Week Two From the Rides on Monmouth

We're starting week two of posts from this year's Rides on Monmouth show. I hope you're all enjoying the cars. It was an amazingly beautiful day with blue skies, sun and very comfortable temperatures, especially for mid August when the show was held. Yes, this is how far behind the calendar I am in making these posts. And I still have a few big shows that I'm hoping to get to. Enjoy. As always, feel free to leave a comment or drop me an email at turnerbudds@yahoo.com.

Some of the cars posted here are a Dodge Dart, a couple of Camaros, a Ford F 100 pick up, a Rambler American (a bit newer than the one I highlighted on Friday), a couple Vettes and a beautiful Mustang.

Legendary Car Designer George Barris Dies

A blogger friend of mine posted this and I thought I'd pass it on. George Barris was perhaps the king of custom cars. His work has been seen by millions both on the screen and off. He set a tone for generations of custom car fanatics.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/george-barris-dead-batmobile-creator-837553

A New Car

I met Don Stepp a number of years ago at, of course, a car show. I even did a post about his 1963 Chevy Impalla SS. Since then we would continue to run into each other, particularly at the City of Blue Ash and The Untouchables Classic Car Club Classic Car Show among others. But this year I didn't see him or his car.

As I was starting to snap pictures at this year's Rides on Monmouth, I heard my name called and there was Don. We chatted and I pointed out how I'd missed him at Blue Ash. He said he was there, parking in a different place than usual and that he had gotten a new car. This was his first time showing at the Rides on Monmouth and he was doing so with a beautiful little 1959 Rambler American Station Wagon.

The Rambler American came to life as the Nash Rambler in 1950 and after Nash merged with Hudson to form American Motors, the Rambler name was revived and used for a line of compact cars that would be larger than their current Metropolitan.

The first generation of the AMC Rambler American came in 1958. The company was always in a tight financial bind and so they relied on what was available, making mostly cosmetic changes to the old Nash design.

Rambler had a strong reputation as an economical and dependable car. AMC was hoping that the Rambler name would carry over to buyers looking for a small, affordable and durable car. It worked. With the two available trims priced at $1789 and $1874, the American was the lowest priced car in the country. Over 30,000 were sold in a short model year.

In 1959 things only got better. They introduced the station wagon like the one Don owns and sales of it alone were over 32,000. In all that year over 90,000 Americans were sold. Demand was outstripping AMC's ability to build cars. Who wouldn't want a car that could seat four and get over 30 miles per gallon.

Of course this economy came at a cost: power. Those first generation Americans were powered by a3.2L flathead six cylinder engine that produced a mere 90 horse power. But with a wheel base of just 100 inches and a curb weight of about 2500 pounds, this small engine managed to do the job.

As years passed more trims for the American were added but it wasn't until the third generation in 1964 that there were noticeable changes under the body. That year the wheel base grew six inches and more options were available in the engine. Two more inline sixes offered more power. A 3.3 L model gave the car 125 horses and a 3.8 L upped it to 138. Eventually, V 8s up to 6.4 L were available.

After a dozen years AMC finally pulled the plug on the American. Throughout it's run it had been marketed as a Rambler but the public had become more familiar with the AMC brand and as new cars were needed to keep pace with the Big Three, the company decided to place their emphasis on their own name. The AMC Hornet officially replaced the American after the 1969 model year. In all, over four million American's were sold. And now my friend Don Stepp has a first generation station wagon to help keep the line alive.

More Rides on Monmouth

Here are some more of the beautiful cars that were out for this year's Rides on Monmouth show. If you've been checking out the previous posts from this show, you have seen the wide variety of cars. There are old classics, muscle cars, customs, even some more modern super cars (more of those next week). Today's random pictures shows this variety quite well.

Some of the cars on display in this post include an amazing Packard One Eighty, a couple of first generation Mustang, a customized Ford V8, a Chevy Impala, a Monte Carlo, a Dodge Duster, and a Chrysler Valiant.

Wednesday In Newport

Having said just about everything there is to say about the host city of Newport in previous years of posting about the Rides on Monmouth show, for the most part I'm just going to be posting pictures from this year's event.

Some of the cars posted in today's blog include  an Oldsmobile Vista Cruiser station wagon based on their famed 442 sedan, an old Pontiac, a couple of different generation Corvettes and a few Camaros.

More From Newport

The Annual Rides on Monmouth show in Newport is one I try to attend every year. Over the years on this blog I have written a good deal about the history of this river front city that, in many ways, was the blueprint for what Vegas became. Rather than repeat what I've already written, I suggest you take a few minutes and search Newport or Monmouth on the blog and read some of what made this town infamous.

Some of the cars included in this post are a VW Beetle, a C 3 Corvette, Firebird, a Trans Am and a first generation Thunderbird.

Rides on Monmouth

The Rides on Monmouth show is always one of my favorites. I try to go every year because this is one of the biggest and most diverse shows in the area. This year's event, sponsored by the City of Newport and Sources 1 Automotive, didn't disappoint. Under a brilliant blue sky with temperatures in the low 80s more than 250 cars of all types showed up.

Some of the cars highlighted in today's blog include a 1961 Chrysler Newport which I've seen before, a cool custom Ford that I snapped as it was pulling into the show, a Ford 100 pick up truck, a Chrysler Imperial Crown Coupe, a Chevy Bel Air (1953 or 54 I think), a Camaro, a Cutlass, a Nova and a nice looking Studebaker pick up truck.