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Page 16 August 4, 2010 The Spotlight
The parking lot at Guptill’s Arena in Latham fi lls up when it hosts monthly car cruises
during the summer.
ob Richardson there are typically 600 to
always wanted 700 cars and upwards of
BFairlane
to buy a Ford 5,000 spectators.
like he had in high
school. When he fi nally
found one, it provided
more than a link to his
past: It helped him
make friends.
Richardson had
moved to the Albany
area for his job and
found it a little lonely.
“I didn’t know
anyone,” he said.
That changed when
he started going to car
shows and cruises with “I’ve lived a lot of
his Fairlane. Richardson places, and I’ve never seen
formed some close bonds anything this size,” said
with fellow car owners, Frank Alguire of Ravena,
which only tightened when the club’s president.
Guptill’s Arena announced
Like Richardson,
it was going to move the
Alguire got involved in car
day it held its monthly
clubs after he moved to
cruises. The car club that
this area and was looking
was staging the cruises
couldn’t do
it on the
new night,
Richardson
said, so
he and his
wife, Joan,
decided
to form a
new club
dedicated
to keeping
the Guptill’s
cruises alive.
Pat Villani said this ‘57 Chevy was an “old rust bucket”
That when he bought it.
club, the
Capital District Cruisers, to meet people. He got
holds cruises at Guptill’s into cars not because he
in Latham once a month was looking to recapture
during the summer. The a piece of his youth, but
next one is Monday, Aug. because he likes “cars that
9, from 4 to 9 p.m. catch your attention.”
If you go, expect a “When they drive by
crowd -- Richardson said you on the road, you’re
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more likely to notice,” he
said.
Alguire noticed the car
after which his custom
hot rod is modeled while
watching “77 Sunset Strip”
when he was younger. The
television show featured a
character named Kookie
who drove a 1923 Model
T.
“I fell in love with the
car,” Alguire said.
Alguire thought about
purchasing a Model T,
looking at several that
were for sale, before
deciding he would build
his own.
“I’m a hobbyist,” he
said, noting that he built
the frame and got a
junkyard transmission.
As much as he likes
the attention that comes
with owning the Model
T, his favorite thing about
the Guptill’s
cruises, he
said, is that
they aren’t
competitions.
There are no
entry fees or
trophies.
“It’s just
a lot of fun,”
Alguire said.
“There’s no
pressure.”
Erin
VanVeghten
of Latham
grew up enjoying the laidback
vibe at Guptill’s with
her dad, a longtime classic
car owner. When she
and her husband, Dana,
learned the cruises at
Guptill’s were in jeopardy,
they didn’t think twice
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Classic car enthusiasts cruise on down to
Guptill’s once a month in the summer
Joan and Bob Richardson stand
in front of their Ford Fairlane,
a car Bob purchased “just for
fun” after owning a similar one
in high school.
about joining forces with
the Richardsons.
“We could not see
losing such a good thing to
do,” Dana said.
“Everyone looks
forward to it,” Erin added.
Dana said that he’s
drawn to the club and the
cruises for a simple reason:
Cars are his passion.
“That’s my thing,” he
said. “That’s my football.
That’s my golf.”
That’s a common
sentiment among classic
car owners, who largely
aren’t into sports or
drinking, said Pat Villani
of Glenville, the group’s
treasurer.
“It’s a whole different
breed of person,” Villani
said. “You can walk up to
any car person and you’re
going to fi nd a friendly
person.”
Another trait car owners
tend to share is that they’re
mechanically inclined,
he said. That’s the case
with Villani, who said his
gleaming ‘57 Chevy was an
“old rust bucket” when he
bought it.
Villani has actually
owned a number of ‘57
Chevys. But he eventually
got tired of them and
decided to buy a ‘66 Impala
convertible instead.
That didn’t go over well
at home.
“My wife was very
upset,” he said with a
laugh.
So off he went to fi nd
another ‘57 Chevy.
Doug Roberts
of Albany looked
admiringly at Villani’s car
and a handful of others
during the club’s recent
picnic at the Crossings
in Colonie. Roberts is
somewhat unusual in that
he belongs to the club
but doesn’t own a classic
car. He joined after the
Richardsons, whom he
knew from work, assured
him that “having a car
is not necessarily a big
thing.”
But that doesn’t mean
Roberts doesn’t want
to own a car someday.
Recently retired, he
bought a camper and
then a truck to haul it.
Once those are paid
off, he hopes to get a
classic car, probably
nothing newer than
1970, although he hasn’t
settled on a make and
model.
“Some of the old
cars, I just love them to
death,” he said.
The appeal of the club,
he said, is seeing just
what every owner does
to make his or her car a
little different from the
rest. Everyone is more
than happy to talk to him
about the modifi cations
they’ve made and what
cars they think might be
a good fi t for him.
There was a time when
Joan Richardson would
have felt lost in such
conversations. But after
marrying her husband,
she came to enjoy the
classic car scene as much
as he does.
“We just like the
camaraderie,” she said.
Guptill’s is the perfect
place for that camaraderie
to grow, according to
Bob Richardson. For one
thing, there’s a lot of space,
including a grassy area
where owners can display
their cars. Beyond that, it’s
fi tting to hold the cruises
at a roller rink, considering
that skating was a huge
part of people’s childhood.
“It’s perfectly in the
era,” he said. “We all went
roller skating. It’s just all
part of the nostalgia and
the memories.”
Admission to the
cruises is free, although
the Cruisers ask for one
non-perishable food item
(or cash) to help support
the Regional Food Bank of
Northeastern New York.
There is live music, and
ice cream and other food
is sold at Guptill’s Coney
Express. Cars as old as
1985 are welcome at the
August cruise; the Sept. 13
cruise is also open to cars
from any year with aftermarket
customizing.
For information,
visit www.capitaldistrict
cruisers.com.
The Capital District Cruisers held a picnic at the Crossings in Colonie on Saturday, July 31.