Roadsters In Roctober 5 is officially in the books as a success. October 9, 2005 was the day where all of the finest roadsters in the state managed to make it over to the east coast to Doubles Hoagies and Grill in West Melbourne for a day of fun, door prizes, refreshments, food and the famous “beach cruise”, then on to Hot Rod Stuff’s Open House, put on by Gary Moore and his lovely wife Elisa.

The week leading up to the show admittedly was scary with all of the rain in the forecast. Thankfully the rain Gods listened to my prayers and broke the pattern for a bit. We did have a small shower during lunch but no great harm.

The day of the show started early with donuts, coffee and juice supplied by Carlos Robertson of Doubles, while a constant trail of roadsters lead their way into the lot. I’d love to have the space to mention them all, so I’ll just highlight a few attendees. Already parked “in waiting” was Carlos’ bright yellow ‘32 Phaeton, Al Washburn’s vanilla shake, high mileage ‘32 sporting Moon discs on all 4 corners, Tom Pesula in the Hugger Orange deuce, and Jerry Vess’ cantaloupe colored ‘32 all from down south rolled in, followed by Dave Zagora of Port St. John sporting goggles and a snorkel for the occasion. (I rode with Dave the night before to New Smyrna’s cruise and got wetter that I’ve ever been, after sailing thru a few puddles that evening, the word Tsunami came to mind).

Curtis Dorman slid in with his super fine original ‘33 Plymouth convert. Watch out guys, he’s putting an aluminum head, twin carb flathead with Fenton split manifolds together, just to spin the wood spokes off.

Dan Erminger in the “Hop Up” deuce was sporting the painted to match gloss black Duvall windshield and stainless tank out back. Dan was an ‘05 Hot Rod Power Tour participant this past summer dodging rain the entire trip. Dave Graham got his purple pearl, blown Mopar powered Model A roadster out of the trailer for the day and rumbled in into the poll position spot. Congratulations to Dave for winning the Roadsters in Roctober ‘05 Clock, an award for being the first to pre-register for the event.

Gary Moore motored in with the jalopy of the day. Fresh from Kansas, this barn fresh (?) ‘32 Ford Roadster is truly something to see. If it’s interesting or cool, Gary has it, had it or will build it. This piece of 4 wheeled flyer is a rolling history lesson....or a rolling entertainment center from the 50’s. The Deuce was built recently, with nothing but old parts. Rusty Caddy motor, real Buick Drums, patina red wires, bullet holes in the rear panel all gets you looking at the exterior, while an old Diner booth seat and a Coca Cola sign for a floorboard completes the interior. Steering comes from a Schroeder sprint car box. Check it out when you get the chance.

A big thanks goes out to Gary for lending me his awesome “GM Deuce”. A super fine 1932 Chevy Landau convertible Deluxe (1 of 631 produced)....the borrowed ride comes in handy until my new ‘32 Tub project hits the finish line. Yes it’s true, I have a great start to a new ride. A big thanks to Dave and Jeannie Bartman for the opportunity to start a new creation of my own. 331 early Hemi power, and ET III’s all around is the plan. Everyone keep your fingers crossed that I can finish it by summer.

Anyway back to the show - The Butcher Built cars were streered in by Jumpin’ Jack Klingel, Curt Land and Daniel Sutter, all out of the Spring Hill area. Note: One of the Butcher built guys, Steve Kreischer, wasn’t able to make it due to putting his Deuce back together after a crash last spring. Luckily neither Steve or his son were injured, and we hope to see the “secret color” ride back on the streets soon in fine Butcher Built fashion.

Dave Skyles was chauffeured (because of a broken foot and on crutches) by Racin’ Ron Stetter in Dave’s killer new ride. It has a Brookville body painted sage green, a blown flathead sportin’ Offy heads and a pair of Strombergs, plus Firestone dirt track tires wrapped around red steelies. Congratulations to Dave Skyles as his roadster was chosen as the Right Coast Associations “Right Choice” Award, presented by Right Coast Rep Gary Rhoades.

The Tampa boys showed they weren’t scared of the weather and made the 3 hour trek to the only Roadster show in Florida...maybe even east of the Mississippi. That included, among others, Richard Geller in his too cool ‘27 Chevy Lakes modified roadster with a suicide front end and small block power, which got the “Roadster Roundup” pick at this year’s NSRA Tampa Nationals.

Special Guests for the day were Rich Martin of Sunshine State Rodding News, and Ross Ballintine with Hot Rod Builder from Ft. Lauderdale. It’s always a pleasure to have coverage in their publications, and they were busy snapping pictures and taking notes on all of the vehicles and the fine folks.

After greeting everyone and catching up on hot rod info, it was time to call out some door prizes. The good news is we have plenty of door prizes supplied by our fine sponsors, the bad news is everyone had to hear me yapping through a megaphone. It was tough trying to spit out ticket numbers when you’ve got donuts to eat.... ahhhh, thanks Carlos. The weather was foggy early and then a bit sticky, but it wasn’t blazing hot, thank goodness. I thought the weather (rain) would holdout until later in the day but it chose to drench us for a few minutes during lunch. Carlos and crew had plenty of eats set up for us, as well as cold refreshments flowing. The kitchen was open for those folks that had to try something different on the scrumptious menu. Cheesesteaks, waffle fries, salads, grilled chicken, etc......Yum!

After a slew of door prizes were handed out and lunch was done, it was almost time for a nap....but wait! We have to give our Grand Prizes away! Plus we have to cruise! We can’t be nappin’ when there is so much more to do now that the rain has past and we’re seeing sunny sky.

Congrats go out to Bert Harness for winning the Optima Battery donated by Carlos, Terri and Brooke Robinson of Doubles. And Curt Land won of the Alpine CD stereo supplied by High Tech Hi-Fi.

Next up, was the mad dash to the cars when those familiar words were blurted out via the megaphone, “gentleman, start your engines, we’re going cruising!” My lovely wife Donna was off before anyone else to get some good shots of the caravan over the causeway. This was one of the smoothest cruises we’ve had - the lights were all in our favor and no one got lost. We met at our destination, where we double parked on both sides of Indialantic’s beautiful boardwalk area overlooking the beach. We were soon greeted by my buddy and one of Indialantic’s finest: Sergeant Tedd Baker. No worries here, Tedd’s one of us. A blown BBC in a ‘40 Willys Pickup, ‘48 Chevy sedan delivery, ‘55 Chevy wagon, just to name a few of the rides Tedd’s had. We were so fortunate to have police supervision (support) during this beach cruise, especially when you tie up 40+ parking places.

After all of the photo ops were taken care of, we were on our way via A1A to Hot Rod Stuff’s open house for ice cream and drinks. Always something to see and admire, Gary and Elisa Moore’s Garage is a car nut’s dream. Hot rods galore, memorabilia and ice cream! Hot Rod Stuff, in case you’re wondering, is our local dealer for So-Cal Speed Shop, Pete & Jake’s, Speedway Motors and a host of other hot rod suppliers. Need something? Give him a ring at (321) 698-2643.

Speaking of Sponsors, I’d REALLY like to thank all of our sponsors for this years support! Bob at Grand Prix Motors of West Melbourne, which is where to get hot rods, classics & customs. Don and Denise from AutoPro Racing Performance Center, your local speed shop in Palm Bay. Sandpiper Sportswear in Melbourne for the awesome job on the shirts. Dave and Jeanie at Bartman Enterprises in Melbourne for the killer embroidered give-aways. Danny C’s awesome polishing and giveaways. Charlie and Gwen Price of Vintage Speed, home of hot rod carbs. Hightech Hi-Fi, the experts at stereo/alarm installation, for the grand prize. Todd Hegi at RE/MAX reality, who can find you a hot rod home. Jammin’ Joe Richardson for the spiffy pin striped stuff. Gary and Elisa at Hot Rod Stuff for the So-Cal give-aways and open house. And who could forget Carlos, Terri, Brooke and the crew at Doubles for suppling so much time, effort and help towards the success of the Roadsters in Roctober! Thanks guys for everything!

So another chapter closes, another month of Roctober passes in Roadsterland. I truly hope you enjoyed reading about our show, and thanks to Mike Kelly’s Cruise News for the coverage.

Until next time - be safe, be good and be road ready. -Dennis Sammon, F L A Roadsters