CRUISE NIGHTS: Downtown Palatine

Cars parked in downtown Palatine at the classic car cruise.

Corvettes parked.Classic car cruises and events are sprouting up all the time here in the Midwest and the newest destination for four-wheeled enthusiasts is in downtown Palatine.  Taking place just south of the Metra train station between Palatine Road and Smith Street, the Friday night happening is now in its second week and growing fast. Bel Air parked in downtown Palatine.It’s put on by the Palatine Muscle Car Association and to get the full scoop, we grabbed Brian Bending, the president of the club, and asked for the back story on how it all got started. Here’s what he had to say:

“We had a group of about 25 members who were all car guys, going to the same area shows for a number of years together. We decided to have our own car club and last year the club was officially started. Our next goal was to have our own event in Palatine and really wanted to bring something to the quaint, downtown area.”

JukeBoxJoe spinning up the tunes in his classic GMC pickup.

Jukebox Joe

On their first night in the Towne Square Park two weeks ago, 80 cars showed up – growing to just over 100 vehicles this past Friday evening. Oldies music is being served up by Joe from Jukebox Joe – providing the tunes from the back of his classic GMC pickup and creating the perfect soundtrack for checking out the vintage cruising machines.JukeBoxJoe spinning up the tunes in his classic GMC pickup.

As for what the rest of the summer holds for the cruise?

“Nothing special has been scheduled as we’re waiting to see how this will go moving forward. We’d like to do some different things and events – of course all surrounding the cars. One thing for certain is at the end of the season, we’re going to take the leftover proceeds from our sponsors and give it to a local charity,” said Bending.

Classic cars parked.

The club is in the process of getting an online presence established, so for now, if you want more info you’ll have to swing by on Friday nights and check them out for yourself. Or, keep an eye right here on ClassicRecollections.com.

***Want to know when and where the classic car events are taking place? Swing over to the Classic Recollections Classic Car Cruise Calender***

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Classic cars parked.

Classic cars parked.

Custom Nova parked in downtown Palatine.

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Palatine Muscle Car Association

Here’s just a small sampling of some of the rolling relics that showed up this week but for the full set of photos, click HERE