I’ve loved fast cars as far back as I can remember. From my childhood filled with hot-wheels, matchbox and model kits, to wrenching on many of my own cars as I’ve gotten older. During that journey, going to Car Show‘s has been a big part of learning do’s and don’ts on what improvements and modifications to proceed with and which ones to avoid. The city of Miami Springs has had a couple of car shows annually going back about 20 years on the circle. One for the Fourth of July weekend, and one just before Christmas. Last year, the city decided to move the December car show to the first Saturday in November and dub it the Glenn Curtiss Vintage Motorcycle and Car Show. The shows in December ran from 5 PM to 9 PM, the new November shows changed to 11 AM to 6 PM. I arrived around 1 PM to a circle surrounded by classic cars and motorcycles of just about every type. On display was the 40 horsepower V8 motorcycle that Glenn Curtiss rode to 136 MPH in 1907 making him the fastest man on earth at the time. This year, the feature car brand was Porsche, and there were many in attendance. The portable stage that comes out for the River Cities Festival was brought out and on it live music was provided by the Danny Regalado Quartet, and Apache Dragon. The stage was also where the winners of the Car Show awards and raffle were announced.
On the flyer of the event, there is a silver classic Porsche. It just so happens that Sylvio, the drummer in my band, Out of the Ashes, has a 1978 silver Porsche 930. I think that him following me into the Car Show is what allowed my Tesla Model S Plaid to be let in. There were many vendors and lots of fantastic cars. One that caught my eye was a Miata that had a Ford Eco Boost twin turbo engine in it. That thing has to be a blast to drive! Another that caught my eye was a 96 Chevy Impala SS with a Procharged 572” big block. I’m sure that thing moves very quickly! A beauty that I have seen many times at these car shows is a 66 blue 427 powered four speed Corvette. European Collision Center of Miami had a big tent that displayed a wrapped Tesla Cyber Truck as well as a flatbed that had a new red Ferrari 849 Testarossa. We met the owner and staff of 9 Feet Under, a speakeasy at the southeast end of Hialeah that we will for sure check out. After the show winners were announced around 3, many of the attendees started to exit the show. By 5 o’clock, most everyone was gone. As much as I love Car Show’s, methinks seven hours might have been a tad long. Maybe the organizers can consider starting it a little later so that it will be a fuller attendance and officially involve River Cities Gazette in the promotions and coverage of the event. Either way, the Car Show was a huge success. Of course, we always have you covered no matter what, River Cities Gazette.NET.
Ray Anton, a native of Miami Springs, is a musician and former owner of Ray's Guitars N Gear. He is a regular contributor to SFL Music Magazine, writing concert reviews, and has several music projects, including a Pat Benatar tribute band called Midnight Angel.
