The arrival of spring also brings with it the arrival of the car show season in northern Georgia. The Dixie Cruisers Car Club of Winder, Georgia holds a monthly Cruise-In from March through September at the Winder Corners Plaza on the 4th Saturday of the month. With today being the first show of the season, Danita and I stopped to check it out.

We parked behind a beautiful Lincoln Mark VII. The Lincoln Mark Series has always been one of my favorites ! I've owned a Mark III, Mark VI, and Mark VIII.

1965 Chevrolet Chevy II wagon.

This late-model Chevy truck with air suspension looked very well done.

1963 Ford Series 70 Country Squire wagon.

1966 Chevrolet Chevelle SS396.

1963 Ford Thunderbird.

Ford always did a great job with the Thunderbird interior design. This car is equipped with the Swing-Away steering column. With shift lever in Park, the whole steering column slides inboard to allow for easier ingress and egress.

1980 or 1981 Chevrolet Corvette.

I didn't look at the interior of this C3 Corvette to determine if it was an '80 or '81. Either way, this is my favorite Corvette from a styling standpoint. I had an '81 many years ago and miss it tremendously !

Several Rat Rods in attendance this evening.

International R-Series pickup. The R-Series was introduced in 1953 as a replacement for the L-Series. Production lasted through 1955 when it was replaced by the S-Series.

A couple of great Rat Rods.

A pair of 4th generation Ford F-Series pickups. The 4th generation was produced from 1961 - 1966.

1969 Chevrolet Nova SS396.

This is a rare 396 CID big-block V8 Nova, one of 7,209 produced that year. I don't know which version of the 396 is installed in this car. There were three big-block options available that year. The entry-level RPO L34 which made 350 hp accounted for 1,947 cars. The 375 hp RPO L78 was far more popular and accounted for 4,951 cars. The remaining 311 cars were equipped with RPO L89 which added aluminum heads to the L78 engine.

2nd generation Chevrolet Camaro Z28. This car features the Rally Sport "Split Bumper" front end. This is either a 1971 or 1972 model.

New Roush Mustang.

1967 Chevrolet Camaro SS396.

This is a legit RPO L78 car powered by the 375 hp version of the 396 CID big-block V8. The L78 engine added $500 to the MSRP. With a base V8 Camaro Sport Coupe starting around $2,600, this 20 percent premium meant that only 1,138 L78s were ordered that year.

The cowl tag confirms that this car is a legit L78 car. Starting at the top:
07B = Build date: 2nd week of July 1967.
E = Interior paint code: Black.
67-12437 = Style code: 67 = 1967 model year, 12437 = Camaro V8 hardtop coupe.
NOR 149457 = Body code: NOR = Norwood, Ohio assembly plant, 149457 = Fisher body number.
760-Z = Interior trim codes: 760 = black bucket seats, Z = standard Strato Bucket Seats (RPO A50) without headrest.
Y-Y = Exterior paint codes: Y = Butternut Yellow. The fact that the same code is stamped twice indicates that the upper body and lower body colors are the same. This also means that this car should not be equipped with a vinyl top, (even though one is present).

The last two rows of the tag list the body-related options:
E = Option group 1 (the "1" is implied): E = Tinted glass (all glass).
2LGR = Option group 2: L = 4-speed floor-shift transmission, G = Floor console, R = Rear seat speaker.
3DK = Option group 3: D = Underdash courtesy lamps, K = Exterior molding group (also known as the Style Trim Group).
4K = Option group 4: K = RPO L78 396/375 V8 engine.
5BY = Option group 5: B = Rear bumper guards, Y = Deluxe seat belts front and rear.

1951 Ford Custom V8.

The "Custom" designation indicates that this is the upper trim level, (Ford offered two trim levels in 1951: The entry-level Deluxe and the upper-level Custom).

1961 Chevrolet Corvette.

1955 Cadillac Series 62 sedan.

1975 Buick LeSabre Custom convertible.

Convertible sales had been steadily declining for years by the time the early 1970s arrived. That coupled with the threat of future government regulation caused automakers to began phasing out convertible models altogether. This 1975 LeSabre Custom was supposed to be the last convertible from Buick. So it makes sense that this is a rare car, being one of 5,300 made that year. Thankfully, the anticipated government regulations never materialized. So this car's "last Buick convertible" claim only lasted until 1982 and the arrival of the Riviera convertible.

We continued our walk through the show field and encountered a few Chevrolet Corvettes, including the new C7 seen on the left side of the photo above.

1951 Chevrolet Bel Air (L) and 1969 Chevrolet Nova SS (R).

1973 Plymouth 'Cuda.

In the era of sharply increasing government regulations and high insurance premiums, Plymouth managed to sell 22,213 Barracudas in 1973 with 10,626 of those cars being the upper-level 'Cuda.

By the time 1973 rolled around, engine choices for the 'Cuda were limited to a 318 CID V8 that made 150 hp and a 340 CID V8 that made 240 hp. This car has been modified with a 440 CID "Six Pack" V8 which was available in the 'Cuda in 1970 and 1971.

This 'Cuda features a 4-speed manual transmission with the Hurst "Pistol Grip" shifter.

1965 Chevrolet Impala (L), 1956 Pontiac Chieftain 860 wagon (R). While the Pontiac isn't a super-rare Safari wagon (Pontiac's version of the Chevrolet Nomad), this Chieftain 860 2-door wagon is quite rare in it's own right being one of 6,099 produced that year.

1961 Chevrolet Impala SS.

The racing-inspired RPO 240 "Supersport" option package was introduced in the middle of the 1961 model year for any 1800 Series Impala except the Nomad wagon. Visually, the Supersport package featured "SS" emblems on the trunk and rear quarter panels, special wheel covers, and a few different bits of interior trim.

Since the Supersport package was originally conceived with racing in mind, several "mandatory options" such as heavy duty suspension, heavy duty power brakes, and power steering had to be ordered along with RPO 240. Also required was a high-performance drivetrain. In this case, only cars equipped with either the optional 348 CID V8 (available in several stages of tune), or the optional new-for-1961 409 CID V8 that made 360 hp were eligible.

In other words, theoretically, RPO 240 only cost $53.80. But it could not be ordered unless all of the other "mandatory options" were ordered with it. By the time all of the boxes were checked on the order form, around $600 was added to the car's MSRP, a significant sum compared to the Impala's $2,700 base price.

Thanks to its cost and late introduction, a total of 453 factory built Supersports were produced in 1961, of which only 142 cars had the 409, (this car has the tri-power version of the 348 CID V8).

The key to this car's rarity relates to the words, "factory built." A total of 453 cars left the factory as "Supersports" in 1961. Dealers, however, quickly realized that the Supersport look could be a big seller if it was available without the "mandatory options." Soon a Supersport trim package became available as a dress-up kit for any Impala. And while these cars may have an "SS" badge, they aren't factory built Supersports.

I'm not sure which category this stunning car fall into. But if it's a legit SS, it's extremely rare.

1960 Cadillac Coupe deVille.

I've always been a big fan of these giant finned Cadillacs ! This particular car has been modified in several areas, the most obvious of which is the addition of air suspension.

I think the grill has also been modified. While the stock 1960 grill does have a plethora of mini-bullets, they aren't as pronounced as what is seen here.

The door handles have also been shaved. And I believe the "Cadillac" emblem is from an earlier vintage.

1966 Ford Mustang.

The display sign identifies this car as an original 289 car with the Pony interior trim package.

The 289 CID V8 was available with 200 hp (2-bbl carburetor), 225 hp (4-bbl carburetor), or 271 hp "HiPo" K-code.

1977 Pontiac Trans Am. This appears to be a Y82 "Special Edition" car with the Hurst Hatch T-Tops. The only discrepancy I see is that the front grill surrounds below the headlamps should be gold. The "T/A 6.6" decal on the hood scoop would mean that this car is equipped with the RPO W72 400 CID Pontiac V8.

1965 Ford Mustang GT. The legendary GT package was introduced in April 1965 as a quick way to get a Mustang with all of the high performance goodies in one option package, (prior to April, everything had to be ordered individually).

L - R: Shelby GT500, 1971 Oldsmobile 442 convertible, 1955 Chevrolet Bel Air. The 1971 442 is one of 1,304 convertibles made that year.

L - R: Shelby GT500, 1971 Oldsmobile 442 convertible, 1955 Chevrolet Bel Air, 1965 Ford Mustang Gt.

1952 Crosley Super wagon. This is a rare car, being 1 of 1,355 produced that year.

Powell Crosley, Jr. wore a number of hats in the pre-WWII era - radio manufacturer, appliance manufacturer, and owner of the Cincinnati Reds MLB team. Crosley added the car business to his repertoire in 1939 with a line of small economical cars. His first offerings were a 2-passenger coupe and 4-passenger sedan, both of which came with a soft-top. They were later joined by a sport utility, sports car, and the wagon seen in the photo above.

In the plus column, these cars were small and easy to maneuver, barely 10 feet long and weighing a mere 950 pounds. They were also dirt cheap, as in starting-at-$299 cheap. And using a 13 hp 2-cylinder engine to move that 950 pounds resulted in 50 mpg. Want to buy one ? All you had to do was head into one of Crosley's appliance stores where car sales and service were handled.

But there is a reason why Crosley went under in 1952. Small cars just didn't work in a "bigger is better" era. Nobody cared about saving fuel when it only cost $0.10 per gallon. Refrigerator mechanics didn't do nearly as well with automobiles. And even though the 13 hp CoBra engine, (so named because of its braised copper and sheet steel construction), was given a power upgrade beginning in 1946 to 26.5 hp, this was still a bit lacking even by 1950s standards.

And then there was the D'oh! engineering. "Cable-operated mechanical brakes" sounds fine for my bicycle, but not so much for a passenger car. Driveshaft u-joints were deemed "unnecessary" because Engineering believed the "flexible rubber engine mounts" could take care of any vibrations that may be present, and Marketing liked the idea that eliminating the u-joints lowered the price of the car. But perhaps the biggest problem of all was the CoBra engine, itself which began developing holes in the cylinder bores as a result of electrolysis.

The mechanical issues were rectified after a few years. But the damage was done. After a peak of just over 28,000 cars sold in 1948, sales took a tumble. Crosley was out of the car business by 1952.