GULFPORT, Miss. (WLOX) — Heavy rain couldn’t drown out the roar of engines as View the Cruise took over downtown Gulfport.
A little rain wasn’t keeping anyone home, not when there’s a week full of cruising to look forward to.
30th YEAR BEGINS: Cruisin’ the Coast begins as classic car enthusiasts arrive from 42 states and five countries
“It is huge down here. Big, big, big. I mean, because, like I said, it is nasty, but these people just keep rolling in,” Maurepas, Louisiana, resident Brian McKigney said.
Brian McKigney returned for his fifth year from Maurepas, Louisiana, surrounded by friends, family and an ’85 K5 Blazer. He says it’s the people, not just the cars, that keep them coming back.
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“I’ve always liked the old cars, but then when you get down here, they’re all like family,” McKigney said. “They all take care of one another, and it’s pretty neat.”
While some braved the rain for a closer look, others, like Arnold Hosey, took in the classics under dry cover.
Hosey and his wife drove 97 miles for Year 4 in his ’97 Chevrolet pickup truck.
“It’s a shock watching kids come over and look at it,” Hosey said. “Some will come ask you questions, take pictures with it. Yeah. Makes it real cool.”
The event has grown from 374 vehicles in its first year to more than 10,000 vehicles, including those from five foreign countries.
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“We’ve met people from Canada, one from New Zealand one time, just from Louisiana, everywhere,” Hosey said. “And they’re so friendly; people are friendly down here.”
Take lifelong friends Patty Doyle and John Mitchell: she’s from Dallas; he’s from Gulfport; and they’ve met up here for 17 years.
“I kept coming to visit from Dallas, and he kept saying, ‘You’re coming the wrong time of the year. You need to come during the car show.’ And I said, ‘What car show?’ And he said, ‘Cruisin the Coast.’ And that’s how it started,” Patty Doyle said.
Doyle and Mitchell are cruising in Mitchell’s dad’s old truck known as “Orange Crush,” after a deal that almost let it get away.
“I was saying, John, this truck can roll. This is what we need. And he said, ‘Oh, I can’t. I’ve already sold it.’ And I said, ‘What did you sell it for?’ He said, ‘A dollar.’ I said, ‘Give the guy two dollars.’ And from there we started on this project,” Doyle said.
The truck showcases each year of Cruisin’ they’ve gone through together, and of course, a couch in the back.
“We go, and we cruise to every camp and get the stamp done. So we love it all. We really do. And we love the people and the bands and the camaraderie,” Doyle said.
That shared passion is why 30 years in, not even the rain can slow Cruisin’ down.
“They have a passion for their cars, and we have a passion for cars too, and a little rain doesn’t throw us down,” Doyle said.
To see the full schedule for Cruisin’ the Coast, click here.
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