Memorial Day Weekend here in the Queen City of the Ozarks was the Mid America Street Rod Nationals gathering. It coincided with the return of the Kearney Street Cruise-In so on that Saturday this olelongrooffan was treated to a sensory overload of street rods, Mid America Style. While previous attendance was had at the South Eastern Street Rod Nationals down in the Sunshine State with TheKenMan a whiles back, this was the first time ever this olelongrooffan had attended one in this geographic region of these here United States of ‘Merica.
Coverage of this show is split into a couple, three offerings and, as the title indicates, this one covers the longroofs for this Wagon Wednesday. Let’s start with one of my favorite longroofs, a first gen Chevy II. This olelongrooffan would take one of these with a bone stock straight six and a two speed powerglide.
My fellow Hoons should feel free to click on through to see some of the other longroofs spotted that afternoon.


Just a tad bit later, this second gen Chevy II longroof was displayed for our viewing pleasure. My dad, TheGentlemanFarmer’s secretary had a two door hardtop of one of these back in the day. No surprise would be had if Val Craft’s tudor had that aforementioned six with a two speed. This olelongrooffan was to much into Matchbox cars to have made that distinction. It is remembered, however, that it was white with a creme vinyl interior and full wheel covers with thin whitewalls. Yes, Miss Craft was a spinster but she always had a green gumdrop or two for thejeepjunkie and me whenever we visited Pop’s office.

Just down the strip aways was this Malibu wagon. For a restomod, (or is it to new to be called that?) it was pretty sweet. Gorgeous yellow paint and a crisp look with those wheels. Presumably, it has some type of Corvette engine under that rare closed bonnet to power it down the road. Bonus points are awarded for the roof rack.

This 55 210 Gasser was a pretty sweet looking old school racer. Correct stance, wheels and tires and those headers were the perfect touch.

And my fellow Hoons have to know it is fast. How? you may ask. Why no inner fenderliners, of course.

Those stickers on the windshield above the dog leg front doors also added a little credibility for this olelongrooffan.

Another longroof admired by this author is this 62 Belair. This olelongrooffan is uncertain as to whether or not it is because my maternal grandmother, yes, Granny, had a four door post sedan of this year and body style when I was a kid. This olelongrooffan just likes them. Hers was either a 302 or a 307 with a two speed and, of course, those interior seats were wrapped in plastic the entire time she owned that green ride.

This 67 is another favorite body style for this olelongrooffan and this is because of the 68 Belair post sedan inherited from Man, my maternal grandfather, upon his exit from this world. Man passed while performing his duties as a school cross walk guard at the intersection of Shrewsbury and Murdoch Avenue (yeah that intersection) in St. Louis way back in ’76. Man stepped off the curb holding up that STOP sign and was fatally struck by a passing motorist. Yeah, this shit can’t be made up. And as much desirable as a 67 Chevy longroof is, this one has way to far from stock for this olelongrooffan’s taste.

After wandering around that hot macadam parking lot there in the Ozark Empire Fairgrounds, this olelongrooffan looked longingly to the car corral and swap meet area over under the shade of those big old oak trees. The decision was made to mosey on over to see what there was to be seen out in the near hinterlands. On the way, this late model woodie longroof was seen for sale for the mere price of 7,800 bucks. It was the only near stock longroof spotted thus far and seemed to be in pretty good shape.

To complete our perusal of the Bowtie longroofs this olelongrooffan sited that day, check out this ’61. It was parked amongst a bunch of rods along the north fence and was just waiting for someone to come check it out. Its lowered stance, wheels and dagmars made this one a pretty highly desirable ride.

Moving on to some orphan cars, check out this 69(?) Oldsmobile Vista Cruiser. When this olelongrooffan was in high school, one of the cool kid’s folks had a 72 yellow Cruiser that I had the privilege of riding in one time. The experience of riding in that one with all those windows was pretty sweet, although riding in my folks 23 window Type II was even sweeter. This California Cruiser is still highly desirable though, even if it is wearing what this olelongrooffan believes are Poncho wheels.

Speaking of Ponchos, just down a ways near the shade of a huge tree was this 55 Safari. The rarity of it alone commanded that this olelongrooffan stop by for a closer look. Loosely based on a Bowtie Nomad of the same vintage, the Safari was much more upscale as was demanded by the Pontiac nameplate. The owner and a bud had driven it up from Tennessee for our viewing pleasure.

Not surprisingly, a conversation was struck up with the owner and one of the questions always asked was, “How long have you had it?” Well my fellow Hoons, that ole longroof driver responded with a resounding, “34 years.” “Holy shit,” was my response. “Did you restore it or buy it this way?” His response? “This is the third time I have had it restored! And I drive it everywhere.”

Yeah those two oldtimers, but again probably less than ten years older than this olelongrooffan, sure know how to Celebrate Life. I am just glad they decided to share a part of it with this olelongrooffan that Saturday afternoon under that shady tree enjoying a cool breeze.

Well, after that gratifying experience with that final offering from The General, it is time to move on to some Blue Ovals. Parked just up the fence from that 61 Bowtie was this 57 Country Sedan. This one appeared to be under construction as is evidenced by some of its missing trim work. Overall, this ride was in great shape. No serious cancer was to be seen. However, if this longroof is to much of a project for my fellow Hoons,

check out this red and black two door Ranch Wagon spotted on my way in. This one was near immaculate and even featured a passenger side rear view mirror. The subdued wheel treatment allowed this one placement on my favored longroof list of the day.

Not only that, it’s got a Cobra decal on the side. And its namesake under the hood.

This Gran Torino Squire was sweet as well. It had, IIRC, Ford branded wheels and look nice. Its stance does, however, appear to be a little to high in my feeble memory. Or the tires are to tall. Overall a pretty nice ride.

The interior had been totally redone with leather buckets and a console up front. That banjo steering wheel was a thoughtful touch.

This 61 or 62 Country Squire was sitting cherry as well. But the nearest beach is over a thousand miles away and the surf boards used on the lakes around these here parts come from Bass Pro. What the hell is a vintage longboard doing in the Ozarks? Oh, maybe the Californey black plates explain that. But better than even money says this longroof has not seen the beach in recent years.

And for the ultimate in rare orphan longroofs, how about this 58-60 Rambler American Station Wagon. When was the last time my fellow Hoons have seen one of these? This one appeared to be pretty done up and complete. Not to many of these left for my fellow Hoons to do your own build.

That is unless you check out the Swap Meet area of the Mid America Street Rod Show. This olelongrooffan suspects a fellow Hoon could get a deep deal on fuzzy dice should you have decided to pick up this American longroof for anything near retail.

Round about then my trusty communications devices starts beeping signaling a severe storm in the area. Yeah, this olelongrooffan is moving on up to the east side and finally has a smart phone, well at least smarter than its owner. Hence, the decision was made to high tail it to the other end of those midwest fairgrounds to my longerroof and skiddaddle on out of there.
Seems like this olelongrooffan wasn’t the only one with that same thought.
Image Copyright Hooniverse 2017/longrooffan