When the idea lightbulb first flickered above the head of Craig Parrish to hold a classic car show in downtown Lansing, the prospects were dim.
"It started with an idea but I had no sponsors," the promoter remembered. "It's taken off like gangbusters."
Now with seven sponsors, the Lansing resident's concept has developed into "Cruisin the Gut," which for four consecutive years has electrified the proverbial spark plug of classic car owners and lovers alike.
About 600 pre-1980 autos lined Washington Avenue and adjacent side streets Saturday, catering to thousands of spectators gathered in volatile weather conditions to share their love for vintage rides.
For Parrish, the show - named for decades past when high school students would loop up and down Washington Avenue in their jalopies - is the culmination of 600 hours of work, including statewide promotion and marketing.
There are three shows this summer; the first "Cruisin the Gut" was June 5, and the next will be on Sept. 18.
"There's a lot of time involved with it," he said. "You don't just get a permit for a show and say 'Let's have a show.' You go to different shows and different events and talk to people. You try to get them to go to your show over maybe another show.
"I'm at a car show just about every weekend."
Like Parrish, Hillsdale resident Pete Lucas goes to a car show nearly every weekend, although Saturday was the green 1939 Ford Sedan owner's first time in Lansing.
"We go all over," he said. "I love cars like the way you like girls. There's something that attracts me to them."
However, the show veteran was disappointed in Saturday's turnout, both in the number and variety of cars in addition to what he said was relatively low spectator attendance.
"It doesn't have the quality of cars," he said. "I've been to better ones."
His friend, Litchfield resident and 1969 Chevy Cutlass Supreme owner Mike Shaw wants to see the streets completely cordoned off from regular traffic and for music to be played all along the streets, rather than just at one location.
"You feel more secure when you don't have the cars going up and down the streets," he said, noting that traffic worries spectators trying to get good looks at the cars. "You need some way to pipe music all the way down."
However, both car owners applauded Parrish's marketing of the show, which they heard of on the radio 60 miles away in their home towns.
The June show was bigger, Parrish said, noting it drew more spectators and about 1,000 cars.
"The questionable weather has kept some people away," he said of a mid-afternoon thunderstorm. "It blew out and it was fine."
Eventually, vintage car owners Shaw and Lucas agree that the show will progress.
"If they keep after it, it will get better and better," Shaw said.
