My Favorite Ride: A step back in time to 1950s car cruising and Joe Wilson's Kaiser

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a day ago

It was in 2013 when I sat down with three Crusin' Classics Car Club members to talk about the days of their youth when they would put on their best blue jeans, slicked back their hair, get behind the wheel of their cool fast cars and set out for a night of cruising around town.
Gary Franklin, Buddy Weaver and Joe Wilson joined me in a public TV studio. It started out with me asking questions and turned into a lively discussion about days long gone by. I'm not sure what happened to that local documentary project, but the four of us enjoyed the reminiscing.
I was reminded of that day when Mike Piskos called me July 22 to say Wilson, who lived in Bloomfield, had died.
The U.S. Army veteran, who spent 60 years working as a barber, was 86. He was a member of Cincinnati Christian Church, VFW, American Legion, Am Vets, the Barbers' Union and the AFL/CIO.
He loved classic vehicles and was a regular at area car shows. I became quite familiar with Joe's lovely deep-sky-blue 1952 Kaiser, and a few other cool cars he owned, including a 1973 Buick Electra, olive green in color.
I loved, loved that Electra, which I think Joe may have sold long the way.
"Classic cars were a passion of Joe's," his obituary said. "He spent countless hours tinkering with his beloved cars and was a member (and president) of the Crusin' Classics Car Club and Kaiser Owners Car Club."
That day 12 years ago, Wilson and his buddies spilled out memories of a time when a gallon of gasoline could be bought with a coin and cigarettes were 20 cents a pack.
Wilson's main cruising route 70 years ago was the stretch from Wyatt's Drive-In and the Frost Top in downtown Petersburg. 'It was two miles from one to the other,' he told me. 'I put in a lot of miles between the two.'
He drove a not-so-fast and unique compact car, what the Kaiser-Frazer Corp. called its Henry J, named after named after the Michigan automobile manufacturer's founder, Henry J. Kaiser.
Wilson bought his two-tone blue 1951 Henry J for $300. He sold it for much less, $60, after a blown engine rod ended its driving days. His next car? A 1948 Ford.
Here's an excerpt from that 2013 My Favorite Ride column about cruising in the 1950s. Sadly, all three men have passed away, Weaver in May of this year and Franklin in 2023.
A step back in time to 2013 column
Wilson's Kaiser stood out from the Fords, Plymouths, Chevrolets and Studebakers of the day.
Wilson first drove a car when he was 12, traveling with his dad down a country road going to his grandpa's house. 'He let me slide over and drive,' the 74-year-old recalled. 'He had the seat scooted all the way up,' and Wilson reached the clutch, brake and gas pedals by stretching his legs out as far as he could.
Franklin did a lot of cruising around Spencer's courthouse square in a 1965 Ford Fairlane, and Weaver could be found parked in his 1949 Chevrolet at Bloomington's Frisch's Big Boy, or driving up and down College Avenue and Walnut Street.
They talked about loafing around, going to quarter movies, burning some rubber occasionally and watching the girls. Two of them married girls they cruised with in those cars.
Cruising then was a social activity, and for Wilson, Franklin and Weaver, it still is. All three are Thursday night regulars at the Hardees on West Third Street in Bloomington, where on a breezy summer night you might find as many as 100 classic cars that spill over into the bank parking lot next door.
More than half a century has passed since they were young, but they still enjoy cruising in their cars.
'The fun is in going and having the camaraderie of the people,' Wilson said. 'And the friendships. They last a long time.'
Farewell
Godspeed and happy cruising Joe. Thursday nights in the Bloomington Hardee's parking lot won't be the same without you and that Henry J.
Who knows? You, Buddy and Gary may be cruising along somewhere in the great beyond.
Have a story to tell about a car or truck? Contact My Favorite Ride reporter Laura Lane at [e-mail] or 812-318-5967.
This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: My Favorite Ride: A step back in time to the 1950s car cruising
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