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When country-rock band Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen released its hit single “Hot Rod Lincoln” in 1975, cruising had nothing to do with companies called Royal Caribbean or Carnival. The song’s famous line — “My pappy said, ‘Son, you’re gonna drive me to drinkin’ if you don’t’ stop drivin’ that Hot Rod Lincoln’” — is etched in the brains of a generation of young men, now middle-age and older, who recall steering their souped-up rides up and down main streets across America, hoping girls would notice them and other guys would envy them. One such main drag was Hamilton Street in Allentown, where cruising drew so much traffic some nights that drivers who tooled through Hamilton multiple times an hour came to be called “loopers” and Allentown police cracked down on the practice. On Saturday, the City of Allentown says: Welcome Back. That’s when Hamilton Street will be the site of the new Classics & Cruisers event, 4-8 p.m. from Sixth to Ninth streets. The city has joined the America on Wheels museum, Friends of the Allentown Parks, the Hamilton District Main Street Program and Allentown Chamber of Commerce to hold what it hopes will be an annual event attracting scores of classic cars to the downtown. There will be live music and a beer and wine tent, as well as food for sale by local restaurants. Hamilton will be closed to vehicles Sixth to Ninth streets 1-9 p.m. Saturday and Seventh Street will be closed from Linden to Walnut. “People love seeing the classic cars,” says Linda Merkel, executive director of America on Wheels. “The owners will be by their cars, sharing their knowledge and history too. Our goal here at the museum is to reach out to the younger generation and do it effectively so this type of history never ends.” Merkel expects not just hot rods of the 1960s and 1970s but also some older classics cars. That includes a 1931 Buick four-passenger coupe and a 1931 Ford Model A Tudor Sedan that are registered. Also registered is a 1964 Volkswagen Beetle, increasing the cute quotient. Allentown banned cruising in the 1980s. Now it will celebrate the pastime Classic & Cruisers. Bill Chaplis of Emmaus with his 1931 Buick, four passenger coupe along Hamilton Street in Allentown. (RICK KINTZEL / THE MORNING CALL) Dick Lobach of Emmaus is bringing his 1937 Hudson Terraplane. The color? It’s called “Plum Crazy.” The 82-year-old Allentown native recalls cruising on Hamilton in the 1950s. His first car was a 1937 Chevy coupe. “You’d drive down Hamilton Street and look in the windows to see how cool your car looked because all the stores had big windows so you could see the reflection of your car,” he says. Then the cruisers would meet at the Ritz Barbeque at the Fairgrounds to hang out. “There were some back roads; the guys with the fast cars would take off and leave the Ritz and have a couple drag races and then come back to the Ritz and say who won and have bragging rights,” he says. A member of the car club known as the Over the Hill Gang Pennsylvania chapter, Lobach has taken the Terraplane to cruise nights all over but is happy to be returning to the scene of his youthful love affair with cars. Christy Alvord, recreation and events coordinator for Allentown, says City Police Sgt. James Gress came to her last fall with the idea for the cruise night. “He owns a classic vehicle and he goes around to all these different car shows in the area to show off his vehicle and talk with other car owners,” Alvord says. “Everyone was always talking about Hamilton Street and talking about cruising in Allentown.” PHOTO GALLERY: Of the many cars Tony Mirra has repaired and rebuilt since he was 12, he is most fond of the shiny ’62 Corvette that sparkles in the backyard of his home in Center Valley, Pa. Automobile admirers like Tony Mirra will gather in downtown Allentown on July 21, 2018, to show off their wheels during the first annual Classics & Cruisers event. (Madeleine Cook / The Morning Call) Gress suggested Allentown needed its own cruise night and plans were hatched. On Saturday, music will begin around 4 p.m. on a stage by the Soldiers and Sailors monument at Seventh and Hamilton. The Late Knight Cruisers, a band that frequently plays cruise nights elsewhere, will perform first, Alvord says. “They gear toward the crowds that normally come out for a car show,” Alvord says. “So it’s some ’70s and ’80s mixed in, some throwbacks that are related to cars … kind of feel-good, fun, nostalgic music.” They’ll be followed by Don Cunningham & Associates, a rock and rhythm and blues band led by Cunningham, president and CEO of the Lehigh Valley Economic Development Corp. and former Bethlehem mayor and Lehigh County executive. A beer and wine tent will be set up by the monument. About 7 p.m. organizers will have a ceremony giving awards to the top 25 cars, as well as some special awards, such as the mayor’s pick. About 7:45 p.m., Allentown police will give the classic cars and their drivers an escort so they can parade to the Ritz Barbeque for ice cream. “If you look up pictures of cruising in Allentown, the Ritz was definitely one of the hot spots,” Alvord says. Owners of classic cars can register before the event online or when they come to the staging area at the parking lot of Allentown School District’s Building 21 at 265 Lehigh St., starting at noon. Registration is $25 and drivers should register before 2:30 p.m., Alvord says. After that organizers will be getting the cars ready to head up to Hamilton. The cars will drive down Hamilton, starting about Ninth Street. Those hoping for a good spot for viewing the parade can aim for the PPL building area at Ninth and Hamilton, Merkel says. Downtown restaurants such as Hamilton Kitchen & Bar and Queen City BBQ will offer outdoor dining and sell snacks, Alvord says. If all goes well, organizers hope to make this an annual event. “I think it was a whole social network for people,” Alvord says. “That’s what people did was drive around, show off their cars, comment on them, kind of modify them in cool ways and do neat things with them. People have always been fascinated by cars.” Margie Peterson is a freelance writer. Copyright © 2018, The Morning Call For the original article click here: http://http//www.mcall.com/entertainment/mc-ent-classics-cruisers-hamilton-street-allentown-20180710-story.html