Jubilee In A Frozen Summer

Devilish cold gripped our necks and turned our hands to stone.  It's summer in Pacific Grove still, and little mean 'ol Mother Nature is getting her kicks, taking a wry humorous turn as trickster, but so can we when we want to, especially when the low rumble of old cars make their presence known.




Cherries Jubilee is in town, an annual homage to hot rods and classic cars of a different category than were here only three weeks ago for the Concours d'Elegance.  In comparison to the ritzy and rare (read:  extremely expensive) collectible automobiles on auction at many venues around the Peninsula, road-worthy cruisin' cars have been taking center stage.  '64 Chevelles, '57 Chevys, '65 Mustangs and their equals lined up on Lighthouse Avenue for any and all to admire and photograph.  Everyone picked their favorites, many turned heads and all brought smiles.  A '54 Henry J. Kaiser coupe was probably the oddest looking vehicle with its very dull beige interior and completely featureless dashboard.  It was so ugly that it was beautiful, but mostly ugly.

A '55 Chery Bel Air stole the hearts of those who love its hood ornament and grille design.  One giant beast, a '66 Chevy Long Panel weighs 4,700 lb unladen and was just huge.  Classy rocket ship styling of a '62 Cadillac convertible is 22 feet of two-tone red and white paint looked like a rolling party site, leather and chrome, all glossy and sweet.  One red-and- chrome prize winner was being meticulously massaged with a soft cloth, all 25 coats of its paint, every bit of its trim and inch of its engine.  Insanely horrible gas mileage on any of the cars stopped no one from feeling immense pangs of envy and admiration.

We ogled until we were good and frozen and then hustled back home to warm up again.  Today, all of the entries in the Jubilee are out at Laguna Seca doing laps and struttin' their stuff, going down memory lane.