Cruisin’ the “Dub 2007”
by Gary Porter

For the past several summers, the A& W drive in restaurant in Woodside, Nova Scotia and the adjacent Woodside ferry terminal parking lot have been the gathering point on Thursday evenings. for car enthusiasts from Halifax, Dartmouth and surrounding areas. 250 or so cars from antiques to hot rods, from muscle cars to tuners can been seen there on any given Thursday evening. And, of course, there are always a few members of the Classic Chevy Club there

 

Earlier this spring, when the cars started gathering for the 2007 season, talk began about an A&W in B.C. claiming the record of 499 cars at a cruise night. The challenge was on. It was decided that on August 23, 2007, we would try to get 500 cars to claim the record. As the summer progressed, regulars at the Thursday evening cruise would let newcomers know of the upcoming record attempt.

After much anticipation in the car community, August 23rd finally arrived and it was a beautiful summer day. Many of us predicted that we would get over 400 cars, but 500 seemed very optimistic. Wanting to be sure of a good parking spot for the event, Hazel and I arrived at 3:45 p.m. There were about a dozen cars there at that time. They kept coming at a steady pace, sometimes ten at a time. A group from Truro arrived including Arnold Neil and Darlene Simpson in their 1957 150 two door sedan.

 

On a regular cruise night, most people arrive from about six o’clock onward. However, by 6:00 on the 23rd, the 400 mark had been reached. There was no question now that we would top 500. Cars were coming from all directions. Soon more cars were in the area than the roads could handle. Traffic ground to a crawl on the Circumferential Highway taking as long as a half hour to go a mile. The count passed 500, then 600. Cars were parked everywhere and anywhere including places they shouldn’t. Adjacent parking areas for nearby businesses were pressed into service. And they still kept coming.

Word quickly spread as the total continued to climb, 700, then 800, then 900 and finally the unthinkable 1000 mark. While some cars left more continued to arrive. At 1180, the counting officially stopped. This was a very good showing considering promotion for the event was little more than word of mouth and a few e-mails. Although I did not get a count, the Classic Chevy Club was well represented.

 

It was difficult to get a good look at so many cars in the span of a few hours. However, there was something for every taste. Two Bricklins sat side by side. Two rare NASCAR Monte Carlos aero coupes could also be seen, one belonging to fellow club member Mike Fulmore. There were T buckets, ‘40 Fords, ‘55-‘57 Chevys, Crown Victorias, Camaros, Mustangs, Road Runners. There were cars that were stone stock. There were hot rods. There were muscle cars. British and European cars were well represented. There were beaters to cars sporting mile deep paint jobs. There was even a 1962 Chevrolet ice cream truck, providing cool treats on that warm evening. It was truly an impressive sight seeing such a diverse selection of automobiles in one spot on that beautiful evening last August 23rd.

Rumour has it that we are going to try to top 1180 next summer!