by Kathleen Pulek

Middletown came alive

with the sites and sounds of
four-wheel fever as throngs
of car acionados packed
Main Street from Washing-
ton down to the South Green
to ogle and appreciate the
many hot rods and custom
cars that packed the center
of town.
There was something
for everyone Wednesday,
June 11, at the 17th annual
Cruise Night on Main, co-
sponsored by the City of
Middletown and the Mid-
dlesex County Chamber of
Commerce. The vast array
of trucks, muscle cars, an-
tiques, domestics, imports
and rat rods numbered more
than 550 and vehicle owners
gladly answered questions
and discussed the loving
restorations made to their
prized possessions.
Oldies tunes played by
members of the Over the
Hill Gang as well as Flash-
back, which performed live
50s and 60s music from the
main stage, provided the
evenings backdrop, as more
than 5,000 people came out
to celebrate the start of sum-
mer.
We lucked out im-
mensely with the weather,
said Cathy Duncan, event
organizer for the Chamber.
We watched the weather
closely and saw that there
would be a passing show-
er in the afternoon and it
looked clear after that
and it was. The rain shower
was over by 3:30 p.m. The
Chamber phones rang off
their hooks with people call-
ing to see if it was raining
here. Yes, the weather did
affect the attendance. We
were down about 200 cars
from last year. If the weath-
er had been clear, we esti-
mate this would have been
a record-breaking event for
attendance. The people who
did attend were glad they
did.
Chamber President
Larry McHugh echoed Dun-
cans sentiments.
The 17th annual
Cruise Night on Main was
a major success. This was
once again a terric event
that attracted thousands of
people to downtown Mid-
dletown, he said. I would
like to thank the City of
Middletown, our sponsors
and everyone who worked
to make the 17th annual
Cruise Night on Main a suc-
cess. We are already looking
forward to next year.
The evening raised over
$2,000 to benet Middle-
towns Mentor Program and
other city youth programs
including recreation and
summer youth programs.
Among the cars that
drew their share of atten-
tion were a classic 1972
Jensen Interceptor III from
Middletowns Community Newspaper
Volume 13, Number 7
July 2014
Its Grilling Season
*****************ECRWSS****
Local
Postal Customer
PRSRT STD
US POSTAGE PAID
HARTFORD, CT
PERMIT NO. 5126
Feature
READ
INSIDE
MORE
Face the Music On Stage
The Tony Awards
Didnt watch? Dont worry, Jeffrey
LaGrange has the recap for you.
Page 27
King Lear
ARTFARM will perform this
Shakespeare tragedy this month.
Dortha Cool Willetts has a look
behind the curtain.
Page 14
Page 24
Continued on page 15
Main Street Catches Four-Wheel Fever
Francis Saunders poses with his 1938 Chevy truck. Photo: Dave Burnham.
Neil Realty, Inc.
860-635-5974
Visit us at our location:
532 Main Street, Cromwell
or anytime at
www.century21neil.com
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the UK; a candy apple red
1964 Ford Mustang, an
iconic American muscle
car; a 1929 Mercedes; and a
1947 Crosley sedan owned
by Seb Fontana from Rocky
Hill. A pair of Middletown
vehicles--Tom and Mar-
sha Judsons 1964 yellow
Minivan and Sal Vernales
rare 1967 Chevy Camaro
SS--also proved to be crowd
pleasers. The Minivans 10
wheels and walnut dash-
board caused more than
a few double takes. The
Camaro, one of just 1,138
two-door sport coupes built,
sporting an original win-
dow sticker with a price of
$4,544.30.
The very busy Wayne
Carini, who hosts Chas-
ing Classic Cars on Ve-
locity TV and owns F40
Motorsports, a vintage and
classic car dealership, and
Carini Carozzeria, a restora-
tion shop, both in Portland,
showcased a couple of his
favorites. His 1933 Beezy-
mobile (also known as The
Louis Special) was built
in Santa Monica in 1947
and has raced at Bonnev-
ille (1947-48) and Pebble
Beach (1950-56). Carinis
green 1970 Plymouth Barra-
cuda received the Libertys
Choice Award, presented by
Liberty Bank.
Josh Wilcox and Sarah
Massicott of Higganum en-
joyed some people watching
and local fare while sitting
in the back of Wilcoxs 1979
Chevy El Camino.
I found the car on
Craigslist when I was 15
and jumped right on it. I
replaced the whole interior,
changed the engine to a
350ci instead of a 305ci and
put on new tires and rims.
The car had about 60,000
miles. Ive put on about
9,000.
My friends and I were
at lunch one day and we
were tossing around names
for the car. We came up with
Loretta. Ive brought Lo-
retta to this show every year
since I could drive, which is
four years. Im having fun
with the car and I plan on
keeping her forever.
Middletowns Sal and
Lucy Branciforte took home
the AAA Diamond Award
for their 1956 sunset orange
Chevy Bel Air.
Weve owned the car
for two weeks, Sal said.
This is the third car show
weve entered and the third
trophy weve won. I saw a
photo of the car and then
asked two friends out in
Phoenix, AZ, to look at it for
me. I had it shipped out and
delivered to Jackson Chev-
rolet.
People were drawn to
Francis Saunders and his
1938 Chevrolet truck. My
dad bought this truck back in
the 1970s. It was listed as a
V6 truck in Hemmings Mo-
tor News. Dad knew Chevy
didnt make a V6 then so
he had to go take a look. A
fellow had passed away and
the widow was selling it dirt
cheap in Deep River. Dad
bought it, brought it home,
got it running and used it for
many years as a dump truck.
After Dad passed
away, the truck sat out in
the backyard for about 18
years. Then the rat rod craze
came around and I said,
That truck would make a
neat rat rod, so thats what
I did. I cleaned it up and
started building it. It took
about nine months, con-
tinued Saunders, who lives
in Old Lyme and belongs to
the Beachcombers of Nian-
tic Car Club. Its still on its
original chassis but its got a
1977 El Camino drive train.
I put the casket on the back
just because I like being dif-
ferent. The casket also holds
the trucks gas tank.
This is the fth year
its been on the road and
Ive put on almost 11,000
miles. I drive it all the time
and have a lot of fun with it.
So many people drive down
the highway, look over at
me and give me thumbs up.
I dont have to worry about
it getting scratched or some-
one putting their hands on it.
Kids can get up on the run-
ning board and look inside.
Mitchell Wynn, who
came to Connecticut on
vacation to visit his older
brother in 1992 and decid-
ed to stay in Middletown,
brought his beautifully pre-
pared MBS Racing 1977
Ford Mustang II, which
he built with help from his
sons, Mitch and Marquay.
Wynn has been a pastor
at Mount Olive Church of
Christ on South Main Street
for 16 years. After God, his
other passion is drag racing.
I was born and raised
in drag racing. My grandfa-
ther, my dad, my aunts and
my uncles all had muscle
cars in North Carolina, he
said.
He recently took the car
to New Yorks Lebanon Val-
ley Dragway to run it for the
rst time. The Mustang laid
down a 10.5-second pass
with the promise of dipping
into the nines after a little
tweaking of the set up. It
felt real good. It reminds
me of riding a horse when
the horse is loping. A horse
is a bumpy ride, but when
you get that horse into a full
sprint, it smoothes out and
rides good.
The Mustang is pro-
pelled down the quarter mile
strip by a 302ci Ford motor
that has been stroked out to
347ci. The engine produces
730hp and runs on 110 oc-
tane race fuel.
One of my brothers
told me today, Youre sup-
posed to be a man of God
and youre into racing. You
need God to ride in this
car, said Wynn.
Sponsor Awards
-Veterans Choice
Award presented by Jackson
Chevrolet - Shiela Siena,
Middletown, 1978 Chevy El
Camino.
-Libertys Choice
Award presented by Liberty
Bank - Wayne Carini/F40
Motor Sport, Portland, 1970
Plymouth Barracuda.
-Main Drag Award pre-
sented by Downtown Busi-
ness District - Herb Caso,
Cromwell, 1936 852 Au-
burn
-Apple Rehab Choice
Award presented by Apple
Rehab - Peter Tytila, East
Lyme, 1934 Ford 3-Window
Coupe.
-Street Legal Award
presented by Haymond Law
- Russ Bosse, Berlin, 1969
Chevy Chevelle.
-AAA Diamond Award
presented by AAA Al-
lied Group/Cromwell - Sal
Branciforte, Middletown,
1956 Chevy Bel Air.
-Sparkling Clean
Award presented by Servpro
of Middletown and New
Britain - Ted Chowaniec,
Wallingford, 1961 Chevy
C-10 truck.
-MHCC Choice Award
presented by Middletown
Health Care Center - Ray
Piotrowski, Middletown,
1937 Chevy Sedan.
-Mayors Choice Award
presented by Mayor Dan
Drew - Vin LaBella, Berlin,
1933 Ford Coupe.
The Chronicle - July 2014 15
Chronicled
Middletown Annual Cruise Night on Main (Cont.)
Sarah Massicott and Josh Wilcox enjoy some local fare while sitting in the back of Joshs 1979 Chevy El
Camino. Photo: Dave Burnham.
The 1956 Chevy Bel Air, owned by Sal and Lucy Branciforte, notched its
third trophy in three outings, winning the AAA Diamond Award. Photo:
Dave Burnham.
Car talk and good food were on tap at the 17th annual Cruising on Main. Photo: Dave Burnham.
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