Classic Cars: Driving the American Dream

The Classic Car Show in downtown Hastings, Minnesota, is a summer tradition. Every third Sunday from May through September, cars and trucks manufactured before 1985 (a few years after I was born, so I can refer to myself not as old, but “vintage”) converge on the town’s partitioned-off main drag. The cars and trucks gleam with the same pride in their craftsmanship as the owners. Universally glorying in the glory reflecting from their machines, they come from a variety of backgrounds: the retiree who rebuilt his teenage ride — and high school glory, a businessman who has a passion for mechanics and 1960s Chevrolet Corvettes, college sweethearts who still have the 1970 Ford Mustang Boss 302 in screaming Grabber Blue. Even parked on the street, the Boss looked like it was going 137 miles per hour.