I was digging through some old photo files from August 2012 recently and these pictures fired up an old topic.
The photos were from Super Run 2012 and they were taken on the Friday night of the event but there was one big problem.
The pictures were full of party crashers.
One of the biggest events of Super Run was the downtown cruise because it’s a parade of old iron making passes through the downtown core.
This is a spectacular event because it takes place in a part of town where people disappear after 6 PM so the old iron was a welcome attraction to the downtown area.
The idea was to recreate what it was like back in the 1950s or 60s when the center of town was a hub of activity and car guys showed off their rides.
This was a remarkable night because they attracted thousands of spectators out for a trip back in time on a balmy summer evening.
The streets were full of classic rides but my files also revealed some unwanted guests.
There were giant trucks in the middle of some very cool rides and it was like a loud, obnoxious and uninvited drunk guy cracking jokes during a wedding reception.
Very few people were downtown that night to see someone cruising in their SUV. This is a lot like stepping on the field in the middle of a Yankees game or driving your Honda Civic down pit road during the Daytona 500.
There’s a reason the organizers of car shows often set a limit on what does or doesn’t qualify as a classic, but there’s a good chance the spectators weren’t lined up to see your new SUV.
Some of this attitude can be attributable to laziness because it’s a lot more comfortable to tour around in air-conditioned comfort than spend a few hours on the street but what these guys miss is the actual show.
I spent some time in three old rides in traffic at the Super Run in 2009 and it was pretty cool, but I didn’t really experience the show until I jumped out and watched it from the sidewalk.
It was definitely a rush to take pictures from a 40s, 50s and 60s car that night but the real show was watching them from the sidelines.
Those three cars were classics and they actually belonged in the cruise, but there’s no way you could convince me to ride around in something that came out of a showroom last week.
That’s why the photo files from 2012 were so offensive because common sense disappeared in a wave of brand new iron. They had no idea what’s cool and their lack of common sense ruined over 200 shots in the photo files.
These guys were party crashers and they weren’t even smart enough to realize it.
Jerry Sutherland
