Go Cruisin' on a Friday Night

It's time to rev up your engines! 

Friday nights in Massapequa will once again resemble a scene out of "American Graffiti"  as Town of Oyster Bay has kicked off their Classic Car Cruise Nights.

The annual summer event takes place every Friday evening through August 20th in the parking lot of the Massapequa Long Island Rail Road station from 7pm to 10pm. 

"Lots of people come, and they love it. It's a great night," said Donna Antetomaso of the town's Recreation Department as she directed traffic on opening night last Friday.

"We have people who come from all over Long Island to be here," she said.

But there's a small but important price to park and show off your vehicle, Antetomaso said.

"You donate two cans of food - that's the admission fee. And we donate the food to Island Harvest, who then distribute it to the needy."

While donations aren't required to look at the cars, they're certainly appreciated.

 On opening night, the parking lot was crammed with hundreds of cars ranging from turn-of-the-century classics to cutting-edge racing cars. Fascinated onlookers milled about, trying to take in every automobile. One popular attraction was a row of Delorean DMC-12 sports cars, made famous in the film "Back To The Future." But those weren't the only rides getting attention.

 A big fan of the "Transformers" movies, Francisco Mercado purchased a 2009 Chevrolet Camaro and "transformed" it into a replica of Bumblebee, one of the Autobots from the film. "We've basically done everything- the racing stripes the car, the scissor doors, the Autobot symbols," he said.

"We just got back from the GM nationals this past weekend, and we took three awards. Every show we go to, we get a lot of attention."

 Frank Macintyre of Lindenhurst was showing off a beautiful, pale yellow 1971 Mach-1 Mustang. "This car was only built for one year," he said. "I completely restored it myself in 2000. I repainted it, put new bumpers on it, new decals...everything's all original, straight from the factory."

 George Lublin sat in front of his purple 1940 Ford Business Coupe, beaming with pride. It was with good reason- after he spent over $180,000 restoring and modifying it. Lublin went over the car's many modifications: "I widened it by eight inches, installed Mercedes headlights, air conditioning, back-up camera, DVD player, air bags, and electric doors," he said.

Despite all of these luxuries, Lublin babies the car, saying he's only driven this masterpiece a scant 300 miles.

 The Classic Car Cruise Night brought out a large crowd of both auto enthusiasts and curious, casual observers. Donald Keegan, of Lindenhurst, eagerly took the drive over for the event. "I always enjoy the show," he said. "There's an amazing assortment of great cars here...this show really brings out some innovative design and restoration work."

Frank Balbo showed off his stunning candy wine berry-colored 1934 Ford Three Window Coupe, which happened to be for sale. "I restored everything myself, even going so far as to install major mods like air bags, an Alpine stereo with bazooka tube, and I even rubber-coated under the car." Whatever the asking price for this beauty, it's sure to be worth every penny.

Entertainment was provided courtesy of "Long Island's Doo-Wop Princess", 12 year-old Kayla Starr. She belted out popular hits from the 1950's onstage while onlookers sat in admiration of her lovely and surprisingly mature vocals.