The Idora Park Free Car Show
Back when I worked at Idora Park, some of us employees had really hot cars. We would park them behind the Ballroom in a line next to each other. A lot of times when I went to my car to get something out of it, I would see a bunch of guys hanging out, checking out all the muscle cars.
“Who owns all these cars?” they would ask.
“The people who work here,” I’d tell them.
And that’s why I called it The Idora Park Free Car Show.
As I said before, the pictures that I had all got ruined, so I cannot show you a picture of my car. Sadly, I also don’t have pictures of the other cars either, but I cordially invite Tony, Bob and anyone else who worked at Idora Park to share their pictures here or on my “Life on the Midway” Facebook page.
But I did manage to find some pictures on the internet, and I’m going to try to show you what the Idora Park Free Car Show looked like.
The first car was mine – a 1964-and-a-half Plymouth Barracuda. I kept the 287 original motor, had it dipped in acid and rebuilt from the inside out. I put in a radical cam, Holley 4-barrel double pumper, electronic distributor system, and a few other goodies. I guess you’ll have to use your imagination to see what it look like after I had it built-up.
It had dual exhaust so I put side pipes on the car. It was a 4-speed so I added a line lock. The rear fender wells were redone and flared out to fit my 60-inch tires on the back which had Cragar RT’s on them (compliments of Kristoff Auto Body) and 70-inch tires on the front, also with Cragar RT’s on them.
“Goldenrod” was written on the side of a car, back by the on top of the flared wheel fenders.
That car would pass up almost anything on the street – except a gas station. It got five miles a gallon.
Pat Duffy the Third’s car’s was a 1968 Dodge Super Charger. It was bright orange with a hood scoops. I found a picture of online of his car.
This was an extremely hot car with a Hemi engine in it. And it was in perfect shape.
The next car I’m not sure who owned it I’m pretty sure it was one of the ride operators. It was a 1974 Plymouth GTX. It was bright yellow.
Only two thousand of these cars were made. It came with a 440 motor.
The next car was a 1969 Torino Cobra that came with a 428 Cobra Jet motor.
Whoops! How did that get in there! Of course, that's one of the famous antique cars from Idora Park, which you can see at the Idora Park Experience Museum this weekend. #ShamelessPlug
A guy named George who was a ride operator owned it, and it was one nice car.
He kept it all original and it look great.
The next car was a 1974 Pontiac Trans Am, bright red. It was owned by Tony, the guy who ran The Turtle. It always amazed me how they fit such a big freakin’ motor in such a small engine compartment.
Like my car, that thing could take on any car on the road but it couldn’t pass up a gas station.
I think one of the reasons Tony bought it was because he liked it and at that time he was just getting ready to switch jobs to go work in the mill. That is probably the only way you could afford a car like that. The only thing that hotter than the car was his girlfriend Jayne, who eventually became as wife.
Growing up, I had a friend named Bob. We have known really practically since we were born. In fact, our fathers drove each other back and forth to work.
Bob’s car was a rare one – a 1971 white Trans Am 455 H.O.
If you’re one of those people that really love the Trans Am, you know what this car is all about. Unlike the other Trans Ams that had the big Trans Am bird on top of the hood of the car, it had a blue racing stripe from the center of one end of the car to the other. A little picture of a Trans Am bird sat on the front of the racing stripe on the hood. It had a 455 motor in it, and that car could move.
Now, Bob and I were known for being kind of wild guys and doing wild stupid things as you do when you’re young. A friend of his told me that Bob’s car couldn’t move, so one time Bob took him on the freeway and got up to 150 miles an hour in it.
That car came with bucket seats, factory 8-track. The only down-side was that it didn’t have power windows and power locks. It was a nice car. Up to this day, Bob, I wish you never would have gotten rid of it.
That was the free car show that the employees put on every day at Idora Park. I hope you enjoyed the pictures of the cars.
Those were the days, when the cars looked sharp and drove fast. And that proves the saying, “Any time is a good time at Idora Park,” – especially for the motor heads who saw our cars lined up before they went to the park.
Don't forget about the Idora Park Experience Museum, this weekend, September 30-October 1, 4450 S. Turner Rd., Canfield, Ohio. This is the last chance to see the museum this year. They're open 10 a.m.- 5 p.m. $5.00 admission. Kids 5 and under free.
See you on the Midway!