The start of the summer car show season brings something new to CarShowGuide.com. Greetings from southeastern Wisconsin! My name is Joel McNabb and I am one of co-founders of the Horicon Marsh Classic Car Club. We are otherwise known as the Marsh Rats. Our club was started shortly after the 9/11 attacks on our country. We decided to start a classic car club, pooling owners from around the Marsh area, which is the largest fresh water marsh in the USA. Since that time, we have established ourselves as one of the most proactive clubs in our area. We are constantly cruising in our cars, going from event to event, and even putting on our own car show during the Marsh Days festival in late July of each year.

Because of the many shows I attend in a season, Terry Liebenow asked me to log a review of each show as I attend. This year, I plan on attending shows ranging from Oshkosh, WI to Port Washington, WI to the nightly cruise-ins in Richmond, IL and Beaver Dam, WI. All in all, I plan to get to at least ten shows this season and many cruise-ins, so I will reporting as I go. I hope you find my evaluation of the shows unbiased and insightful.

The first two car cruise-ins of the season that I have gone to have been the Culver's Cruise-In in Waupun, WI and the Backyard Grille Cruisen in Horicon, WI. I have been involved in the set up and promotion of the cruise-in at the Backyard Grille so I feel as though an appraisal of that Tuesday night cruise would not be impartial. Come see for yourself and decide if this first season is up to par. The cruise-in goes from 5 PM to 8 PM or so. We had 21 cars the first week and 22 last week. Not bad for a first year cruise-in!

For this review, I'm going to talk about the Monday night cruise-in at the Culver's Restaurant in Waupun, WI. This cruise night has been established for three years and it shows in the large number of vehicles which show up for the event. Some of my categories will change to accommodate a cruise night instead of a car show, however I will still use an A to F scoring system.

FOOD: Food is available on sight. If you have ever eaten at a Culver's, you know that the food is far superior to a Mickey D's or a Taco Bell. Their prices tend to be a little high, but the quality of the food as well as the wide variety of their menu justifies the money you shell out. They are willing to seat you inside or outside and bring your food to you when they are finished preparing it fresh. They do have cruise-in specials for those who register a vehicle. Grade: A

LOCATION: The Culver's is located on Hwy 49, just off of Hwy 151 and is easily seen and within close proximity's of other stores and gas stations. They park you in a large parking lot in front of the Culver's which is decent. There is absolutely no shade. Grade: B

SIGNS AND CONSTRUCTION: There are no signs but this is a cruise-in. There was no construction to speak of. Grade: B

BATHROOMS: The bathrooms in the Culver's are accessible and always clean. There are no outside bathrooms. Grade: A

DASH PLAQUES: Culver's gives out dash plaques, which is pretty unique for a monthly, free cruise-in. The plaques are nicely done. This is a nice touch for a cruise-in. They also give you a goody bag with coupons and free stuff inside. Good job Culver's! Grade: A

MUSIC: The music is set up very well and is done by a professional. No matter where you park in the lot, the music is easily heard. Just don't park directly in front of the speakers. You'll be rubbing your ears for the rest of the night. Grade: A

PARKING: The parking is done by lot attendants and attention is paid to keeping vehicles far enough apart. This is a luxury they have because of the large parking lot. The lack of shade is a bummer, but this is an asphalt lot. The parking is done right with easy access to arriving and leaving vehicles. Grade: A

CAR CRUISE: At 8 PM, everyone is invited on an informal cruise around Waupun. This is a nice touch if everyone behaves themselves. Otherwise, Waupun PD does their job and takes action quickly to deter bad behavior. The only knock here is that the cruise is fairly short. Grade: A-

Overall, the Culver's Cruise-In at Waupun is a fine, organized event with good food and a decent location. The people are friendly and act as if they want us to be there. If your looking for a once-a-month cruise-in on a Monday night, check this one out. It will be worth your time. Overall Grade: A

Stay tuned for my next review as I will be reviewing the Beaver Dam Swan Park Father's Day Car Show, which is show of around 500 vehicles. Hope to see you there!

Keep cruisen', 

Joel

To read Joel's other reviews Click Here.