BELLEFONTE — Since 1989, the Bellefonte Cruise has been happening every Father’s Day weekend, proudly displaying antique and classic cars from different time periods dating from the earliest cars up to the 2000s.
There are classic, antique, exotic and European cars and motorcycles, a Sock Hop on Friday night, music, food and many local shops and restaurants. And every year the crowds seem to get larger and the cars seem to get (and look) cooler.
This year’s premier award winner was one of those cool cars. It was a 1932 Ford Cabriolet owned by Dondi and Kim Smeltzer from Howard.
The all-steel street rod featured a 392ci Ford V8 engine with 430 horsepower and it won both the Jack Houser Memorial Award for Best in Show and the Alumicraft Excellence Award.
That car was amazing, but for me, there were other cars that I wanted to look at — cars that I remember seeing and driving back in the day when many of the cars in the show were actually driving around on the streets.
I owned a blue 1956 Chevy that I bought from a friend of mine, and there were examples of them on almost every street (along with other Chevys of all types and years, especially Corvettes). It was great fun just looking inside these almost perfectly preserved cars.
I also always look for an example of my sister’s red 1964 Pontiac GTO that I, of course, had to borrow more than once. It was bright red with a white interior and perfect for showing off around the loop in Allentown.
Two of my friends had Corvettes, one a dark maroon color and the other a bright blue. They were almost scary — sleek and fast. Both of those guys got jobs at Bethlehem Steel and earned big dollars, which they promptly spent on the cars.
Finally, I am always looking for a special car, but I didn’t see one again. My first car, which my dad bought for my mom and me, was a red 1959 Studebaker Silver Hawk, Ford V8 with a black interior.
I had it my senior year in high school (Whitehall) and into my first year in college.
Unfortunately, because of some bad garage work, it had to be traded in.
Unbelievably, my dad swapped it for a white Rambler Station Wagon with the push-button gear shifts. Ugh. I’m not kidding.
I will be back next year though, and hopefully, next year will be the charm.
