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by Erik Hare

The rumble and the roar.  The gasoline fumes intoxicating the bubbling, massive crowd.  It can only be another “Back to the 50’s” weekend in Saint Paul.

This annual event, put on by the Minnesota Street Rod Association (MSRA), packs more than 11,000 street rods, custom and stocks cars from 1964 and earlier into the State Fairgrounds.  The event spills over onto Snelling and University Avenues, where people line up in lawn chairs to watch the impromptu parade go by.  The car owners themselves often line up at 3 AM, five hours before opening, just to get the best spots to see and be scene.  This is one of the biggest events in Saint Paul, and it happens every year the weekend after Father’s Day.

The participants come from all over the US to join in one of the largest parties dedicated to the glory days of American Iron.  Most of them built their cars on their own, lovingly craft every detail it takes to chop, channel, and make an old car their own personal expression.  It’s not just a bunch of skills and pride that take them through this multi-year process, however.  This is a culture of its own, a throwback to a simpler time when an individual could take an old wreck and use it as a kind of canvas for their art.  Like artists anywhere, the shared experience gives them something that they can talk and brag and gossip over like they can with no one else.

Cruising the Fairgrounds and the streets is a kind of performance art, once the ride is just cherry enough to make a good show, but the event is all about appreciating what everyone else has done for themselves.  Firing up the oversized engine to the point where a sound like ripping canvas blasts the crowd is the fun, but the loping crawl in heavy traffic is mostly all coolness and confidence.  At some point, though, it’s time to for them to park it and chat with people that go by or watch the show for themselves.  Everyone gets a turn, everyone is cool.  Every custom car is as unique as its owners, and every car is a story. 

There are also a lot of people brave enough to show off their works in progress, too.  Rusted out frames of Model As and Staketrucks are put into something like driving condition, even if their story hasn’t quite yet been written.  These are often the most interesting people to talk to because their plans always show a hit of stars in their eyes.  For these guys, and they are nearly all guys, the adventure is just beginning.

The show continues through Sunday at 3:00, and admission is $10.  You can still get a good seat along University Avenue if you try, however, and that’s free.  Just make sure you get a chance to ask someone about their ride.  If you have some clue what you’re talking about, there’s a good chance you’ll get a good story from them.  If you like old cars, the sight of so many rolling together is powerful enough, but the stories tell you all about the culture and art form that street rodding is all about.  That’s the best part of the fun, even better than getting high on gasoline fumes.