Tag: vintage cars

Long Live the RAT FINK!

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A Fun Documentary about Ed “Big Daddy” Roth and His RAT FINK

Greetings Cruisers! We’re all gear-heads and grew up in the ’50s, ’60s, and ’70s. It was IMPOSSIBLE back then to attend a car event without seeing Ed “Big Daddy” Ed Roth‘s classic ANTI-MICKEY MOUSE, the Rat Fink.

While Mickey was all about cute, wholesome, family-safe fun, the Rat Fink was ugly, stinky, had pointy bad teeth, was obnoxious green, had blood-shot bulging eyes, drove recklessly, burned rubber all the time, and had flies buzzing around him that he would sometimes eat!

“You RAT FINK!!!”

The video is funny, irreverent, and has charming animations. Actor John Goodman does the voice-over of Ed telling his story. A handful of famous actors add their voices to the story.

See if your ear can spot Ann Margret!

When Ed was a pioneer in the Hot rod culture, there were t-shirts, decals, model kits, posters, and more; with Roth’s vision of the Anti-Mickey Mouse and anti-hero characters and car-toons If you do searches on Amazon and eBay, you’ll find all kinds of Ed Roth and Rat Fink vintage products. Some of the old Rat Fink comic books are surprisingly expensive. Continue reading “Long Live the RAT FINK!” →

11-12-22 “Veterans Day” Car & Bike Show Announcement

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Lunch is on US!

Greetings, Cruisers! Our next Lake Country Cruisers Car & Bike Show will be on Saturday, November 12, from 10 am. to 2 pm. at the Lake Placid American Legion. Since Veterans Day is the day before, Friday, November 11, we decided the give a special “thanks” to our Great Cruiser Vets.

Every Veteran that registers a car will get a ticket for a FREE LUNCH inside the Legion’s “Mess Hall” dining room!

Also, our Kettle Corn vendor friend, and Dave the Divine Ice Cream man will also be at the show.

Since Veterans Day falls just before our show, we thought, why not help to make it, “Veterans Day Weekend”? Continue reading “11-12-22 “Veterans Day” Car & Bike Show Announcement” →

Vintage V-12 Race Cars – Fire and Fury

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This is why we LOVE machines!

Hey Cruisers! We all love “machines”. I just found this fascinating YouTube video featuring old race cars from the teens-to-the 1940s that were powered by V-12 aircraft engines! A few are newly-built, but they all have HUGE engines.

 

I found the oldest cars to be the most interesting because these beasts were built and raced not too long after Henry Ford’s Model T came out in 1908. In 1901 Henry won his first and only “race” in a car of his own construction at the Grosse Pointe race track, in Grosse Pointe, Michigan with a top speed of 72 mph and an average World Record breaking average speed of 65.79-mph!

It’s amazing how these cars, some of which are over 100 years old are still around and functioning!

They’re all about FIRE and FURY! This is serious, BIG FUN!

 

As I was watching this I thought, “No one is going to have this much fun with electric race cars!

Just a reminder, we are still on for our visit to George Haddad’s Fabulous Restorations Hot Rod shop, in Fort Lauderdale on Sunday, November 6, 2022.

It’s a fairly long ride, so we are suggesting that we carpool for the trip. If your machine is up for the trip, I know that George would love to see your car.

We will be meeting at Tabby’s parking lot on the south end of Lake Placid, on the right side of Rt. 27 as you are driving south, Sunday, November 6, 2022, at 8 am so that we can leave at 8:30. We’ll be making a rest stop in Moorhaven. Continue reading “Vintage V-12 Race Cars – Fire and Fury” →

We’re Invited to Fabulous Restorations Hot Rod Shop!

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ROAD TRIP!!! Come visit a genuine “palace” of a hot rod shop!

Dateline: 10-17-22 – Greetings Cruisers! My friend George Haddad, owner of Fabulous Restorations “Hot Rod Shop” has invited Lake Country Cruisers for the full tour of his amazing hot rod shop, in Fort Lauderdale, Florida on Sunday, November 6, from 11 am to 1 pm.

George is a Detroit native and as a teenager growing up in Detroit, George was part of the Woodward Avenue Cruise’n and Stop-Light Grand Prix street scene. When George entered the job market he went to work for Chrysler while taking business courses in college.

By the early ’70s, George started taking long weekends and vacationing in Fort Lauderdale to escape the brutal Detroit winters. It didn’t take long for George to escape Michigan and take up residence in warm, sunny Fort Lauderdale.

Soon after arriving in Fort Lauderdale for good, George opened his first shop offering custom painting services for South Florida’s vibrant car culture. There was no going back to Detroit from there. His business kept growing and today George is in his largest shop that offers full-service hot rod, restoration, race car refreshes, engine-building, and painting services.

His latest shop is a hot rodder’s palace! No kidding! The foyer and entranceway are miniature memorabilia museums, filled with floor-to-ceiling posters, model cars, books, magazines, and just neat car stuff.

The shop is as neat as a pin and decorated with posters and art. Designated work areas include a paint booth, engine build room, storage areas for parts and supplies, and lots of lifts with all kinds of cars in various stages of work.

You could say that George has “gasoline in his veins!” Building hot street machines is George’s thing and he’s been at it for over forty-five years! Continue reading “We’re Invited to Fabulous Restorations Hot Rod Shop!” →

Cruisers Donates $200 to DeSoto County Veterans Service Office Relief Fund

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THANKS, EVERYONE!!!

Dateline: 10.14.22 – Greetings Cruisers! If you were at our Car & Bike Show last Saturday you saw that we had some company in the parking lot. American Legion Department of Florida, Department Disaster Preparedness Chair, Bill Hoppner, and Convoy Advance Unit leader, Bob Neely with The Military Vehicle Preservation Association 2021 Yellowstone Trail Section Convoy were there. A full team of volunteers was on hand to offload supply trucks and place supplies into pickups with trailers for the Gulf Coast relief effort. Continue reading “Cruisers Donates $200 to DeSoto County Veterans Service Office Relief Fund” →

Lake Country Cruisers October Car & Bike Show

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The official start of the 2022/2023 Season (Slide Show Below!)

Dateline: 10.10.22 – Greetings Cruisers! Our October Car & Bike Show was a blast! With post-Ian cooler and dry weather hanging on, it was a great day for a car show.

Before I get into specifics, we shared the American Legion parking lot with some fine citizens. American Legion Department of Florida, Department Disaster Preparedness Chair, Bill Hoppner, and Convoy Advance Unit leader, Bob Neely with The Military Vehicle Preservation Association 2021 Yellowstone Trail Section Convoy were on hand.

The Legion and the MVPA used a portion of the Legion parking lot as a staging area for the relief effort for Fort Meyers, Punta Gorda, Arcadia, and other areas of western Florida that were savaged by Hurricane Ian. Continue reading “Lake Country Cruisers October Car & Bike Show” →

Upcoming Schedule of Events from October 2022 into January 2023

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Lots of NEW STUFF to share!

Dateline: 9.25.22 – Greetings Cruisers! A lot has come together and we wanted to bring you up to speed.

We typically have a Car & Bike Show and a Meet’n Eat Cruisers Luncheon every month, but there are a few new developments.

Destination Event to Fabulous Restorations

First, Lake Country Cruisers have been invited to George Haddad’s “Fabulous Restorations” hot rod shop, in Fort Lauderdale, on Sunday, November 6, 2022. George’s hot rod shop is a car guy’s palace! Fabulous Restorations has been in business for over 40 years and is a full-service shop; Restorations, Engine Building, Paint, Fabrication, Full Restomod builds, and more. Continue reading “Upcoming Schedule of Events from October 2022 into January 2023” →

Cruisers Gather at Mr. Sammy’s For Our September Meet’n Eat!

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Great Food! Good Company! Good Time!

Dateline: 9.24.22 – Greetings, Cruisers! We did it again. We racked up another happy Meet’n Eat Event, this time at Mr. Sammy’s (on the roundabout) in downtown Lake Placid, Florida. Mr. Sammy has been very generous in his support for Lake Country Cruisers with a 50/50 Gift Certificate that we gave away as a runner-up prize at our Labor Day Cruisers Show on September 3, 2022. That’s a nice’a, nice “Dinner For Two”!

Former President, Donald Trump and Florida’s GREAT Governor, Ron DeSantis happened to be in town and stopped by for a slice of Sammy’s pizza! (JUST KIDDING!)

Seven Cruisers tied on the Italian Feed Bag. We had Chicken Parmesan, Cauliflower Pizza, Stromboli (Jack Murphy’s first!), and Pepperoni Pizza. Everything was more than delicious!

In attendance were; Mary Carol Plott, John Meyerhoff, Scott & Karen Teeters, Jack Murphy, Ron Ellerman, and Pete Richie.

A BIG Congrats to our Pete Richie for being inducted into the Lake Placid Chamber of Commerce Hall of Fame for his leadership in running the biggest Caladium Festival Car & Bike Show last July. Continue reading “Cruisers Gather at Mr. Sammy’s For Our September Meet’n Eat!” →

Lake Country Cruisers Pizza Party at Mr. Sammy’s!

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Next Cruisers Meet’n Eat at Mr. Sammy’s, September 22, 2022, 2 PM to 4 PM

Dateline: 9.15.22 – Greetings Cruisers! You smell that? Yea! Pizza!

Yes, we’re going to tie on the Old Feed Bag at Mr. Sammy’s again, next week, September 22, 2022, from 2 pm to 4 pm.

Actually, Mr. Sammy has all kinds of Italian food; pasta dishes including Chicken, Veal, and Eggplant Parm, Salads, Strombolis, Calzones, cold subs, and hot subs that you can choose from.

And it’s ALL GOOD!

And, you can wash it all down with a beer, if you want! Continue reading “Lake Country Cruisers Pizza Party at Mr. Sammy’s!” →

Lake Country Cruisers Labor Day 2022 Car & Bike Show – SLIDE SHOW

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A VERY good time was had by all!

Dateline: 9.8.22 Check out the Slide Show at the bottom – Last month Pete, Ron, and I decided to break tradition with our Car & Bike Show schedule and have a Labor Day show. Why? Because we just love doing them! (so does the American Legion!) And why not have some car show fun?

Considering that it was a holiday weekend and it was hot, not “warm”, it was HOT; we were happy with our turnout. We had 45 Cruisers come out for our Car Party. Yes, we were “Sweating To The Oldies”!

Click the above panoramic photo to see the BIG version!

Our Cruiser of the Month was Angel & Trish Mason. They brought one of their rides, a 1966 Plymouth Barracuda Fastback. I can’t remember the last time I saw a ’66 Barracuda with that BIG glass fastback rear window. So cool!

Our lucky 50/50 Winner was Dan Ryan and he went home with $135! Continue reading “Lake Country Cruisers Labor Day 2022 Car & Bike Show – SLIDE SHOW” →

What is Labor Day?

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Labor Day is more than a day for appliance sales

Dateline: 9-1-22: Greetings Cruisers! We are just about to roll into Labor Day Weekend, which for many Americans signals to official “end of summer”. Summer-like weather will be the daily norm for us Floridians for several more months, so our “summer” continues pretty much “as is”.

But, as we were getting ready for this weekend’s Lake Country Cruisers Labour Day Car Show, it gave me cause to ask myself about the history of Labor Day. The start of the holiday is as rough and tumble as any industrial and construction project from the 1880s, as you might expect. Continue reading “What is Labor Day?” →

Lake Country Cruisers YouTube Channel is Live!

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Soon we will be posting YouTube videos of our Lake Country Cruisers Car & Bike Shows

Dateline: 8.29.22 – Greetings Cruisers! Starting a YouTube Channel is something that’s been on my Cruisers Wish List since the beginning of the year. But, you know what happens when a project doesn’t have a Due Date, it doesn’t get done!

So, I just had to kick myself in the butt and say, “Get’r done, Son!” Last weekend the Lake Country Cruisers YouTube Channel went Live! Since we managed the Caladium Festival Car & Bike Show last July, I started the YouTube Channel off with a slide show, with rock’n music of the Caladium event.

To go to the Channel, CLICK HERE!

And, as all YouTube Channels say, be sure to smash that Thumbs Up button, hit the Subscribe link, and check the “bell” graphic so you’ll be notified when new videos are posted.

Also, a small group of Cruisers got together Monday morning for breakfast at Morty & Edna’s eatery in downtown Lake Placid. The food and service were excellent.

And lastly, don’t forget that we have a Labor Day Weekend Car & Bike Show at the American Legion, on Rt. 27 in Lake Placid, 10 am to 2 pm. This will be a full-out “Lake Country Cruisers Car & Bike Show” with great door prizes, a juicy 50/50, lunch at the Legion’s Mess Hall, and a Cruiser of the Month award. Just $5 at the entrance.

Make some car show fun part of your Labor Day weekend! See you all there! – Scott, Pete, & Ron

PS – Bring your flags! Let’s festoon the Legion’s parking lot with America’s Red, White, and Blue!

 

Cruisers Party-Hardy At DOCK 633… Again!

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Back again to DOCK for another great Meet’n Eat

Dateline 8.23.22 – Cruisers did it again! We tied on the Ol’ Feed Bag at Dock 633 in Lake Placid for the second time this year! It was hot outside (what else would it be in August in Lake Placid?) but perfectly cool in Dock’s back room.

We had fourteen Cruisers attend. Cruisers included; Jack Murphy,Pete Richie, Ron Ellerman, Paul Fry and his friend Angela, Jim Maze, Bob and Caroline Rapp, Martin and Wendy Striegel, Jim Schindlbeck, and Karl Hoskinson.

The service was excellent, the eats were delicious, we solved all the world’s problems, and did some most excellent bench racing!

Our next Meet’n Eat will be at Mr. Sammy’s N.Y. Style PIZZA “A Bistro and Italian Cuisine” on the ‘Round-About”, across the street from Devane Park (Home of the Caladium Festival Car & Bike Show) in beautiful downtown Lake Placid. Date to be announced. Continue reading “Cruisers Party-Hardy At DOCK 633… Again!” →

Party With the Cruisers on Saturday of Labor Day Weekend!

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Special Labor Day Weekend Summer Event, Lake Placid American Legion, September 3, 2022

Dateline: 8.15.22 – We got some interesting questions at the Caladium Festival Car & Bike Show, as well as several of our breakfast and Meet’n Eat luncheons. Basically this, “When is the next Lake Country Cruisers Car & Bike Show?”. And we answered, “Well, on October 8.” Then we hear, “Oh, no shows until then?”

So, we got to thinking.

Last year we had two summer special events at the Plaza Journal, one on Independence Day Weekend and the other on Labor Day Weekend. The grassy courtyard next to Wet Dogs Brewing is torn up and under construction. After a new building is up, the courtyard will be restored.

Since we had a Father’s Day Show and the Caladium Show Car & Bike Show, let’s do a Labor Day Show at the American Legion! The American Legion management agreed and asked us to remind everyone that the Legion’s kitchen Mess Hall and Bar will be Open For Business!

So, here’s the deal! The “Lake Country Cruisers Show’n Shine Labor Day Car & Bike Show” will be at the Lake Placid American Legion, on Rt. 27, on Saturday, September 3rd, 2022, from 10 am to 2 pm. We will announce Door Prizes around 12-noon and announce the 50/50 Winner at 1:30 pm. And don’t forget, there will be a sweet 50/50 Runnerup Winner!

Admission will be $5 at the Sign-In table; Door Prizes will be given, and very generous 50/50 tickets will be available under the tent. 50/50 tickets are 10-tickets for $10 and 40-tickets for $20. Our 50/50 ticket payouts have been growing, so be sure to get some!

So shine up your ride, and bring your cooler and tent! It’s a Labor Day Car Show Party! – Scott, Pete, & Ron

PS – Bring your flags to the car show!

PSS – Our next Cruisers Meet’n Eat is this Thursday, August 19th at Dock 633, on Lake June Rd., in Lake Placid. Bring your appetite, the foods is GOOD! See map below.PSS

The Caladium Festival Car & Bike Show Was a BIG Hit!

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A record number of cars, attendees, and a $1,000 50/50 payout!

Dateline: 8.8.2022 Photos by K. Scott Teeters, except where noted – Lake Country Cruisers has expanded our horizons. Last year, after nearly two decades of service, Bob Larson retired as the Caladium Festival Car & Bike Show Chairman. Pete Richie stepped forward and said, “Well then, I’ll do it.” and Ron Ellerman and I said, “We’re with you too, Pete!”

In the last twelve months, Pete, Ron, and I have managed ten car shows; the 2021 Independence Day and the Labor Day shows at The Journal Plaza, adjacent to Wet Dogs Brewing; plus eight shows at the Lake Placid America Legion. While the Caladium Festival Car & Bike Show was a bigger event, we were confident.

By all accounts, this year’s Caladium Car & Bike Show was a HUGE success. According to Jerry Meisenheimer of the Highlands News-Sun report, there were a record-number 280 cars, trucks, and motorcycles stuffed into the Devanne Park, in beautiful downtown Lake Placid. Jerry reported, “The best word to describe the July 30th event is, “WOW”. Continue reading “The Caladium Festival Car & Bike Show Was a BIG Hit!” →