We've done an article like this before. Longtime readers, go to your archives and dig up the Mar. '99 issue of CC to see the inspiration for this iteration. In it, former staffer Miles Cook and his brother, Wayne, hit as many local cruises as they could in a week's time and lived to tell the tale.
Current staffers who are Midwest transplants can sympathize with those suffering through--and likely just now digging out of--a long, cold, and especially snowy winter. Summer is just around the corner, and with it comes cruising. So, to get you in the mood, we crammed as many cruise nights/car events into as few days as possible as inspiration to get your car ready for summer fun. As we write this, it is the first week of February and, even here in sunny Los Angeles, there aren't cruises every night. Southern Californians are a wimpy bunch, and temperatures below 55 keep people indoors with the windows shuttered tight. That scuttled our plans to attend one cruise per day of the week, but we were able to fill up a CF card or two of cruising pictures over a nine-day span. Like Miles and Wayne did nearly 10 years ago, we hit each spot in a Ford, though this time we took our '03 Crown Victoria instead of the Cook brothers' much-cooler '64 Fairlane. Here's how it went down.
Sunday--The Pomona Swap Meet
OK, right off the bat, we're stretching the rules a bit. The Pomona Swap Meet isn't technically a cruise, and it happens only seven times a year. We're counting it anyway because there wasn't much selling going on, but there were plenty of cars cruising the fairgrounds.
 Prepare to get up really early....  Prepare to get up really early. The fairgrounds open at 5 a.m., but we personally know people who've slept in the lot the night before to get a good spot for selling parts or get a jump on buying a new car. As early as 7 a.m., the lines to get in were massive. |  Those are sponges holding...  Those are sponges holding up the headlights. |  We really liked this '67 Valiant,...  We really liked this '67 Valiant, but the seller was asking $11,000 for it. Maybe if we had more money than brains... |
 Pomona has developed a reputation...  Pomona has developed a reputation over the years as a place for people to hawk overpriced crap to foreign buyers. As the headline on this guy's paper cautions, spend wisely. |  |  |
Tuesday--Fuddruckers Lake Forest
We'd never been to this cruise before, but it's been going on in this same Orange County location for 16 years. Hector Rodriguez of Cruise Night Productions, sponsor of the show, apologized for the low turnout of about 40 cars. "Usually we'll have about 200 cars here when the weather is nice." (See what we mean!) Still, there was a really good collection of muscle cars here, and they reflect the demographic of the area--there wasn't a primered beater in the lot.
 |  We liked Jim DuCharme's '67...  We liked Jim DuCharme's '67 Buick California GS. It still has the original 340 4BBL engine and two-speed Super Turbine transmission. This version was a low-priced option package of the Skylark offered in California. |  Throw caution to the wind...  Throw caution to the wind when at a new cruising spot and sample the local fare. We scarfed down a Fudd burger and fries and capped the evening off with a chocolate malt. Maybe it was because we were starving, but everything tasted pretty good. |