Even though in the past, I have done two Hot Rod Power Tours cross-country in one of my Musclecars and 4 trips from Houston to Detroit in my Hemi powered 69 Satellite, I had always missed out on a major cruise that is practically in my back yard. Cruising the Coast takes place on the Mississippi Riviera with about 7 or so cities along HWY 90 (Beach Road). Most all of the Casino's participate and this year, there were over 8000 cars registered for the official event and several thousand more "Drive By" participants. I live in the Houston area, so it is only about a 7 hour drive over, I invited another retired car-nut friend as Mama had to work. I have to say that I was very favorably impressed with this venue and we are having one helluva good time! Mama could not attend, but I liberated her 1970 Plymouth 'Cuda that I restored about five years ago, for our cruise missile. A factory "Plum Crazy" purple car, powered by a 528 ci Hemi topped by a pair of 800 cfm carbs, with a solid roller cam that is not too radical, it has very good street manners for its 712 horse output. Perfect weather in the 80's have made it great for cruising and all of the various outdoor venues have live bands with great music and lots of good food everywhere. I had never been to this part of Mississippi before and was surprised with their white sugar beaches compared to my area of the Texas Gulf Coast that is predominated by somewhat muddy sand from the outflow of the Mississippi River. Lots of neat and unusual cars of all makes, friendly folks from all over enjoying the car culture. If you like cars, music and food, I can recommend it!

Plum Crazy is one of my favorites.
Thanks for sharing.
Any Pics?

Sounds like a fun cruise. What sort of mileage do you get from 528 CID/712 HP at cruising speed ?

Just got home and unloaded the car. I normally don't take many pictures as I like to enjoy the show, but this time, I did. If anyone can help me by posting them, I will try to download them from my camera and send them to you.
At hiway speed with a 3.54 gear, 65 mph,3200 rpm, it will get, at best 12 mpg. Normal stop and go cruising nets 8-10. Fun factor when you hammer the gas is off the chart!

IIRC, the average MPG for those cars in those days was right around 14 (+/-). With the HP and CID you've got, 12 mpg highway ain't bad at all, I'd say it's damn good !

Looking forward to some pics.

Some of you may know Jackie Schmidt in Houston, one of my BR shooting buddies.
The specs on his spotless 67 Chevelle:

We Haven't Had A Good Car Thread In A While...........My '67 Chevelle

I have had this car since 1994, it has gone through a couple of reincarnations, the latest is all drive line oriented. Last Summer, I installed a new TCI 6X 6Speed Automatic, and I just finished the installation on my new engine, a 540 cubic in Big Block.
The engine features a Dart Big M Block, 4.5 bore, a SCAT 4 1/4 4340 Crank, Forged Flat Tops, Custom Hyd Roller Cam, .675 lift, .234 degrees duration at .050, Air Flow Research 290 CNC Ported Heads, and a port matched RPM Performer Intake, Lemons Headers, Rick's Stainless Steel Gas Tank. Compression is 9.8 to 1.

I specifically designed this engine to be a real street engine, burning what ever premium unleaded is in the pump, while making gobs of Horsepower and Torque down low in the RPM Band. On the Dyno, she made 662 HP at 5800 RPM, and 682 ft lbs of Torque at 4300. Idles smooth at 800 rpm with 14 inches of vacuum.

USA Race Engines built the engine for me.

This thing is absolutly brutal, the close ratio 6 Speed Auto has the perfect gear spread for this engine. When you nail it, it feels like the afterburners kick in.

While I am not able to shoot much due to a heavy work schedule at this time, I am still spending money on the one thing that counts, having fun.

Let's see some other cars