PHOTO GALLERY FROM AARON MANUEL MEMORIAL CRUIZE-IN 5/15/2015

I just uploaded 115 photos of cars and trucks from the May 15, 2015 Aaron Manuel Memorial Cruize-In held in Stoneville, NC. The show was 3 years ago but the vehicles at the show were awesome and are still great to look at. Check this show and others out online in the Photo Galleries page of www.Cruisers.blog. Don't forget to submit your vehicle online to be considered for a possible feature on the blog.

 

New Postcard for www.Cruisers.blog

Getting ready to start spreading the word with these new postcards about our new website and blog www.cruisers.blog

1957 Plymouth Belvedere Video

This video has an awesome story about a 1957 Plymouth Belvedere that was burried underground for 50 years. Not the ending everyone hoped for. Check it out.

Aaron Manuel Memorial Cruize-In Stoneville, NC

The Aaron Manuel Memorial Cruize-In in Stoneville, NC is something that Michael Manuel started several years ago in the memory of his dad Aaron after he lost his battle with cancer. Aaron ran a local garage and he loved classic cars, street rods or anything that was a cool ride. The very first Cruize-In pulled in over 100 vehicles and it has been an awesome turn out every since. It is held the 3rd Friday evening of every month from April to September of each year. They have a 50/50 drawing every week and the proceeds go to the Barry L. Joyce Local Cancer Support Fund. A DJ is there at ever show to to make the perfect atmosphere in the downtown streets. Make sure to mark your calendar and come by to see some beautiful cars and trucks. The event goes from 5:00 pm to 8:00 pm each night.

Freedom Park Music and Cruz-In Eden, NC

The City of Eden, NC  Parks & Recreation Department has a Cruz-in at the Freedom Park off of Stadium Drive on the last Saturday of every month from April to October. The events start at 5:30 of each night except for October and that is to be announced. They have a festival that day. Every night of the Cruz-in features a band that starts playing at 6:30. It is a free event. Bring your lawn chair and enjoy the cars and music. They have a 50/50 drawing, cornhole, concessions, door prizes and more.

REIDSVILLE DOWNTOWN CRUISE-IN - REIDSVILLE, NC

Reidsville, NC is the location for the Reidsville Downtown Cruise-In that is held the 2nd Friday of each month from April to September each year. The streets are closed at 5:30 for a night of fun from 6:00 pm to 9:00 pm. The Cruise-In is open to vehicles that are 1987 or older. Usually the streets are full of classic cars and street rods and many of the merchants stay open for the event. The 2018 schedule for the rest of the year is May 11th, June 8th, July 13th, August 10th and September 14th. Make sure to mark your calendar and check it out.

1932 Chevrolet Landau Phaeton - Russell Hill Eden, NC

This post takes me back awhile and brings back a lot of memories with it. My first national magazine photo assignment was for Rod Action Magazine in 1985 to photograph a 1932 Chevrolet Landau Phaeton owned by Russell Hill of Eden, NC. Out of that photo shoot became a life long friendship with Russell. Unfortunately he passed away several years ago but the images of his awesome car still remain.

The magazine editor specifically wanted a white colonial style house for the photo shoot and we made arrangements to shoot at the big white house on the Dan Valley Road in Madison. The day of the shoot we came around the curve and the house had been painted yellow. We started to call off the shoot but we did it anyway. The editor was pleased and we ended up with a full spread and several other pages in the April, 1985 issue of Rod Action Magazine.

This rare car was unique because it could be converted from the open feel of a phaeton to a sedan by replacing the detachable B-pillars and rolling up the windows. Russell Hill purchased this car out of New York. Russell had a furniture and wood working shop and Eden and he put all of those skills to work replacing the rotten wood frame beneath the  steel exterior, the wooden top frames and the custom built dash with inlays. He also did a lot of paint finishing by taking one piece at a time into his shop and painting them in his spray booth and then reassembled them. The paint job had a deep shine that was unrivaled in the area and won best paint job at a lot of car shows. It featured a base coat of gold lacquer and a top layer of brandywine lacquer to give it the rich tone. The rich finish was accomplished by using multiple grades of Mirror Glaze and a lot of elbow grease.

Underneath the beautiful car was a modified Corvair IFS front end with Pinto coil springs. Russell built the upper control arms to go along with it. The rear suspension consisted of a fully chromed Corvette IRS with a 9-leaf spring. The engine that was installed was a 1966 Chevy 327 small block with lots of chrome parts including the oil pan, water pump and timing cover and it had a stainless steel fan. The engine also featured a Holley 600 cfm four-barrel carb and an Edelebrock intake manifold. The transmission was a Turbo 350 .

The interior featured original seats that were recovered in black leather along with black nylon carpet. The dash was created in solid walnut with burl hearts and moon inlays. The center dash insert was replaced with Stewart-Warner instruments.

This car caught the attention of every hot rodder out there. I'm not sure what happened to the car after Russell's passing. Hopefully it is in good hands to be cherished in the future. Russell will always be missed and I am so thankful the friendship and the magazine assignment that came my way.