Hot August Nights

ended with a parade down Virginia Street this morning. Last year there were 2,000 cars in the parade, and I would say this year had a similar number of cars.

I only had one roll of film left, but I was lucky enough to be there right at the beginning of the parade, for the Budweiser Clydesdales lead the procession. (According to the link, Budweiser has one of the largest herds of Clydesdale horses in the world, with 250 of them nationwide. The last time I saw them--of course, not these particular horses--was in 1969, when they made an appearance in Medford, Oregon.)

Anyway it was getting hotter by the minute in Reno, and I tried to find a shady spot. Also what was different this year was the fact several trucks--not pickups, trucks as in 18-wheelers minus trailers--were also in the parade. Many trucks were in a controlled cruise in downtown Reno the past couple of nights, and I think this is the first year there has been a separate event for trucks. It was mentioned in the official souvenir magazine. I will have to tell my sister and brother-in-law about it.

I did eventually find a shady spot, but I got dehydrated after about an hour or so. I bought some bottled water, which I drank up. It got me through the worst of the heat.

Most of the cars were from the 1950s, with many of them being Chevy Bel Airs (which must have been the top-selling car during that time given the numbers, or else there were several Bel Air car clubs which came to the event), quite a few Ford Fairlanes, and other cars less numerous, such as Metropolitans (a favorite of mine), (other) Nashes, Studebakers, Cadillacs, Packards, T-Birds, Corvettes, and so forth. (Unfortunately for my sister, there were no 1956 Ford Crown Victorias, her favorite cars of all time, though the 1955 model I mentioned yesterday was in today's parade.) There were also quite a few "muscle cars" from the 1960s, which I haven't been photographing because they aren't as elaborate as the vintage 1940s and 1950s cars, but many have excellent restoration work done on them. Of course, the muscle cars include the GTO, the Mustang, the Roadrunner, the Dodge Charger, the Chevy Malibu, and the Chevy Nova, to name a few. I guess because they were extremely popular when I was in high school (with the rear ends always jacked up higher than the front ends), I just am not overwhelmed by them thirty, thirty-five years later. What they might have in power they lack in style. The older cars had the chrome, the tailfins, and frankly the character more modern cars lack. Still, there were some nice cars.

The early 1960s cars still had some character to them, but by mid-decade, American cars started to lose their looks, in my opinion.

It won't be long and more recent cars will be eligible for the HAN (cars 1972 or older can be entered). Cars I would consider future classics would be those hideous AMC cars which have cult followings (the Gremlin and the Pacer); the Chevy Vega, a car not made for durability; the Ford Pinto; the Pontiac Firebird and Chevrolet Camaro (some older models were there in HAN); and the Pontiac Fiero. I don't see foreign cars really making it despite their current popularity, but I could be wrong.

This year I did not see those "egg" cars which appeared at the event last year. I am glad I got the pictures of them last year. They were something.