A Brief History of Americruise

Longtime Rod & Custom readers may remember that the magazine spearheaded the first Street Rod Nationals in 1970. For that event, rodders from many areas of the country got together and caravanned to Peoria, Illinois. To the amazement of the R&C staff, 600 rodders showed up at Peoria, which was the largest-ever gathering of street rods at one place until then. Today that turnout is small compared to many national and regional rod shows, but it was a fantastic starting point.

One of the reasons for the 1970 run was to show that street rods can be reliable and dependable. It proved that the fun of owning a street rod was driving it, not just showing it. This "street is neat" philosophy has led to the development of many of the top-quality parts we can buy for our street rods today to make them more dependable than ever. Street is still neat, and that is what inspired Americruise.

A few years ago, the R&C staff decided it would be cool to duplicate that first cruising event and do it annually. We kicked it off with Americruise 1993, which turned out to be an incredible success. In each succeeding year, Americruise has started with as many as 13 different tours from all over the country. The tours were designed to make stops at many of the top street rod shops and companies along the way. Early on, the R&C editors began to travel with separate tours, reporting on the events and cars that caravanned to a central location each year. Then, the weekend following the tours, the actual Americruise event takes place, complete with a huge car show, a variety of entertainment, and manufacturer and vendor displays of all kinds.

The R&C staff is also on hand to photograph each Americruise, and in the process of doing so we find cars for upcoming features. In fact, there are so many nice cars at this event each year that the editors are kept busy all three days and there were still many cars we don’t get a chance to shoot.

The daytime activities at Americruise keep participants and spectators alike busy and entertained. However, there are also plenty of things to do in the evening. There may be barbecues, live bands, cruises, contest--the whole gamut of carnival excitement mixed with the world’s most fabulous cars.

But instead of reading about the event, take a look at our collection of photos from 1993 to the present. Even better, sign up for this year's tour! For more information, call 800/622-3960 or 323/782-2837.

Click here for the latest information about Americruise.