Classic cars cruise through Coeur d'Alene
Elvis impersonator and Pullman, Wash. native Scot Bruce waved to spectators in downtown Coeur d’Alene Friday night. (JUDD WILSON/Press)
JUDD WILSON/Press Coeur d’Alene residents Doug Connerford and Kristin Peterson cruise through downtown in a 1971 Corvette Stingray Friday night. Hot on their tails are Cathie Orr and Fred Davison of Kamiah in a 1969 Ford Mustang Grande.
Vehicles from 1980 and earlier paraded through downtown Coeur d’Alene Friday night as part of the 28th annual Car d’Lane celebration, sponsored by the Coeur d’Alene Downtown Association. (JUDD WILSON/Press)
Throngs of spectators admired vehicles during the Friday night Car d’Lane cruise. (JUDD WILSON/Press)
Throngs of spectators outside of Sonrisa and Crafted admire vehicles during the Friday night Car d'Lane cruise. (LOREN BENOIT/Press)
Athol resident Jason Williamson drives his 1970 Dodge Challenger in the Friday night Car d'Lane cruise. (LOREN BENOIT/Press)
Twin Falls residents Phil and Sindy Labot drive their 1955 viper blue 1955 Chevy in the Friday night Car d'Lane cruise. (LOREN BENOIT/Press)
Spectators watch the Friday night Car d'Lane cruise from an apartment building on Sherman. (LOREN BENOIT/Press)
LOREN BENOIT/Press Evening sunlight shines on a late-model Chevy during Car d’Lane Friday night in downtown Coeur d’Alene.
Coeur d'Alene residents Doug Connerford and Kristin Peterson cruise downtown in a 1971 Corvette Stingray during Car d'Lane on Friday. (LOREN BENOIT/Press)
COEUR d’ALENE — Thanks in part to great weather, the Car d’Lane Friday night cruise attracted 800 entries, said Emily Boyd, event coordinator at the Coeur d’Alene Downtown Association. Half of the money from cruise entries goes to local charities, she explained, with the rest going to improvements in downtown Coeur d’Alene.
The family friendly event is “a good time to eat and shop downtown, and to kick off the summer,” Boyd said.
Doug Connerford said when he was 4 years old, a family friend took him out in a brand-new Corvette Stingray. He could barely see over the dash, but “I had to have one of them,” said Connerford. All these years later, he brought his own four-speed, 1971 Corvette Stingray to Car d’Lane. He picked it up a few years ago out of a Canadian barn and has tinkered away at it since. This weekend was the Coeur d’Alene resident’s first entry at Car d’Lane.
When he was 5 years old, Jim Bossingham sold copies of the Coeur d’Alene Press on the side of the road in downtown Coeur d’Alene. On Friday night, he cruised downtown in a newly-acquired, two-door 1962 Ford Thunderbird. He said it only has 38,000 miles on it. Bossingham bought it from a farmer near St. Maries. He’s just starting to work on it, which suited the 84-year-old Coeur d’Alene resident just fine. He added that back in the days when the car was new, the city was a very nice place where everybody knew each other.
Fred Davison explained that American vehicles morphed from the 1940s to 1960s. The Kamiah resident said they went from rounded bodies in the war years, to good-looking modern bodies in the sock hop era, to beautiful cars in his youth. Along with friends Gary Orr, Cathie Orr, and Jerry Hoopes, Davison came to Car d’Lane in a 1969 Ford Mustang Grande and 1965 Ford F100. Hoopes said working on classic cars was like “sweating to the oldies,” but was one of those things he had looked forward to prior to retirement.
Phill and Sindy Labat came all the way from Twin Falls to take part in their first Car d’Lane cruise Friday night. “I think I was born in the wrong era,” Phill said. Cars and music were at their best in the 1950s, he said. The auto body shop owner bought a 1955 Chevy Pickup four years ago and customized it to “make it smooth,” including a DVD player. From the outside, though, the beautiful truck looked straight out of an old film.
Car d’Lane continues all day today, including a benefit concert by Elvis impersonator Scot Bruce at 2 p.m. at McEuen Park, and a pinup contest by Retro Studio at 601 E. Sherman Ave. For more information, go to cdadowntown.com/cardalane.