By Bob Strohm
bstrohm@wbcowqel.com
While the threat of rain kept numbers down from last year, the tradition that is the Graffiti Cruise still drew thousands of people to downtown Bucyrus on Saturday.
Over 440 cars that were produced in 1979 earlier were registered for the 24th annual gathering of the classic vehicles and cruised Sandusky Avenue from Center Street to Mary Street.
Quite possibly the most recognizable vehicles in the 2015 cruise was Troy Harris’ 1964 Ford Econoline 100 Van. Harris customized his classic van to look like the Mystery Machine from the iconic cartoon Scooby Doo. Harris explained his favorite part of showing the Mystery Machine at car shows.
“I enjoy the sheer magnitude of what the people think of it,” Harris said. “It is a real joy to have, and everyone wants to take a picture with the Mystery Machine.”
Debbie and Hank Davis featured two of their classic cars, a 1958 Mercury and a 1958 Ford Edsel. While largely considered a failure at it’s time the Edsel the vehicle was one of the first to employ self-adjusting breaks, as well as gear selection on the steering wheel buttons. Debbie explained her favorite part of showing the Edsel is its rarity.
“The Edsel has become a rare car. I believe there is about 8,000 of them left, and you can go to a car show and see 10 Camaros, 10 Mustangs, 10 ’57 Chevy’s, but you will probably only see one Edsel,” Davis said.
Perhaps one item that made the Davis’ Edsel even rarer was a restored Electric Edsel. Ten of the cars were given to Ford dealerships in the 1950s, and only four are known to exist currently.
Not everyone who took in the car show had a car at the event; Joe Yosick attended the event as a spectator. Yosick explained his favorite aspect of the car show.
“I like see all the nice looking cars, they are super,” Yosick said. My favorite car was a 1956 Cadillac.”
One of the films set apart for its classic cars was American Graffiti. One of the more notable cars in the film was a 1958 Chevy Impala. In Bucyrus Paul Brookover displayed his 1958 Chevy Impala and explained what he enjoys most about his classic car.
“It is a pleasure to drive, and everyone says I used to have one like that, or that’s American Graffiti-like,” Brookover said. “It has got some good remarks. I had it for 30 years now, and when I was in high school I had one like it, and unfortunately sold it.”
A photo gallery from Saturday’s Graffiti Cruise is on the Photo page.
