Bobby Murray Chevrolet Cruise-Night

Don't ask me why a car dealer would host a cruise-in, during the middle of the week, but Bobby Murray Chevrolet did just that. I heard about it from Caddyman65, so we met there after work, along with Zman and Reece. The real plan was to meet there and go for beers/burgers afterwards, but the folks running the cruise did their best to make folks welcome. Matter of fact, NC State head coach, Chuck Amato was going to be there at 8:00 to talk Wolfpack football, and there was Bojangles chicken on hand for folks who brought their cars.

Caddyman rolled up in his badass Rivullac, with Reese riding shotgun. This car just looks evil. The recently added Astro Supremes are just another step along the way to shaping this kustom the way Caddyman wants it. As if the Riviera front-end, grafted to the drop-top Caddy wasn't enough... the tail-light and exhaust treatments in store are going to be mind bending

The turnout for the cruise was relatively small, but considering it was during the week, I give the dealership credit for trying. Too bad Chevrolet can't try a little harder in their design department. We took long, hard looks at the new HHR, SSR, and the Impala SS. All three are retro-designs, based on earlier vehicles (how's that for redundant?). The HHR emulates a 50's-era Suburban; the SSR is supposed to embody the spirit of the '47-'53 Advanced Design Pickup; and the Impala? well, that one's easy enough.

The problem is, that all three cars have been so stylized and slicked-up, that there just isn't much interesting to look at in terms of details. Where is the trim and accent pieces? How about some chrome bumpers to break up the monochrome paint scheme? Zman extoled on the virtues of some chrome treatment for the tail-light bezels. (Okay, so the HHR had a chrome roof rack... but surely the boys in Detroit can do better than this!)


I guess it all comes down to parts and manufacturing costs. I guess that's also the reason I opted to purchase a 1953 Chevy 1/2 Ton Pickup. Why pay $45K+ for a "hotrod truck" (built on a minivan chassis, btw), when you can own the real-deal for way less then 1/4 the price!?!? Sure, it will take some amount of money, time, talent, and perserverance (likely a BUNCH of all four of these things). But in the end, which vehicle is going to get more thumbs-ups? Probably the Rivullac.

-murph