state government for tourists in
The Sunshine State. It was affixed to the front bumper of
this vintage 1964 Ford Galaxie 500 police car. I checked out the interior and it was fitted with vintage radios and all vinyl seats and floors so I would expect it is a real old time cop car. And. It. Is. Cool.
So I bebopped into that park to see what could be seen. One of the prettier cars, at least to this olelongrooffan was this
1962 Pontiac hardtop. I think I might be biased as my Uncle Frank owned one of similar vintage, although his was a ragtop. This one was d*mn straight and the paint was flawless.
A little while later, I stumbled upon this vintage Vespa scooter. There were three older dudes, yeah, again, probably just a few years older than this longrooffan, and they were talking the prices of muscle cars and how these televised auctions were affecting the prices of those old cars. One of them opined on how the big auction house got paid when the cars came in the door and again when they went out. I interjected with "And don't forget all the advertising dollars." They got a laugh out of that and we got to talking about this immaculate, old Vespa scooter.
I tell you, it was gorgeous. The owner was mentioning to us he found it on ebay out of Saigon, Vietnam. Now these dudes were probably defending democracy there back in the day. One of them asked the owner if he was concerned about the honesty of the seller. The owner told us that guy had been selling Vespas on ebay worldwide for 9 years without a negative feedback. He also mentioned he had a buddy who travelled worldwide in his duties as a US EPA representative and the owner had called him to ask when was the last time he was in Saigon.
" About three years ago" was EPA's response. "See any Vespas?" "H*ll yes, they are everywhere. I even went to this shop where they restore these things and man are they good." Well Counters, this olelongrooffan is certain you have reached the correct conclusion that this shop is the seller of that ebay purchased Vespa and a selling price of $2,700 plus $300 shipping, that Vespa is in the proud ownership of that dude, right here in Eastern Central Florida.
I then did a little more scouting around and spotted this badge absent banana yellow ragtop.
I am fairly certain it is
either a Pontiac or an Oldsmobile a sedan chopped 54 Dodge
based on the crest in the center of the dashboard below, 
however, if Kit Foster is tuning in, I am certain to be corrected. It just seems to
happen that way. (see comments of that post).
And this olelongrooffan has been corrected, although anonomously.
I then spotted this cool old sky blue woody wagon. Now, I neglected to get the year of this Blue Oval Product, but know this, It Is Cool and in Perfect Condition, well except for the panel gap on the doors.
As has been noted previously by this olelongrooffan on a
few different occasions. But honestly Counters,
this one is way cooler as it is in restored but stock condition.
Initially, I thought this Imperial was the one I saw during the
Spring Fling 2010. Upon further evaluation, this olelongrooffan determined that it was not the case as the front grille treatment is marginally different. This Imperial was in excellent condition and showed itself very nicely.
I especially enjoyed full wheel covers, the rectangular steering wheel and, of course, the push button transmission controls.
And even with that aftermarket air conditioning unit, this luxo barge is very desirable.
Then I came upon this. An early 70's era Chevrolet Luv pickemuptruck. Did you know these were imported
without the bed attached?
As this is one of the few vehicles at this show that I had seen previously, this olelongrooffan knew that its long ago sourced Isuzu inerds were junked
and built 350 and a full roll cage, along with other racing bits, were installed on this economy truck. No word on frame reinforcements though. But that spoiler is NASCAR worthy.
While I was looking at this Datsun Fairlady, an older gentleman and his grandson walked by it and Grandad mentioned these were desirable cars back in the day but they were prone to rust problems. I mentioned to the grandson that Grandad was right. I had seen this car in the same shop the olestationbus got its
shiny new coat applied last summer and it was rust filled. Grandad's chest got about three inches bigger and they strolled along.
As did this olelongrooffan.
Only to spot a couple VW based dune buggies. Although these probably never hit the dunes. And they were VW based, unlike the Corvair based one I saw at the 2010 Spring Fling.
Next up was an early 70's Buick Skylark convertible
as well as a mid 70's Cadillac four door hardtop sedan.
This olelongrooffan did neglect to get an image of that '89 Lincoln Town Car. A woman was looking at it and mentioned it was not that old. I thought, but did not say, "it's old if you are 17." Yeah, Mom taught me well. I probably would have been slapped by her or had my *ss kicked by her companion.
While I didn't see alot of vehicles at this show that I had seen before, this Blue Oval was one of them I had seen. But only once,
here.
The decals above were attached to the rear window of the only one of these in attendance this warm, not quite summer, day here in beautiful downtown Holly Hill, Florida.
A 1966 Plymouth Barracuda. It was a clean ride and this olelongrooffan said as much to the owner sitting in that comfortable lounge chair in the shade just to the right of the above image.
However, the paint, while nice from 10 feet showed a bit of "orange peel" when observed from this distance. No comment was relayed from the olelongrooffan to the owner. He knows it too.
And I would suspect this Saturday would be a good day to commit a crime in Holly Hill as no fewer that eight of the police force vehicles were at this show. And that number does not include the '64 Galaxie referenced earlier.
Now if you have been Counting Along With this olelongrooffan, you will remember the street rod coupe I saw and blogged about at the end of this post. And if you remember that hood ornament, you will recognize this one, although this one has wings.
Yeah Counters, it is a Packard Series 200 sedan.
As I was getting these shots, the owner came up to do something in the trunk of this behemoth mid 50's sedan. This olelongrooffan walked around to the rear of it and commented to the owner that I thought it was beautiful. He said, in a heavy Slavic accent, "Thank you but it is not quite done yet." I had noticed some of the bright work missing, as well as the radio and its antenna. He further added, almost apologetically, "It takes a bit longer when you do it yourself." To which I responded, "Sir, that makes seeing this beauty even more worthwhile." He then mentioned he had a Packard Caribbean prior to this Series 200. (This olelongrooffan has a Caribbean in my diecast collection!) I then asked him how he got into Packards of this vintage? He mentioned that when he was growing up in the 50's in Europe, he loved the American cars of that era. When he and his new family emigrated to the United States in the early 60's he still lusted after 50's era vehicles but with a family and struggling to become established as "A Real Citizen" (his true words), he had other priorities. "When I was fortunate enough to retire at 60, I bought that Caribbean, restored it, sold it and now I have this one," he related. Talk about the American Dream. I thanked him for bringing to the show and he and his wife, who stood demurely beside him during our ten minute discussion took off to see the show.
As did this olelongrooffan, filled with admiration for this courageous family and thanked God for this country and its opportunities.
Oh yeah, I got a shot of the flathead under the hood of this inspiring vehicle.
As I walked away from them, I spotted this auto/truck and I remember when they were new.
It is a 1977 Ford Ranchero, the last year made. I'm not certain if this was deemed a Country Squire Truck but that faux wood grain along the sides and the tailgate certainly warrants that moniker. By the way Horsefarmer, once you sell all those big*ss 250 and 350's when you retire, this would make an excellent vehicle for you. the 97,xxx showing on the clock and a price of $7,500 makes it even more desirable.
While we are Counting Along With The Rancheros, let's take a look at a couple others this olelongrooffan spotted.
This pristine red one was the Blue Oval's offering for 1966. It was heavily optioned with a 302 under the hood, air conditioning and an automatic transmission. I liked it alot although I am not a huge fan of the color red on a vehicle.
Next to that Cuda I spotted earlier, I saw this 1967 version. It was rough.
Rust everywhere, the interior was pretty much gutted of the headliner, door panels, carpets and the seats were not even from a Ranchero. But hey, it was only $1,600. Meh.
This, however was the only El Camino in attendance on this Saturday morning.
But, it did have a 502 motor in it
and as the magazine on the passenger's side dashboard documents, it was featured in the April, 2008 edition of Competion Chevy Magazine.
A little over the top for this olelongrooffan, however.
There were a few ratrods in attendence.
And while this olelongrooffan is not a big fan, I do appreciate their attention to detail.
The dashboard above is stamped copper!
And let me assure you, this one has had many Hoon hours invested in its construction.
And, of course, with a show name like Rods On The Hill, there were street rods in attendance.
Not a bunch but the ones that showed were extremely nice.
I do remember seeing the following at some other event, possibly two, but I don't remember blogging about it so here it is.
Pretty clever idea and well sorted out. Possibly matching wheels for the trailer though?
And the final street rod of this post is one I had seen just a week or so ago and blogged about here.
Yeah, a fairly large variety of vehicles were seen here on that Saturday.
One of the ones not seen much any more at these shows is this 1967 or 68 Pontiac Firebird Convertible.
It is really nice and I remember that thejeepjunkie's Godparents had one back in the day. Theirs was white over red while TheGentleManFarmer's Corvair of that era was red over white.
But, I'll bet that deep green with a black interior is plenty warm here in the Florida summertime!
Oh yeah, scroll up two images and look at the right front wheel of the car visible to the right of that ragtop. I'll let you know what that is soon but I need the help of Hemmings for it's identification.
And, of course, every car show needs a Coral and India Ivory 1955 Belair convertible to make it complete.
There were quite a few Corvettes at this show. The one on the right is a '69 Stingray and appears to be bone stock.
The restomod on the left was highly customized and barely rated a second glance from this olelongrooffan.
And this late model Corvette motor was installed in
this oddly colored 1960 Corvette.
And for the life of me, I don't understand the fixation with stuffed animals at car shows.
Until you check out the car they are in!
A couple Cobra replicas showed up.
I felt underneath the front fender of both them and they were fiberglass.
Still, nicely turned out. Hey! That '89 Lincoln can be seen to the left of that image!
I started down this row from the far end of this street. The Vespa was parked next to another orange Challenger with this one making it a Mustang and 57 Chevy sandwich.
This olelongrooffan has always enjoyed this body style Bowtie convertible.
And here are a trio of 57 Chevys. A post coupe on the left, ragtop in the center and a hardtop coupe just to the right.
And this Buick just looked stunning.
Yeah, it's a Deuce and a Quarter with huge bench seats.
I even enjoy the lines of the dashboard. Look how thin that gear shift lever is!
It high gloss black paint just sparked in the sunshine.
And this one, a Rambler American was rare and just sweet.
By the way, those aftermarket wheels are the brand "American". Pretty clever. If this belonged to the Bus, he would have thought of that.
This Oldsmobile Convertible is just freaking huge! It was just beautiful
in black over red interior. Plus this is an unrestored survivor!
And that Continental kit on the rear added another 20"to its length.
I saw this on one of the street rods and thought it was pretty funny.
So, by this time, this olelongrooffan had seen all there was to be seen and I headed back to my
olestationbus parked underneath that shade tree and headed on out to meet Manuel Labor for a couple hours.
Know this Counters, after this olelongrooffan left the Rods On The Hill 2010 show, I knew that I still remembered how to
Celebrate Life.
