Late October weather can often be tricky for Somernites Cruise (cold, cloudy, even rainy), but the conditions on Saturday were a treat.
Temperatures similar to the milder summer months and clear skies created an ideal atmosphere for the final 2023 Somernites Cruise Classic and Custom Car Show.
“It’s a beautiful day, perfect weather, great crowd,” Somernites executive director Keith Floyd said. “I’m tickled to death.”
The featured car of the month was the Tri-Five Chevy, iconic models from 1955 to ’57; there were 125, out of a total of 878 cars in attendance Saturday afternoon, but they were the dozen or so Model A and Model T cars parked around Plaza de la Font that might have been the most classics from this month’s fair.
The original Model A was the first car produced by the Ford company, in 1903, although the Model A produced between 1927 and 1931 is more relevant to car collectors today; on the one hand, it has a roof. The Model T has gone down in history as the automobile that introduced such travel to most Americans, the first to be considered affordable for the middle class, and was manufactured between 1908 and 1927.
Larry Oltmann of Clarksville, Tenn. attended Somernites Cruise for the first time, bringing his 1922 Ford Model T touring car with him. It’s something of a family heirloom for Oltmann.
“This has been well in the family since at least 1932 – this is the oldest document we have,” he said. “My great uncle owned it; it was the only car he ever owned. He drove it until ’56 (and) passed it on to a couple of great aunts and they didn’t use it for anything and they gave it away to my father in ’57.
“Dad and Mom had it in parades and gave rides to friends and family in the ’60s and ’70s,” Oltmann continued. “It got stuck in the shed around 1980. Then my mum wanted to fix it up for her 100th birthday last year, for the local parade.”
The car was in “pretty rough shape” when it was taken out of the shed, Oltmann said, but it was restored and now “runs great.”
He decided to bring the car to Somernites after seeing Cruise members selling raffle tickets at another car show. “This is the first I’ve heard of the Somernites,” he said. “I saw they were showing the Model Ts, so I thought, ‘I’m just going to run over… It’s a really cool show.’
It may be the first time for Oltmann, but not for Doug Hurst of neighboring London, Kentucky, who regularly attends Somernites with different cars, who treats them, but he saw a good opportunity to bring his own Model A, a 1931 Ford Roadster.
Despite its age, “it’s a nice car to drive,” Hurst said. He’s done very little work, he said, though it’s held up well, and he still gets out and drives it occasionally.
“That’s really cool,” he said of the cruising showcase of these vehicles. “You all do a good job here.”
Paul Hewitt with the Hay Bale Monster Truck at Saturday’s Somernites Cruise.
Another frequent Somernites Cruise visitor is Paul Hewitt of Dabney in northern Pulaski County. His “Hay Bale Monster Truck,” featuring the body of a 1965 Chevy pickup truck placed on giant hay bales painted to look like wheels, making the truck appear much larger than it actually is, has become an autumn tradition at Somernites Cruise. , with a large number of people stopping to take a photo with her.
“I used to make pumpkin faces out of hay bales, and one day I got to thinking, ‘Why doesn’t it have wheels? Why don’t I put a truck on it?'” Hewitt said. “I bought (the truck) for $800 about 30 years ago and it sat there for (years) before I did this.”
The attraction caught Hot Rod’s attention online about nine years ago, Hewitt noted: “It had 10,000 likes and was shared 7,200 times (with) 300 and some comments. It was (seen in) Australia , Iceland, Canada, Hawaii, all over the world. I took an $800 truck and four bales of hay and drove around the world.”
Hewitt said this is his ninth season bringing the automotive creation to the Cruiser and he enjoys the excitement it brings to the crowd as a perfect fall complement to the auto show.
“It’s a lot of work to place it and all that stuff”, he said, noting that it takes all day to paint the bales and get the truck on it, with a backhoe and two tractors, “but it’s also a lot of fun . “
Festive Halloween decorations could be seen throughout the Somernites Cruise on Saturday afternoon in central Somerset.
Since it’s so close to Halloween, festive sights can be seen throughout the cruise, with decorative skeletons in the cars and utility areas, and bowls of candy.
All season long, people have been buying raffle tickets for a chance at a 2023 Gatormade 18-foot trailer or the 1971 Ford Mustang convertible, sponsored by Alton Blakley Ford. They were given away near the end of Saturday’s show, with Jimmie Walden of Cincinnati winning the Mustang and Mickey Skaggs of Elizabethtown, Ky. (who bought a ticket online) winning the trailer.
