Malaise muscle sneaking into the DMC event
Well, show season and normal are back. Among the cars there were also smiles and hand shakes. Dead Man's Curve is a car club turned event business with a huge presence in the north east and probably known nationally among the  serious hot rod crowd. They throw an epic three day event each year to wind down summer, with other events during the year. 

 "a big family who shares the same passion for cartoon hot rods"

Their focus is hot rods and rat rods with their shows having a 1972 and Older rule on signage and posters. The DMC guys had an event this past Saturday at a drive-in theater. A gear head brother told me the 1978 Dodge Super Coupe shouldn't have a problem getting in. Dave was correct, they were happy enough to wave me in and take my $20. There were other malaise era machines on sight. Another Mopar 360 V8 in the form of a Lil' Red Express truck. A few non-chrome bumper Corvettes and a C4. An AMC Eagle four wheel drive sedan but not much else. Again no surprise, a DMC event is going to be heavy on hot-rods, rat-rods, Tri-Five like stuff and muscle cars, with a few genuine classics. Old foreign stuff gets in to, spotted a Jag E-type and flaired-out pre-fox body Capri, various air-cooled VW stuff. Modern Challengers, Mustangs and Corvettes were relegated to the spectator parking lot. I doubt my 1999 Trans Am would have gotten in, it's in that gray space of not quite classic yet but not modern anymore. There was a little swap meet and a magician. A DJ with deeper cuts than just doo-wop, I mistook Make Your Own Kind of Music by Cass Elliot for something by Petula Clark. Decent grub from the on-site drive-in concession stand, a couple of iced coffees felt good on a warm morning. 

The drive to the sight was great with the windows down and the sunroof open. The old normal and car season are back! Get out and enjoy it. 

Find out more about DMC: ​Classic Car Club, Events & Shows | Northern New Jersey | Dead Mans Curve, LLC (deadmanscurveusa.com)

I've got the sickness from the HL/NL virus
I think I need to straight up warn you, dear reader. This post will seem like the ranting of a mad man. I feel crazed at the moment. I want to do something now. When I know what I really need to do, what would be best for me is to calm down. Calm down and forget this car. 

Let's go down this road again! What is it? A 1980 Plymouth Volaré Road Runner. Many react saying, "a what now"? Others call it garbage unworthy of the Road Runner badge. Back in the day meaning the 1980's. When my buddies and I were tooling around on legit Mopar A, B and E bodies we bought for under a grand. There was a black T-top 1980 Road Runner in a nearby 'hood. I don't who owned it but I always wanted it. That desire never left me. 

Through the years several 1980 Road Runners slipped through my fingers.

Today one is crossing the block at Mecum Indy. The good: Black, T-tops, manual transmission. The bad? Ughh, believe it or not for 1980 Plymouth offered the Road Runner with the indestructible Slant Six. I know, I know, some of you just learning this are incredulous. This one is 225 cid six equipped. I said I'd never buy one without a 318 V8 at minimum, fun fact the 360 V8 was dropped for 1980*. The T-top weather stripping looks shot as well. I'm sure it's got the fragile 7 1/4 rear axle.  

I'm bidding on this dog. Please pray that I'm outbid, I'm not sure how I'll explain it to my wife or to the other men at cars & coffee. 

​*Some claim the 360 V8 was available on the F-body in 1980. I'm not yet a believer. 

​UPDATE: the car sold for $18K which is Kit Car & Super Coupe money and no I wasn't the crazy s.o.b. that bought it. 

Hagerty presents a roaming cars & coffee. 
I got a event suggestion at Fakebook from Hagerty. In AZ, NJ and NY Hagerty with something called Car Park was hosting a multiple location cars and coffee at participating Dunkin' Donuts...excuse me it's just Dunkin' now. Drive a "circuit" with names like Daytona, Monaco and Monza hitting up three DD to get cool swag and a poster. Meet other cool people, see cool cars in their natural habitat. I thought "wow" fire up the 1978 Dodge Super Coupe, grab the camera for shooting cool pics of malaise era cars.  It was a bust.

Now to be fair I didn't drive any of the circuits in AZ, just one in NJ and NY. Also the weather in the area was sketchy, the warm sunshine never materialized but some showers did. At most locations we had the only enthusiast car participating. We didn't see many kindred spirits on the road either. It wasn't a complete waste of time. At our final stop, the Dunkin' on MacArthur Blvd in Mahwah, NJ there was a full blown cars & coffee happening. Coincidently some other group of gearheads were holding a meetup there as well. Check out Richard's blog below for other pics and a more favorable opinion on the day.

Sunday Morning Cars and Coffee, May 2, 2021 | richardscarblog

There were no other malaise muscle, there was a cool Nova SS, a hot rod, an antique fire truck, sports cars classic and modern . Our SC drew a small crowd which was nice. It also gave us an excuse to explore Greenwood Lake, NY a little bit, with a nice lunch at Murphy's Tavern. 

If they run this event again and the weather cooperates I'll try it out one more time.  Car Park was the main driver of this event, check out their website below.
About — CarPark (carparknyc.com)