WANT TO DISPLAY your car? Note the rules (below) and arrive NO EARLIER, please, than 5 p.m. today.
Space is limited, and parking will begin at 5 p.m.
You can register your car for the Cruise-In at http://www.ruddellauto.com/forms.aspx?frm=eventregistration&s=carshow and arrive right at 5 p.m.
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Gentlemen and ladies, start your engines!
See a huge, chrome-filled array of cars and trucks, drop local celebrities into a dunk tank and enjoy hot dogs and music.
It’s the Ruddell Cruise-In, a combination car show and community block party from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. today.
There is no admission charge.
The annual July event, now in its 14th year, is sponsored by Ruddell Auto Mall and Ruddell Hyundai.
It takes place at the twin car dealerships off U.S. Highway 101 at Golf Course Road on the east end of Port Angeles.
The centerpiece of today’s Cruise-In is hundreds of cars and trucks — from street machines to classics, vintage vehicles to hot rods — drawn from across the North Olympic Peninsula, Western Washington and even Canada.
The Cruise-In has grown in size every year.
“We expect this year’s show to have more than 400 cars on display,” said owner Howard “Howie” Ruddell.
“We were full [of cars] within 30 minutes of opening the gate last year and expect the same again.”
More than 4,000 people attended last year’s Cruise-In.
KONP radio will broadcast from this year’s event.
Entertainment will be provided by The Way Back Machine classic rock band.
Pop, hot dogs and hamburgers and ice cream will be sold as a fundraiser.
At the dunk tank, $5 will buy you three balls to throw at a target.
Hitting it dumps a local celebrity into the water-filled tank. All the money collected goes to local charities.
Still time to register
Both Ruddell lots will be emptied of new and used cars to make room for today’s convergence of cars and community.
About a dozen different car clubs are expected to participate in the Cruise-In.
Individuals are welcome as well.
(IMPORTANT — see registration instructions above.)
There is no cost, but project cars (those being built or rebuilt and not yet completed) and post-1972 vehicles are not allowed at the event.
Plaques will be awarded in several categories including Best of Show, People’s Choice and Farthest Distance Traveled.
Co-hosting the event with Ruddell is the Old Timers car club, based in Bremerton.
“We expect cars from across Western Washington; from Bremerton, Tacoma, Puyallup, up to Bellingham, as well as some folks coming down from Canada,” said Old Timers chairperson Jerry Scott in a statement.
“This is a big event, and we are expecting this year’s Cruise-In to set a new attendance and display record on the Peninsula, as it has for the last three years.”
The Cruise-In was started in 1996 by Howie Ruddell’s father, the late H. “Mac” Ruddell, with help from Scott.
Two of the attendees at last year’s Cruise-In were traveling to Port Townsend from Victoria and didn’t intend to make a stop in Port Angeles until they saw the many rows of well-polished classic cars sparkling in the sun.
“We’ve always liked old cars,” said Mike Peinaar, 60. “We just had to stop.”
