1972 Buick Riviera

Muskegon organizers eye regional car event in 2012 and beyond in wake of Hot ...

MUSKEGON — Local organizers of Cruising the Lakeshore, Muskegon didn't create a logo for a single-day, single-year event.

Oh, no.

These car folks have future plans beyond today's national Hot Rod Power Tour that is expected to bring upward of 4,000 vehicles into downtown Muskegon.

But Muskegon doesn't need Hot Rod Magazine every year to organize a festival around street rods and classic cars. This is a community that has celebrated all kinds of music, fireworks, tall ships, airplanes and most recently motorcycles with a festival.

If all goes well with the Hot Rod Power Tour, cars might be the next "big thing" festival-wise for Muskegon, organizers said.

The local car enthusiasts gathered Wednesday evening across the street from the L.C. Walker Arena for a tune-up Poker Run sponsored by the West Michigan Street Rod Association are talking 2012 and beyond.

The hopes are to have Cruising the Lakeshore, Muskegon a regional car event at this time of year. A one- to three-day event on the second weekend in June that would bring a host of car clubs, sponsoring automotive-related businesses, the tourism industry and the community together is the vision, explained Cruising the Lakeshore Chairman John VanWyck — a longtime Muskegon festival organizer.

The car folks figure that if the community can throw a party once a year for motorcyclists with Muskegon Bike Time, there's got to be a place for them and their vehicles.

“Muskegon is a car-type community,” explained Rich Medendorp of Roosevelt Park as he prepared to go on Wednesday's Poker Run with his wife, Grace, in their restored 1965 Ford Mustang.

“There's a lot of interest in Muskegon,” the member of the Muskegon County Antique Car Club and the West Michigan Mustang Club said of an annual car event in his town. “We'd like something downtown so that we can spread out and show people what we've got.”

The local organizers of the Hot Rod Power Tour stop in Muskegon will meet in two weeks to determine how the national event's visit to Muskegon went and what could be produced regionally for next year, VanWyck said.

“A Muskegon event along the Lakeshore is something these groups have talked about for years,” VanWyck said on the day before the big event. “The Hot Rod Power Tour is the catalyst to make it happen.”

Local tour organizers said they were impressed with the two dozen local and regional sponsors of Cruising the Lakeshore, Muskegon — raising more than $50,000 for the one-day event. That will pay the $25,000 community fee to be on the Hot Rod Power Tour and for other expenses from the event, organizers said.

1972 buick riviera boattail | Buick Pictures

The Riviera by Buick is an automobile produced by Buick in the United States from the 1963 to 1999 model years, with 1,127,261 produced.

A full-size coupГ© or personal luxury car, the early models of the Riviera in particular have been highly praised by automotive journalists and writers.

A common misconception is that all Rivieras produced after 1966 are front wheel drive cars; this is only true of the 1979-1999 models. Conversely, its stablemate, the Oldsmobile Toronado, was always front wheel drive, as was the Cadillac Eldorado beginning in 1967.

The Riviera name first entered the Buick line in 1949 as the designation for the new two-door pillarless hardtop, which was described in advertising as “stunningly smart.” The Roadmaster Riviera (along with the Cadillac Coupe de Ville) constituted the first mass production use of this body style, which was to become extremely popular over the next 30 years.

In 1951 the “Riviera” designation was also used on a version of the Super 4-door sedan. The 1951 Buick Super Riviera 4-door sedan featured more plush interior trim and a wheelbase (and overall length) that was 4 inches (102 mm) longer than a regular Buick Super 4-door sedan. The Buick Super Riviera 4-door sedan was still an inch shorter in wheelbase and length than the larger Buick Roadmaster.

Starting in 1955 GM also offered a four-door pillarless hardtop body style, and the “Riviera” designation was also applied to these models. Riviera hardtop bodies were offered on all Buick lines in the next few years, including the Buick Roadmaster, Buick Super, Buick Century, and Buick Special. Since it was a body style designation and not a model, however, the Riviera name did not usually appear on the car. The last usage of the term “Riviera” to describe hardtops was 1963, as the formal designation of the #4829 Electra 225 Riviera four-door hardtop. Coincidentally, this was the same year the Riviera would become a separate model in its own right.

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