It was another great night at the Pony last night, with plenty of wicked cars (and owners) braving what felt like the coldest day of the summer so far.  Still, the cars rolled in and the smiles went around, as Paul Williamson graciously hosted the evening.  Even more important, he gave away prizes at the end of the night!

1976 Cadillac Eldorado Convertible

Boss Hog would have been proud.  This 1976 Cadillac Eldorado Convertible was parked right up front for everyone to see.  This Dukes Of Hazard twin held enough steel to protect the DJ booth in the event of an explosion.

 

1953 Chevy Coupe

One car I haven’t seen around before is this all-white 1953 Chevy coupe.  The rockabilly bow-tie is showing its age, but it sure is aging gracefully.  The body is straight, the chrome is mostly there, and there’s little hints of pinstriping on the hood, trunk, and behind the rear windows.  I didn’t have the nerve to ask if the car was done (I hear it’s a touchy question with this crowd), but it’ll be exciting to see what, if anything, gets added next!

 

Revenge of the Datsuns!

And for something completely different, five Datsuns rolled in to yesterday’s cruise night.  No, not Nissans; real, actual, from-back-in-the-day Datsuns.  Even more impressive was that two of them were station wagons.

 

Datsun station wagon

Most of them had been worked on, either with modded original engines, or newer Nissan engines dropped in.  This orange station wagon looks rough now, but it’s just the start.  Apparently it was just towed up from the states where the little car was picked up for a measly $170.  Like Paul Williamson said, “With the price of gas, these Datsuns might be the future of cruise nights.”

1966 Dodge Monaco Convertible

When you think of a car that was built exclusively for Canada, you’d think of something with all-wheel drive and huge snow tires.  Oddly enough, this 1966 Monaco is what Dodge actually saved for us Canucks.  There were just over 500 built, and rumor has it that less than 50 are still on the road today.  This rare gem has the original 380 small block and automatic tranny, with the only modifications being wheels and small interior touches.

 

1966 Dodge Monaco

Everything you see here is original, save for the woodgrain paneling and shifter knob.  Well, and maybe the tape deck.  The owner, Gary, has spent the last eight years lovingly restoring the ultra-rare Canadian car, although most of that time was spent in front of a computer trying to find parts.  The front and rear turn signals took eight years each to find, although they were all new old stock.  Even getting the right non-original wheels and centrecaps were a challenge;  each rim came from a different scrapyard, and the centrecaps–which are 1966 hardware for a different Chrysler product–were sourced from California, Chicago, and the hubcap guy on route 90 here in the ‘Peg.  If Gary’s down with it, expect to see a larger feature on the burgundy rarity this winter.

 

1966 Dodge Monaco

That’s it for this week, but come back Wednesday to see what’s up in Winnipeg’s car scene, and maybe even a few pics of last night’s cruise.  And if you like (or don’t like) what you see, don’t forget that you can leave a comment below to let everyone know.  Until then, keep’em cruisin!

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