The Charleston Boulevard Rod Run and DooWop
A Big Thank you to Kyle Stollings for the great pictures!This was the first (inaugural?) show in what is hoped to become an annual event. A group of local rodders teamed with the City of Charleston, WV to produce the show and from my perspective they did a fantastic job. The city closed about 1-1/4 miles of the Kanawha Boulevard through downtown for three days for the show and Friday evening and Saturday the Boulevard was packed with cars and people. There is a City park at each end of that mile that provided a nice backdrop along with the Kanawha River. There were over 400 cars registered from as far away as Troy, Michigan. There was a poker run, a poker walk thru Downtown, sternwheeler cruises, rod runs thru the local mountains, swap meet, vendors, concerts, a shagging (DANCING!!) demonstration, burnout contest, fireworks on Saturday night after the concert, gospel concert Sunday morning, and more. Trophies were awarded Sunday at noon with recipients picked by the show sponsors - no judging.
There were some beautiful cars - two of some special fame locally: the 1956 Fury was driven in the national motorcade to Washington to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Interstate System this summer. Some folks may remember the red 67 Camaro at the end of the pictures. It was built by the owner and his father as a father-son project several years ago. Shortly after the father died the car was stolen from a hotel lot during Goodguys Charlotte and was missing for four years. The owner found it on eBay this past spring and was able to recover the car. It was virtually unchanged and still had the hubcaps with his name engraved in them when he picked it up in Florida. |
