Although the byline on this post is not longroofian, it is actually by this olelongrooffan. Can’t figure out why a friend of The Chief Blooger got credit for it, although all is good. Based on his online presence, he seems to be a pretty cool dude.

Well, it’s been seven months since this olelongrooffan has generated anything for my fellow Hoons here in the Hooniverse. And I have missed it. But since it’s been seven years since the Hooniverse Overlords granted me a key to the vault that is Hooniverse, maybe that is appropriate. Anyway…
If my fellow Hoons happened to catch the comments in the esteemed Mr. Emslie’s Hooniverse Asks post last Friday, you would have noticed this olelongrooffan responded to his question as to our Memorial Day Weekend plans. Among other things, one of the activities included in that response was the need to get the above shown 1/25 scale diecast Type II to my brother Bus_Plunge to add to his significant collection of diecasts.
Should any of my fellow Hoons be inclined to read a longwinded, kind of all over the place rambling, feel free to make the jump to see what else this olelongrooffan did the Friday before this past holiday weekend.


Back in the mid 1990s, the powers that run the government up there in the Queen City of the Ozarks decided that “Cruisin’ Kearney” was contributing to the misbehavior of some Hoonigans and was detrimental to the entire area. Hence they outlawed “Cruisin’ Kearney” indefinitely. Well, guess what happened my fellow Hoons? Ordinary folk like you and this olelongrooffan quit frequenting Kearney Street and its businesses and commerce in that corridor declined significantly. (Of course, additional geographic growth related factors contributed but in the words of a famous politician, “Keep It Simple, Stupid.”)
Anyways, in an effort to assist in the revitalization of the area and to capitalize on the whole growth in the Historic Route 66 movement, today’s Powers That Be reversed that mid 90s regulation and actually sanctioned Cruisin’ on Kearney once again. Yeah, the first time in over twenty years that we Hoons could cruise that public street without fear of retribution by the Townies in their Black and White Bowtie products.

After dropping off that Type II and doing some horse trading with Bus_Plunge, it was time to head to all points north and check out that cruise-in. On the way, this olelongrooffan spotted some ape hangers on some cool stingrays in the bed of a typical means of transportation round these here parts. Incidentally, the F body Poncho in the lane in front of me did a burnout when leaving every stop light on the route there. Yeah, the smell of burnt rubber permeated the entire cockpit of my longerroof before the pilot of it came to his senses and raised the windows. Memories of fine times at the Daytona International Speedway with thejeepjunkie were realized so that tire smoke was not a bad thing afterall. Luckily for that Hoonigan, no blackandwhites were around at that point.

So this olelongrooffan arrived up on Kearney, of which a portion has been designated as a part of “Historic Route 66,” just not the section being cruised on currently. Funny, memories of Cruisin’ Kearney in my high school days riding shotgun in TheWhizz’s 64 GTO finished in gray primer came to mind and this olelongrooffan realized that we were members of those Hoonigans the City Council outlawed in times past. We were just a couple decades earlier. Ah, the 1970s.

After that trip down memory lane, this olelongrooffan decided finding a spot for my longeroof to take a rest was next on this abbreviated road trip’s highly flexible itinerary. Not surprisingly, as it was, by then, early evening this Friday, the majority of the hibernated for the long weekend business establishments along this newly rediscovered cruise route had left their street side parking lots unbarricaded. A suitable spot was located and this olelongrooffan whipped a Ueee through the Hiland Dairy distribution center parking lot (something The Whizz and this olelongrooffan must have done a hundred times in a previous life) and returned to a then moderately occupied parking lot. And the longerroof found a front row parking spot to catch these modern day Hoons in action.

My fellow Hoons may note, as is demonstrated in the following images, a significant variety of rides chose to put in an appearance for this quasi-historic occasion. This highly modified early 60’s Bowtie was especially nice with the modified body and those wide whites, along with a bunch of other customizations. Not to this olelongrooffan’s taste but this rod looked, and sounded, pretty damn cool.

But this near stock looking ride of the same vintage as that donor truck shown previously was cool in its own right. Incidentally, my high school buddy, The Whizz (so called because his last name is Wissbaum), purchased a flat colored green Bowtie of the same body style after blowing his GTO up yet another time. I’m pretty sure his mom had something to say about that purchase/sale. Yeah, Martha could be pretty firm in her dealings with us teenage boys.
Sorry for this digression my fellow Hoons but the memory of Martha and we teenage boys brought back a memory this olelongrooffan has not had in years.
Prior to moving to the Queen City of the Ozarks in the mid 1960’s, my family lived in Shrewsbury, a bedroom community on the outskirts of that city with the big arch here in the Show-Me state. My Pops was pretty active in the local community and, at the time we moved to the Ozarks, he was on the local town council. Of course he was cronies with a whole bunch of movers and shakers and we youngsters called the Mayor and his wife Uncle Bob and Aunt Ginnie. After we moved to the Ozarks, Aunt Ginnie and Uncle Bob would often visit and spent many a evening with my folks in the den with the door nearly closed. Pops left it opened just enough so we youngsters could hear him when he would holler, “Kids, we need more ice.” Memories are made of this.
Anyways, when the state decided to take over the maintenance of Murdoch and Shrewsbury Avenues from the city of Shrewsbury, my Pops contacted his old buddy to inquire if he could have the street sign which was subsequently removed from that intersection. Needless to say, that street sign ended up in Pops possession and it hung around for quite some time in the garage of our home in the city. When Pops decided to go all Oliver Wendell Douglas on us and move his brood to Haven Lee Farm, that sign fell somewhat into disfavor.
One day The Whizz was out visiting and saw that sign on the dirt floor of one of our outbuildings and asked (the now) TheGentlemanFarmer if he could have it. Of course, Pops regifted that sign to my buddy. For some time it hung in The Whizz’s third floor boy/man cave he called his room in Martha’s house. One day, she made a rare appearance upstairs while this olelongrooffan was visiting and tore us both a new one for stealing street signs. No amount of pleading (Mom, there is not even streets with this name in this town) with her would convince Martha that we did not steal that sign. Although this olelongrooffan was banned from Whizz’s house, TheGentlemanFarmer did catch Martha at church one day and set the record straight. Luckily that sign is now hanging in the second generation Haven Lee Farm garage here in the Ozarks.
Again, this olelongrooffan apologizes for that digression. But, for me it was a fun trip.

As mentioned previously, there was quite a variety of rides in this cruise and highly modified trucks seem to be pretty popular in the mountains these days. This Advanced Design was as cool as that 60s Bowtie spotted earlier, just not painted up quite yet. It is suspected by this olelongrooffan that this truck is complete and the owner is damn proud of it in its current form.

In addition to the many rodded pickemup trucks this olelongrooffan saw that day, there were also plenty of beautiful old school street rods in attendance as well.

And see the Ice Cream, You Scream, We All Scream For Ice Cream Jeep in the background of the above image? That sucker made a killing that warm Friday evening. He stopped over in the lot where this olelongrooffan was perched and during a conversation about a store bought ice cream sandwich, he revealed he had to head to his nearby shop to replenish supplies three times thus far and it was barely 6 that evening. Nice Gig, Dude.

Over on that book about my face, this olelongrooffan is a member of a group that posts images of a bunch of car haulers and this one would fit right in. Though most of those roll offs have beds long enough for both axles to rest upon when loaded. But back in the day, what ever worked, worked.

In addition to old trucks and street rods, there were a bunch of quasi modern rides. Capturing some of the more rare was the mission for these early evening observations. A Crossfire fastback and a the siting of a Porsche convertible in the Ozarks both fit the definition of rare round these parts.

It is presumed the capture of a newer people hauler would be appropriate

as would the capture of an old school one. If this old Advanced Design “Burb was bone ass stock and not a project, this olelongrooffan is confident that Bus_Plunge would be in line to snag it.

Something totally unexpected then appeared in the viewfinder of my fancy dancy image taker. Yeah, an orphan car. It was a kick butt first gen Mercury Capri just slightly modified to the owner’s taste. This olelongrooffan cannot remember the last time one of these was within my eyesight. And even more surprising, no rust was spotted on that British powered, German built coupe.

And this Poncho was in much better condition than The Whizz’s Goat ever wished it could be. It is good to see, however, that at least some of today’s youth have an appreciation for 60s era rides. Bodes well for the preservation of those old muscle cars.

As is usually the case with this olelongrooffan, the capture of images of run of the mill rides such as tri 5 Bowties are not really my deal. However, the capture of a first gen Camaro and a second gen Mustang (no matter what the mods) will fit the bill.

And this bike just defies description. The frame of it looked almost like a bicycle but it did have a loud ass motor powering it. Based on the rider, there is no telling what the hell this thing is. At least to this olelongrooffan.

While this pre RAM Dodge was not the most Bro-Truck spotted that day, this one is included due to the flag displayed on the ass end of it. Thanks for your Patriotism this Memorial Day Weekend, Bro.

For reasons of which this olelongrooffan is not exactly sure, these 57-60 era Blue Oval trucks always remind me of Mount Airy. I don’t remember actually seeing one on that old TV series but the feel of it is just right.

When this olelongrooffan first arrived upon this cruise scene that evening, my longerroof pulled in behind this Model A rumble seat and followed it the entire time until we took that Ueee. Those four looked like they were having a blast.

It’s A Hemi, Baby.

One of the more humorous things about hanging around that book about my face and the groups that this olelongrooffan is a member of is the number of youngsters who hang out there. One of those groups recently featured an image of one of these Bugatti replicars and the poster wanted to know what it was as he had never seen one previously. We oldtimers had to keep from laughing our asses off over that.

And this first gen Blazer is super fast. How is this known? Why the lack of inner fender liners, of course. Actually if this long lost relative of my longerroof runs as sweet as it sounds, all is cool.

This olelongrooffan is unsure of what this lime green interpretation is, but later that weekend one sporting fire engine red paint was spotted. Apparently it is a fiberglass body which can be purchased for use in your semi custom built up street rod.

This olelongrooffan had to include this image of this black 3+3 Bowtie one ton as Bus_Plunge used to have one just like it back in the day when he used to run show trucks up and down the Eisenhour Highway System up there in the Hawkeye State.

And some bikes showed up as well, including more than a few with ape hangers, presumably not stolen from those kid’s Schwinns.


Dodge Ramchargers will always have a soft place the heart of this olelongrooffan as TheGentlemanFarmer had one in my early adult years. He got it new at a deep discount with a salvage title from Central Dodge there in the Queen City. The reason for the salvage title? It had fallen off the back of a train during its transportation. Seriously. This olelongrooffan is not creative enough to make this shit up.

As this olelongrooffan was sitting on the clamshell tailgate of my longerroof enjoying a homemade chicken salad sammich accompanied by some generic cheese puffs and a cold diet sodie, this sweet Advanced Design pickemup truck pulled into the parking lot and settled a couple spaces down. It was piloted by an elderly gentleman and his wife was riding shotgun. After they had been parked there a bit, he got out and ambled over to his wife’s side of that Bowtie. A mention of the fold up chair residing in the back back of my longerroof was offered and he responded thanks but that he needed to get up and exercise his hip once in a blue moon. I acknowledged his response and commenced to finishing up my eats.

Subsequent to that completion, this olelongrooffan strolled over to chat it up a bit with them. We commenced to gabbing a bit and, based on the lever, versus push button, door handles (new in ’52) and the lack of vent windows (1951), this olelongrooffan inquired as to whether it was a 49? “Nope, she is a 1951,” was his response. Well, my fellow Hoons, as this olelongrooffan thought the variations in the idiosyncrasies of Advanced Design Bowties design specifications were a part of my vehicular knowledge, serious bummage was the result of that conversation.
That is until the Missus said, “But Honey, remember it’s got ’49 doors.” Ah yes, sometimes it is the small things that feel oh so great.

After returning to my clamshell resting place, the first thing spotted cruising down that street was this 48 or 49 F1. There have been several of these in both TheGentlemanFarmer’s as well as thehorsefarmer’s livery over the years, although none quite as nice as this one.
As it was gathering dusk out and this olelongrooffan still hasn’t figured out all of the features of my image taker, some of the images taken that day came out somewhat blurry, such as the second on of that F1 shown above. This olelongrooffan kind of likes the effect of it and hope my fellow Hoons find it acceptable. Afterall, this olelongrooffan ain’t some professional photographer taking images of the Woodward Cruise for posterity’s sake.

Cruising up the street in the opposite direction was this “Bullet Bird.” With those Kelsey Hayes wire wheels and that factory lowered stance, it was the cat’s meow.

And a site of a 70s eras Volarie/Aspen is always sweet.

And this olelongrooffan had thought mini wheeled low riders on hydraulics were so 1990s. But a kick back to old times, that is for sure.

If my fellow Hoons may remember, Bus_Plunge spotted this 58 Nomad in a bank parking lot a whiles back and he and this olelongrooffan shared that experience with my fellow Hoons in this post.

And these are included just because I am the longrooffan.

In addition to that rumble seat A shared earlier, just about the only other vintage classic spotted that day was this Model T. It was a pretty cool old buggy and it appeared to be bone ass stock.

The only option I could see was the luggage rack on the running board as seen in front of the left rear fender above. This olelongrooffan had one of these for years and spent the entire time trying to figure a way to modify it to be a bed partition in my old Comanche. Ended up trading it for a set of chrome hubcaps for my olestationbus.

If there was one older Bowtie ride this oelongrooffan would swap out my longerroof for, it would be an Astrovan. Mine would be bone ass stock and AWD although this one looked pretty sweet from across the street. Besides, Jetsons.

And this dude was just plain ass lost.

There were a ton of other sweet rides cruising up and down Kearney Street that evening. Enjoy a few of them without written interruption.


And a couple my favorite twin Passat longroofs were also sited.

Well almost twins.

And the subject of model bloat has been bantied about in more places than one, but this olelongrooffan thinks this one demonstrates that observation well.

This partial scale Peterbilt was built locally by “Lil Red.” I know Kamil has covered it once here in the Hooniverse and this olelongrooffan will try to track this dude down to find out more about it and his diesel converted Falcon longroof.

Yeah, the Townies were highly visible at that cruise-in event that Friday evening.

And lest my fellow Hoons be concerned, there was one of these

in that cruise for this olelongrooffan’s viewing pleasure.

And that horsetrading Bus_Plunge and this olelongrooffan were involved in?

Bus_Plunge got that Type II diecast shown in the lede image and this olelongrooffan

scored a pair of pretty cool (to me) 1/64 diecast for my miniature collection.
Thanks to my fellow Hoons for sticking around to share in my ramblings and remember to Celebrate Life.
Image Copyright Hooniverse 2017/longrooffan