Over 700 cars don't let weather stop them from first Somernites Cruise of season

Apr. 24—The first Somernites Cruise of the season will almost certainly not be the best attended. Then again, it rarely is.

April conditions for the classic and custom car show are often cooler — and wetter — than during the dog days of summer. And with powerful storms and torrential rain sweeping through the area on Friday night, that might have kept many who otherwise would have attended away.

Still, the show goes on, rain or shine, and despite cloudy skies, the actual downtown showcase was relatively free of bad weather throughout the afternoon, with temperatures moderate in the low 60s.

"(Turnout) is a little lower than usual, but I'd say the wet weather, stormy weather probably had something to do with it," said Cruise Team Member Mark Hansford, at the PA booth where he sits every fourth Saturday from April through October. "... (It's) breezy. I've seen a lot of people wearing jackets, and I've seen a lot of people waring shorts. So whatever you're suited for, I guess."

Hansford said the Cruise had several new volunteer team members on board this year — "That means more manpower, which is good," he noted. "Some of us who have been around for a long time like having a little extra help."

There were 701 cars of all kinds in downtown Somerset. The viewing selection included a number of Jeeps and 4X4 vehicles around the Fountain Square and vintage tractors lined up in front of the county courthouse in special displays.

The feature showcase for the month was a new one — LS engines, or luxury sport engines, which, according to Cruise Executive Director Keith Floyd, are becoming "the favored engine swap for hot rodders." About 78 LS vehicles came through the showcase gate, and another 30 or so were elsewhere throughout the downtown area.

Added Floyd of the featured auto part, "It's just a durable, fuel-injected modern engine that lends itself to enhancements. A lot of people are putting these modern engines in these old cars and trucks."

Perhaps the most intriguing vehicle in the LS engine showcase area belonged to Mike Brown, of the Cincinnati area, who brought the "It Is For Freedom" Lakester — a dedicated purpose race car for land speed racing that had a most unique, futuristic look sitting among the more traditional cars around the Fountain Square Saturday.

The Lakester, with an LSA engine, holds records in specific communities in Maine, Arkansas and Texas, and it can reach a top speed of 221.4 miles per hour; its fastest mile has been 209.912 mph, racing on airport runways. Going that fast, it's the type of car that requires a parachute to slow down.

And Brown drives the compact racing machine himself, with his wife as his crew, he said.

"We race together," he said. "She helps pack the parachute and strap me in."

Brown said the "Itisforfreedom.com" name on the Lakester comes from a Christian school in the Dominican Republic.

"I go down there a couple of times a year to support their solar power system; they're completely off-grid," he said.

But Somernites was a new journey for Brown.

"I've been a hot rodder and everything all my life; many friends from up around (Cincinnati) said, 'You've got to go to Somernites Cruise,'" he said. "I don't know why, I just didn't make it down here.

"I was at the Pumpkin Run in Owensville, Ohio when a couple of Somernites Cruise guys were there, they saw the car, and they said, 'You really need to bring it down here to Somernites Cruise,'" he added. "I said, 'It's a race car. It has no reverse gear, it has to be trailered, it can't drive on the street. It's really a hassle, not so much for me but for you,' and they said, 'Talk to Keith.' I sent Keith an email and he said, 'We'd love to have you down here.'"

Brown wasn't disappointed that he made the trip.

"The hospitality that these guys have shown is just incredible," he said. "... It's a spectacular event. It's so well-run ... and it's a family event. I can't see how this could be any nicer a Cruise."