(Words and photos by Doug Gregory) – After having taken some more time off from visiting car events we find ourselves at the world famous Parkette Drive-in on New Circle Road in Lexington, KY. They have a monthly cruise organized by Richard Wilson that draws a good number of cars that come in and park and many that roll through. One of the best parts of having a cruise here is the food. This place has the atmosphere and décor to make it a very pleasant experience. Each cruise-in has a car-hop’s choice trophy that this year went to a very-deserving, purple Plymouth Road Runner.
We rarely see 1st-gen Lightnings any more so this example dressed in white was a treat. We are a sucker for cars with three pedals and this black, pro-touring ’69 Camaro and the bright red Chevy II next to it both sported row-your-own sticks. The white Ford ‘Trailer Special’ was super clean and appears to have undergone a restoration. I was familiar with camper specials, but could not recall ever seeing a trailer special. The root beer shaded Bug is super cool and though I tried just could not get a shot to truly show how good that color looks on this car. Porthole Buicks are so classy and this couple were about to escape the parking lot when I got them to stop for a shot. I want to take photos of everything I can, but I also like talking to people so many slip past as I meander through. I finally got a pic of the red drop-top Merc when people stopped mobbing around it. It’s for certain a looker. I admit to not being up on import powerplants. This more-door Corolla is sporting a 20-valve 4G. The engine is mostly stock with a tune and the car is wicked quick. These things come with a header and individual throttle bodies. I looked them up later that night to see the valve configuration. Wild stuff and now I know.
CWe’ve seen this ’64 El Camino before, but only briefly. I had mistakenly believed the wheels were reproductions. Not..real deal stuff and other old speed parts are on it as well. This deep blue ’70 Mustang sports roof sounded healthy and had several small touches we enjoyed. The night ended way too soon for us, but we did finally sit down to eat as my blood sugar dropped to knee-buckling levels. Not smart. You’ll note the sign is not as well-lit as the last time we brought you photos from here. It is a labor of love to keep this sign going. The ownership is not allowed to change the sign (city ordinance I believe) over to LEDs or some other configuration that is more reliable. They have spent a lot of money trying to keep everything working. I hope they are able to keep it, but the city’s unwillingness to let them update the lighting might end up costing more than it’s worth. Hope not.
Thanks for the great pictures. I just moved to Lexington, and didn\’t know about this. I will definitely check it out.
Very welcome. If you do a search on Parkette here you will find all my articles on events there.