Main Street muscle
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Theresa Reynolds Curry / News Virginian
Published: May 16, 2007
Most of the 150 or so cars will be carefully preserved models from 1955 to 1978, said Eileen O'Rourke of Waynesboro Downtown Development Inc. That's when anyone with a wrench and a bit of mechanical know-how could tinker with the monster motors, letting in a little more air or a little more fuel, until souped-up GTOs and Furies became as much a part of American folklore as log cabins and cowboys.
Music and movies added to the muscle car mystique, telling the stories of teenage boys in T-shirts and ducktails racing their powerful rides alongside Kansas cornfields and southern river bottoms. Detroit took notice, and responded with more and more power under the hood direct from the factory.
"After a while, the insurance companies began to balk," said Russell Terry of Russell Terry Motorworks, one of the events' supporters. It was pretty obvious that these cars were designed to run at speeds illegal everywhere. Foreign imports and air quality standards also intervened, but it was fun while it lasted, Terry said. "Somehow, Pontiac was able to keep putting muscle cars on the market, with their Trans Ams and Firebirds, but for the most part, the muscle car phenomenon ended in the seventies," Terry said.
As a boy, he was a fan. "I've loved cars my whole life," he said. "I saw a movie, 'Christine,' about a '57 Plymouth Fury, and I was hooked. I've been fascinated ever since." Terry was the proud owner of a '64 Cutlass, but it was destroyed when his Piney River shop burned down a few months ago.
He's always surprised to discover the numbers of dedicated fans of the same cars he loves: people who have a hot old Pontiac or Plymouth stashed away in a garage or an old barn. "They come from all walks of life," he said. "Some of them weren't even alive during that era."
O'Rourke expects muscle car owners from across the state to polish up the chrome and scrub the tires of their flashy classics and ease them down to Waynesboro for this unique chance to show them off. The event includes prizes for the crowd's favorites. There are first, second and third-place trophies, each determined by popular vote, said O'Rourke. The show also includes a best-in-show award that includes post-70s vehicles.
"Last year we had about a thousand people," O'Rourke said. "This year, we hope to double attendance, and we expect more than two thousand." O'Rourke said Brown Dodge, Chrysler, a Charlottesville dealer, sponsored last year's show and continues to sponsor it. Other sponsors, besides WDDI, are Blue Ridge Beverage, Bud Light, Crossroads Graphics and Design, and Kevin Blackburn Photography.
Those interested in muscle cars will also be interested in the automobile- related vendors peddling everything from mufflers to specialty tools for 30-year-old engines.
NASCAR T-shirts will be raffled, along with gift certificates from Crutchfield's, pizzas from Little Caesar's, and ice cream from Bellagio's.
A beer garden in the parking lot across from Tim Spears' Music City will also dispense refreshments from Lucky Duck Kettle Corn, Franklin's Catering and South River Grill.
Muscle car owners will register their cars for $5 beginning at 8:30 a.m. at the parking lot beside the pavilion on lower Main Street, and will be directed to a spot on Main Street or Arch Avenue to park and display their vehicles. The proud owners will be available for questions about their cars, and everyone will have a chance to cast a vote for the hottest vehicles. The streets will be closed for other traffic.
Signs on the way into town will direct the public to alternate parking for attending the event, which opens for spectators at 11 a.m. If it rains Saturday, the event will be held Sunday.
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