Log Cabin Car show

A bevy of ‘Vettes, and a Cobra, sun in the Log Cabin parking-lot. (Photo by BobbaLew.)

“You gotta go to the Log Cabin Car show,” said my friend Jim LePore (“luh-POOR”).
Log Cabin is a restaurant east of Rochester (NY). It would hold a Kruze-Nite car show Wednesday, June 3rd.
Jim, like me, is a widower. Like me he is also a car-guy.
He bought a flashy 2010 Camaro SS, mainly to show. It’s white, and he named it after his late wife, “Shirley.”
About all he does is drive it to shows.
I would drive out to Jim’s house, and together we would drive our cars to the show. I would also take my crazy dog, Scarlett (two “Ts;” as in “Scarlett O’Hara”).
I arrived at his house at 3 p.m., and we began the long trek to the show.
It was crystal-clear; not a cloud in the sky.
When we arrived a few cars were set up in the parking-lot, so Jim also set up, and dusted off his car.
Cars kept coming in. An old Ford truck, souped up with a recent V8, pulled in beside us.
I was sat in one of Jim’s lawn-chairs, but Scarlett decided she wanted to go somewhere else. I was pulled sideways, the lawn-chair tipped, and I was dumped on the ground.
“Here, let me help you up,” said the Ford-truck guy, a wiry gentleman about my age.
“Here comes that Falcon,” Ford truck-guy said; “800+ horsepower and 756 pounds of torque.”
The Falcon parked far away under a shade-tree, so truck-guy left to be with him.
Not many cars were present when we showed up, but they kept coming. We were lined up in the sun with a brace of new Corvettes. A beautiful 1956 Ford two-door hardtop also showed up. Things were getting interesting.
The restaurant had set up a food concession outside, with tables.
A lady was manning it with strident commands. “She reminds me of my first Army drill-sergeant,” Jim said.
“You can’t bring your dog over here,” she bellowed at me.
“You can’t have that,” I yelled at Scarlett, who was eyeing the hamburger rolls.
I got a cheeseburger; I shared it with Scarlett at the end.
A Z-28 Camaro came in: rumpita-rumpita!
“Sounds awful cammy,” I said to its owner.
“Is it a 302?” I asked.
“Nope, 454 Big-Block, and I just put that cam in, and it’s probably too much.”
Attendees fell into two groups: -1) the old guys with ‘70s musclecars, and -2) the youngsters with tricked-out four-cylinder cars with the noisy soup-can exhaust, Hondas, Mazdas, Acuras, whatever.
Everything was showing up; rumpita-rumpita Camaros and SS Chevelles, also a W-30 Oldsmobile 4-4-2.
There also was a parking area for motorcycles, mostly loud Harleys. But the only ones paying attention were the bikers.
A strung-out Volkswagen Bug arrived, tuned to the moon, and also an old Jaguar, I think an XK-140.
The standout was a white Ferrari with a dealer-plate.


458 Italia. (Photo by BobbaLew.)

It was a a 458 Italia, and has a V8 engine of 4.5 liters; 562 horsepower.
I always wanted a Ferrari, but the closest I ever got was a Ferrari mousepad for my computer.
It costs $243,090 to $295,494, and is capable of 202 mph. But as I said once before, where do you do 200 mph? Will it idle in a traffic-jam, or overheat? Seems auto-transit has become hurry-up-and wait.
Come six o’clock I had to leave, but things were getting interesting.
I looked one last time at the 800-horsepower Falcon.
“Okay, what is it?” I asked, pointing to the engine.
“A 454 cubic-inch Small-Block Ford, based on their Windsor engine.”
A giant 6-71 GMC supercharger was on top with two four-barrel carburetors.
“The block is made by Drake [I think]; it’s not a Ford part.”
“Been dynoed?” a guy asked.
“800-whatever horsepower; 756 pounds of torque.”
Probably three mpg or less, and the guy drove it to the show. About all you could do was drag-race it.
After that I left, but passed innumerable cars probably headed for the show, including a yellow Porsche (“POOR-sha”) Boxter with its top down, and a red Alfa-Romeo GTA coupe.
When I left, Jim was jawing with my neighbor up-the-street who had come in his beautiful 25th Anniversary Corvette he can’t sell. He had it down to $9,500.
Jim and my neighbor were both independent truckers.

• My beloved wife of over 44 years died of cancer April 17th, 2012. I miss her dearly.