![]() ![]() The car that probably came closest to evoking memories of the old Route 66 TV show was the 1961 Chevy Corvette that won the Track Star award (Bruce Jones, Elmhurst). The Excellent Engine award went to a 1972 model (owned by Tracey Vhren of Bensenville), and the Need For Speed award was given to a 1975 version (Marcus Resto, Chicago). Only two awards, however, focused on the all-important stuff under the hood, and both were won, oddly enough, by 1970s Pontiac Firebirds. There was even a real competition dragster on display for drag-race fans (and if that term makes you think of gay guys in women’s clothing jogging down Broadway on Chicago’s north side, you are clearly reading the wrong blog).Īs might be expected for a car show that focuses primarily on the two-decade period that represented the postwar heyday of Route 66 – the 1950s and 1960s – there were awards for badness, coolness, neatness (uh, isn’t all that redundant?), low riders, muscle cars, ragtops, fins, paint, fat fenders, graphic enhancements, even an award for best chrome (seriously not kidding). I myself posed covetously next to a Victoria’s-Secret-candy-pink number that I could have easily enjoyed on a road trip, though perhaps not as much as I would’ve enjoyed driving the classic black Jaguar convertible that I was really jonesing for (more on that baby later). Don’t think for a moment that we didn’t feel that several times. Gosh, you never saw so many steam-cleaned engines in one place in your life – ! Soooooo many pretty things, and so much car envy. The street was just jam-packed with sparkly automobilia. There were far more than 60 cars on display along that half-mile stretch of Ogden Avenue, though, all of them parked cheek-by-fender diagonally to maximize space. Oh, well.Ĭotton-candy pink is my color, don’t you think? Photo credit: copyright 2012 by J.D. Was that the idea? Or perhaps the organizers were actually aiming for 66 awards but fell short by half a dozen … Beats me. Kind of like your grade-school teacher telling you to bring enough valentines for everyone in class on Valentine’s Day, so that no one feels left out. ![]() What surprised me most was that there were nearly 60 awards. I’m guessing the actual winners do care about being known – so now you folks get your recognition here. Unlike us, the local mass media didn’t wait for and never published a list of the winners, to our knowledge. ![]() To help you with that, your blonde, blue-eyed genial route guide here has assembled a lovely slideshow to remind you of warmer, sunnier days and what you can look forward to when driving season returns (which to me means any time after May 1st, when lilac season begins in Chicagoland but your local start of spring may vary). What better time, then, to dream about Riding The Route in some of those classic, vintage and souped-up lovelies that were on display at the Berwyn Route 66 Car Show last September? If you’re gonna dream, might as well dream big and imagine cruising down Route 66 in your favorite fast vehicle. And of course, all good route roadies are already planning their rides down 66 for this year. Now it’s wet, and cold, and dreary, and sometimes (though not often enough) snowy outside, and you’re pining for blue skies and wide-open spaces to cruise with that fancy concept car you were oh, so tempted to drive away with at the car show. So: you went to this year’s Chicago Auto Show at McCormick Place six or seven weeks ago and ate your heart out over all the beauties on display (uh, we mean the cars, guys they don’t use scantily-clad female models anymore). ![]()
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