There Were Plenty of Pontiacs In Newport

Many people regretted when General Motors closed down the Pontiac division in 2010 in order to reign in costs and eliminate cross divisional competition. Personally, I grew up in a Pontiac home. All the way into high school the family had Pontiacs, mostly station wagons. A lot of other people seem to rue that day when GM ended Pontiac's historic run because there seems to be a lot of them showing up at old car events. That was surely the case at the Wheels Back On Monmouth show in Newport. Among the Pontiacs on display was a Bonneville convertible, a Trans Am, a Catalina, a Firebird, a LeMans convertible, and a GTO.

Pre-War Cars Rolled Onto Monmouth

Newport once again played host to a large collection of great old automobiles. Nearly 300 cars and trucks rolled on and took up about nine blocks of the city's main street, Monmouth. Among them was a nice collection of pre-war gems such as this 1930s Chevrolet five window coupe. Also at the show was a 1939 Studebaker Champion, a Ford convertible, a restomod Ford Tudor, a Chevy pick up truck, a Chevy sedan, and more.

Ponies Pranced Onto Monmouth

It's wrongly believed that the Ford Mustang was the original "pony" car. The truth is that the Plymouth Barracuda beat them to market by two weeks. Still, it is the Mustang that is most associated with this car classification, premiering in mid-April, 1964. Pony cars are smaller than the muscle cars of that time and featured a longer hood and a shorter trunk. Still, they were sporty and attracted young buyers. The Mustang was the largest selling of this class so it's little wonder that of the nearly 300 cars and trucks at the Wheels Back On Monmouth show in Newport that there were plenty of Mustangs on hand. Here are just some of them.

Camaros Put Their Wheels On Monmouth

 The massive success of the Ford Mustang sent shock waves through the American automobile industry. Here is an affordable, sporty car that young people were buying up by the bushel. General Motors knew it had to quickly come up with something to compete against their rivals and so by the end of September 1966 they introduced the Chevrolet Camaro for the 1967 model year. It's original "code" name was Panther but Camaro was devised to keep in line with other Chevy C named cars such as Corvette, Corvair, Chevelle, and Chevette. When asked what a Camaro was by the automotive press, it was stated that a Camaro was a vicious creature that ate mustangs. Now in its sixth generation the Camaro is still going strong which is one reason that there were so many examples at the Wheels Back On Monmouth show in Newport this fall. Here are some that were on hand.

Mid-Range GM Cars Were On Monmouth

 

Throughout its history, General Motors worked to create a series of brands that would touch on ever buyer's needs, desires, and, of course, budget. With Cadillac and LaSalle at the top and Chevrolet and Pontiac at the entry level, the mid range lines were Buick and Oldsmobile. While not as popular in the collector world as those entry level machines, there are still plenty of desirable Buick and Olds models out there. Quite a few were among the nearly 300 cars and trucks that showed up for the Wheels Back on Monmouth show held in Newport. Among them was an Oldsmobile Dynamic 88, a gorgeous 1956 Buick Special, a Buick Roadmaster station wagon, an Olds Custom Cruiser wagon, an Olds Cutlass, a 1987 Olds 442, and an Olds Vista Cruiser station wagon.

Customs Rolled Into Newport

When there are nearly 300 cars and trucks that turn out for an old car event there are sure to be a good selection of customs on hand. This was true for the Wheels Back On Monmouth show held in historic Newport. The event saw cars lining the city's main street from 3rd to 11th and even pouring into some side streets. Among the customs on hand was this amazing rat rod that began life as a 1929 Ford Model A. There were plenty of others, as well, ranging from the subtle to the outrageous.

Wheels Back On Monmouth

 

The name of the Wheels Back On Monmouth show says it all. For years the Rides On Monmouth was one of the region's largest and most popular car shows. The Newport based event shut down due to several factors, not the least of which was the retirement of the city's police chief who had run the event for years. A couple of attempts were made to restore the show, each with a great turnout of automobiles. Now, Wheels Back On Monmouth hopefully will ensure that this event will continue on. This year the main street in Newport, from Third to Eleventh, was filled with nearly 300 cars and trucks. Among them was a 1958 Edsel Bermuda station wagon, a Studebaker Hawk, a tricked out Chevy Van, a Cobra kit car, a Cadillac DeVille, a Buick Gran Sport, and a Dodge Daytona.

Cool Cars On a Warm Day

The temperature was 15-20 degrees above the seasonal normal high for the 2nd Annual Blue Line Car Show held to support the Fraternal Order of Police Queen City Auxiliary Nine. But the warm weather brought on some cool cars such as a 1963 restomod Lincoln Continental, a Chevy Tahoe, a C3 Chevrolet Corvette, a Camaro, a 1972 Chevelle, a 1967 Malibu station wagon, an Oldsmobile 442, and a Studebaker coupe.