Cruise Above the Clouds 2016

The 2016 Cruise Above the Clouds set a new record for number of entries in the iconic car show. The Woodland Park displayed 350 cars all through the streets and parking lots of Woodland Park and thousands of car buffs and curiosity seekers wandered from classic car to exotic automobile under ideal weather conditions Saturday, Sept. 10.

1: Dave Blix’s Porche Red 55 Ford F-100 Pickup was shining up nicely in the morning sun. Blix’s first wife gave him the devil because he paid $300 for the truck 35 years ago and he spent 12 years restoring it.  “The wife is gone, but I still have the truck,” he said. It is all from ‘54, ‘55, ‘56 Ford F-100 parts, except for the Cleveland 351 engine that came out of a Mustang.

2: Jerry Kabbe’s Forest Green flamejob paint on his 1957 GMC pickup inspired other-world fantasy and set the truck apart in sea of classic and standout “automobilery.”

3: It is not everyday that you run into someone (even at a car show) driving a 1962 Plymouth Valiant, and that is precisely why Mike Buctter of Colorado Springs likes showing up in the unique equipment. 

4:Take a classic 1957 Chevy, modify it slightly in the front with 1958 Chrysler 352 Hemi, and drive it from Aurora to a premier car show in the mountains around Woodland Park and Cripple Creek. Owner Andy Haney kept it  under 60 m.p.h., and gas mileage around 15 miles per gallon.

5:Linda and Bob Brown’s 1969 Pontiac Firebird is rare. Pontiac was sponsoring the Olympic Ski Team that year and a “Ski Package” was available on some models. However, it was not supposed to be available on the convertible. Three were ordered from Denver anyway and built in Van Nuys, until orders from Michigan disallowed. “One got out,” says Bob.

6: Obligatory fuzzy dice in a 1956ish Chevy.

7: This car is sort of dinosaur-like… a real fossil, but well-preserved. They don’t make them J.J. and Mike Triebold’s 1955 Yellow and Black Sunliner anymore.

8: Anytime you get cars together, especially alot of them, you probably will eventually need a tow truck. Viola! Bill Schwindts 1949 Yellow Dodge.

9: Well, Jay Cimino can also have a 1957 Studebaker Silver Hawk, too.

10: Jay Cimino is car guy, and car guys like 1957 Chevys, even if they operate Phil Long Ford. This is no ordinary 1957 Chevy convertible, however.

11. You might pull up side-straddle over a small streambed, drop the side gates and create a bridge to Terabithia with this 1962 Convair Rampside.  

12. It is kind of like a car, only smaller. Francesca Ferrero's 1970 Fiat has just enough room for your body mass, and a little bottle of gas. Many of you have owned recycling containers that are larger.

13. Four-door 1956 Chevy, red and white, simple elegance.

Photos by Rob Carrigan