West Fargo, North Dakota.

Eastbound and down… Why look, it’s a Missouri sheriff car, and beside the car is a Trans Am with a license plate that reads BAN 1… OMG… It’s the Bandit’s car, and Smoky just pulled up… Sure enough, it’s Buford T. Justice, window open, cigarette in his right hand on the steering wheel. Have I stepped into a time warp? A movie remake set?

Of course, I had to walk up to Officer Justice and ask, “Did you catch that sumbitch yet?”

He said, “I’m a-gainin’ on him.”

It was Cruise Night in West Fargo, with lots of classic cars to see, and plenty of friends to meet after missing cruise nights in 2020. The once-a-month occurrence throughout the summer was canceled all 2020 due to the pandemic, but this year, it’s back.

There were plenty of cars to see, but this recreation of two classic cars from the Smoky and the Bandit series was traveling the cruise night circuit. The night before, the cars were headed from Sioux Falls, South Dakota, and with someone actually playing the part of Sheriff Justice, it added something extra to viewing movie car recreations that was definitely fun.

About the photo: The photo was a bit challenging with the low-hanging sun just off camera and the Sheriff behind a slightly tinted window, but my Samsung S20U gave me a good image to work with. My usual flow into Lightroom for cropping and basic tweaks, then into Luminar AI for final touch-up finished the image.

As of late, you can click on the image to view it in 2K HD on my Flickr site. If you then click on Buford’s face, you’ll get a closer view of the Missouri Sheriff.

I encourage fellow bloggers to create their own Cellpic Sunday posts. I never have a specific topic for this feature, and the only rules are that the photo must be captured with a cell phone, iPad, or another mobile device… If you have an image from a drone, that’s acceptable as well. The second rule is to link your challenge-response to this post or leave a comment here with a link to your post in the comment.

John Steiner

Last week I shared photos from my latest annual visit to Barrett-Jackson Scottsdale Auto Auction. You don’t have to travel hundreds of miles to view great classic cars. Automobile enthusiasts know that there are local car clubs all over the country and they like nothing better to do than show off their prize collector cars.

During the summer months, both Fargo and West Fargo have designated cruise nights where car enthusiasts show off their chariots and people show up to gawk at the classic beauty of automobile design. Whether your taste tends toward hot rod, custom, or stock (factory new) look, these smaller shows usually cater to anyone interested in automobilia, especially mid-20th century classics. I wonder what the car shows of 20-30 years from now will feature… especially since most new cars all look the same.

In West Fargo, the show is on Sheyenne Street. On the downtown street, there are two lanes for travel and parking only on the west side. That’s ideal for cruise night where cones and candles separate the lanes. Classics drive up and down the street while visitors gawk at the chrome and metal beauties parked diagonally in the parking lane.

Though it appears from my two “crowd photos” above that there aren’t a lot of people there, the photos happen to miss the hundreds of people who attend. There are food vendors and lots of other activity going on in West Fargo on Cruise Nights, held the third Thursday in June, July, August and September. What better way could there be to enjoy a nice summer evening during North Dakota’s long summer days. I submit for your review a small collection of images gathered from one of  last year’s events. Look up a classic car cruise night in your area. You’ll be glad you took some time to walk amidst the classic memories of yesterday’s automobilia. In most browsers, you can click on an image to enlarge it and to scroll through the gallery.

John Steiner