Old street rods make a summer comeback

If you see Chris Bowles cruising around Prince William County streets, you should know he’s no ordinary driver. Bowles, of Warrenton, 34, is a proud, jacket-wearing member of the Bull Run Street Rods, a Manassas-based club for antique car enthusiasts.

The Bull Run Street Rods was founded in 1978 by Gene Fairfax, Joe Franzello, Roy Boyd, Wayne Gordon and Bill Buchannon, whose hot rods of choice were “true street rods,” such as 1930s Fords and Chevys, Bowles said.

You’ll likely see Bowles at a summer cruise-in, held Saturdays in the Burger King parking lot off Nokesville Road.

“Cruise-ins are a great way to get to know other classic car owners, with no pressure and no cost to participants,” Bowles said.

Summer is prime cruise-in season for antique car owners, who gather weekly to talk shop and kick back to more classic forms of entertainment (that’s pre-video games to you youngins).

However, the club isn’t just about cars, Bowles said. It also participates in charities such as Toys for Tots, the Fisher House for Wounded Warriors and Joe Gibbs’ Youth for Tomorrow.

Although the Bull Run Street Rods encourage owners with car models 1982 and older, Bowles said there are always interesting autos on the lot, such as modern Corvettes, new Mustangs and “tricked-out” compacts or tuners.

Bowles is likely to be seen hanging out near his big-block 1972 Chevy Nova.

“I bought the car with the body work done, but the rest was a combined effort of tradesmen from places like Clark’s Auto [on Commerce Street in Manassas] and myself,” Bowles said.

“My dad took me to car shows all of the time,” Bowles recalled.

Bowles, who grew up in Oakton, now takes his son to the shows. And, in fact, it was his son, who became enamored by cars in the Manassas Christmas Parade, who convinced him of the idea to join the club in the first place.

“He thought it would be cool, so in January 2008, I joined the club, by February, I was the Web guy and in December, we were in the parade.”

Bowles said some of the best reasons for joining a car club are to make trade contacts, share car repair information and, most importantly, keep informed about which repair shops or mechanics do good work and which ones should be avoided.

“The one thing about buying a classic car is that you don’t know what you don’t know until you start talking to other people,” Bowles said. “Classic car ownership is a never-ending series of repairs and upgrades.”

But, that is what classic car owners love the most, Bowles said with a grin, then rattled off a list of classic cars on his “wish list.”

“My wife wants a 1964-and-a-half to ’66 Mustang convertible,” Bowles said. “And I would like a ’67 Impala, ’65 Buick Riviera or a ’70 Ford Torino GT.”

Shannyn Snyder can be reached at shannyn@jeff-snyder.com.