Amagansett - The Annual Bonac Cruisers Classic Car Show was held in Amagansett over Memorial Day Weekend, and drew a huge crowd of auto enthusiasts to the grounds of the American Legion.

A 1950 red Ford Krestliner.

This car show is as close to pure camp as you can get. The automotive display hit those of us of a certain age with a happy nostalgia of a less complicated time before the Cold War.

This show had it all - these redesigned roadsters were originally associated with 'Cookie' and his comb, "77 Sunset Strip," Elvis Presley, chicken races, drag strips, and all the pop car movies of the 1950s.

Old Friends
A celebration of classic coupes, hot rods, show cars and roadsters lovingly and passionately restored with slicks and/or rear whitewalls sparkled in the sun. Slicks are those old tires from the drag strip that are wide with no tread. Small front wheels, often with motorcycle fenders and hot V-8 engines with lots of goodies such as chrome pipes, six-pack Weber carbuerators, Holly double pumpers or super chargers, chrome valve covers, and Iskenderian cams were all included. Hey, some people have forgotten this vocabulary rift - some haven't - me - I'll never forget these giants of 'cool' and 'hip' and how we described the 'ride' and the building of the backyard specials.

A 1956 Ford Fairlane.

Some of us can still remember the Bazooka or Wa-Wa exhaust pipes with or without the cut-off valves, making them sound like dragsters and the loud motorcycles of the "new" Harley craze - BUT LOUDER.

Known as a "ride," these cars can be modified into hot rods by being lowered and chopped with special sculptured front and rear lights and grills from other cars - giving them the ultimate rod treatment with or without painted flames and pinstripes.

A 1949 Studebaker.

Seen At The 'Car-Hop'
 • A "James Dean" 1949 Mercury with lower black paint and wheel skirts with Cadillac hubcaps. The ride on view has the medallion - Dean's ride did not.

 • A 1950 red Ford Krestliner - nosed, and decked with mohair interior. This model is often seen with a two-tone paint job and sometimes a two-tone interior. The lightweight and streamlining made a big difference in this vehicle because it made it fast. They are usually seen with such appointments as windshield visors, adjustable spotlights, skirts and moon hubcaps, and/or Cadillac hubs and other accessories. This ride will bring back those memories of car calendars hanging in the garage.

 • A 1956 Ford Fairlane, blue and white, super sleek long skirts, with a "Continental Kit" (the wheel is mounted on the outside of the trunk with chrome rim around it and sometimes painted in the center with a design), and with double trim around the rear window - with the radio on maybe Buddy Holly could be heard.

 • A 1949 Studebaker, two-tone blue/gray truck which influenced the late 1990s Dodge truck design - reincarnated with its great airflow fenders. Even the grill has the four boxes.

A 1949 black Buick classic - a movie favorite.

Best In Show
 • A 1949 black Buick classic - you know this one - featured in numerous movies. The grill, scoops on the side, and lots of chrome entitle this behemoth cruiser to be crowned the last king before the wraparound windshield.

 • A 1953 white Corvette with red leather upholstery; and wire over the headlights. This is a hot rod - and one of the first factory customized cars right off the assembly line.

A 1953 Corvette.

Sports
A dozen dune buggies with great paint jobs, nifty details, roll-bars, and bucket seats. One dune buggy, with circa 1962 components, had a suped up Corvair motor with high compression pistons and chassie. Disguised by the traditional dune buggy shell it makes it look like the others - but those in the know call this baby a 'sleeper' (it may look like the others but goes faster than light).

A "Deuce" hot rod, with a V-8 engine.

Goodies On View
Carbuerators, headers (short, straight chrome exhaust pipes), super-chargers that almost double the horsepower (forced air into the motor), and in a few trunks, bottles of nitrous oxide gas which when added to the intake is like an afterburn for a short, drag race rocket ride.

Mention Must Be Made
The Hudson Hornet, circa 1950, although not present at this show, was the sexiest commercial car ever produced in my opinion, (and others will agree) - long, lanky and pretty - where was it in this array of same era vehicles - many of us searched for it.

At this show the gang had a blast - the hard core enthusiasts added to the under the radar occult - fondly reminding us that we are still competing with the motorcycle cop behind the billboard and the backseat population explosion.