Lead East Car Show Memories: Reliving The ’50s From 1986 to 2000

That’s LEAD, baby—rhymes with “head,” as in the metal customizers and body work professionals use to re-sculpture car bodies or repair rust.  I’ll never forget the day I first discovered Lead East, billed as “The World’s Biggest 50s Party”.  I went every year, and saw many fascinating things and had some interesting adventures.

My Lead East saga began on the Friday before Labor Day weekend, 1986.  I was working at a company called GAB Business Services, which was right next to the Parsippany (NJ) Hilton hotel.  We were dismissed from work a little early, and I remember walking across the landscaped brick plaza toward the parking lot.  What do I see going down the road?  A white 1961 Chrysler Newport!  Oh, that’s interesting.  But then there was another car–a hot-rodded ’32 Ford coupe, looking much like Milner’s car in American Graffiti, its loud exhaust popping in the late summer humidity.  Then a primer-black leadsled Mercury with orange flames, burbling along.  What is this?  I had to check it out…

Turns out Lead East is this spectacular event–more than a car show, like a big celebration of all things ’50s with many different activities.  More on that later.

My primary interest at the time was original cars from the late ’50s to early ’60s.  What made Lead East so revolutionary for me was that it was the first opportunity I had to see a large number of classic cars in one place.  Many of these cars I had only seen pictures of in books–this was the first time I got to see them in person.  I had my Minolta 35mm camera (no smartphone cameras in those days).  So now you get to walk through Lead East with me, as I snap pictures of some of the more interesting specimens:

Here are two Fords, manufactured about 30 years apart.  What a difference!  (The white office building in the background which I remember being built in the late ’80s was recently demolished.  You know you’re getting old when you start outliving buildings!)

Here’s a ’34(?) woody wagon somewhat like the one my grandfather had (before I was born).   I don’t know why there’s an Electrolux on the hood.  But this is Lead East–you see a lot of weird things!

There is no judging or trophies or any that pretentious stuff at Lead East.  So you see a lot of cars in shall we say, less than “concours condition”.  Some of them look like they were dragged out of a lake.

The fact that you saw cars in unrestored “beater” condition made the show that much more interesting to me.

The only Mercury Turnpike Cruiser I’ve ever seen in person, next to a black ’56 Ford sedan.  Notice that each car has vanity license plates showing year and model.

1957 Mercury and Oldsmobile–hot competitors in the medium-price field.

How about a ’58 DeSoto Firesweep Sportsman hardtop?

The 1958 Buick Super in pale pink “Looks and feels like flight on wheels!” (according to Buick advertising).

In 1958, Ford built 105,000 of these top-of-the-line Fairlane 500 4-door sedans, but try finding one today!

A tour-de-force of brutalist monster design, the Ultra-Space Age ’59 Dodge will scare little children (and some adults!)

This ’59 Buick was being used locally as a “daily driver”-type car which I would see on the road occasionally.  In those days, you could still find people using late 50s/early 60s cars in regular service, but not so much anymore.  The Buick sold at Lead East, and I never saw it again.

A 1959 Mercury Colony Park station wagon and its remarkable dashboard.

A Studebaker Lark, worn and weathered, the way many of us remember them.

A few foreign cars made it to Lead East, like this Opel Rekord from c. 1960.

Here’s an odd duck–a 1961 Dodge Dart 2-door sedan in a lovely shade of green.

Looking fairly regal in dark purple, a 1962 Imperial Southampton (4-door hardtop).

 

OK, now that we’ve seen a few cars, what else is there?  Oh, plenty!

How ’bout the teeter-totter?  I know it sounds crazy (and it is), but here’s how it works:  Drive your car up on this thing, move forward until the teeter-totter pivots downward (usually violently), then back up and repeat.  What a great idea! 🙄  I saw a ’57 Buick up on one of these–bad shocks and soft suspension had that car body pitching and bottoming like a kangaroo with a pouch full of tabasco!  (As the venerable Tom McCahill might say.)

Lead East also had rock ‘n roll concerts, dances, singing a cappella groups, drive-in movies, and more!  Loudspeakers were set up, and as you strolled through the event, you heard ’50s rock ‘n roll with Wolfman Jack as disc jockey!  “OH YEAH, OH YEAH–Solid, baby!” At least it sounded like the Wolfman.  To this day I don’t know whether it really was the Wolfman himself or a very good imitator.  But it was cool!

One year Al Lewis was there (Grandpa from The Munsters).  He was signing autographs, and I got to meet him.  My impression of Al is that he was rather curmudgeonly and eccentric, but at the same time witty, funny, and cool.  He was curt with some of the fans who approached him, but for some reason he kind of warmed up to me and we had a nice but brief conversation.  I still have a Lead East program that he autographed for me.  Rest in peace, Al.

1990:  Me (on the left) meeting Harold Doebel, regular vendor at Lead East and other car events.  Harold sells automotive nostalgia videos (old car commercials and promotional films).  He was a pioneer in providing rare automotive archival footage to the general public long before YouTube ever existed.  If you wanted an original commercial for a 1950 Plymouth or drag racing films from the 1960s, Harold was the man to see.  I still have a lot of his videos.

1995:  I realized a dream–I bought a car at Lead East!  My first car of the ’50s;  a 1958 Cadillac Series 62 sedan, price $5,500.  I kept that Cadillac for twenty-two years, and sold it for $10,000.  I believe it’s now in Germany or Poland somewhere.

Some Lead East participants dressed up in ’50s style.

Dusk is approaching–Cadillac tailfins as far as the eye can see!

Time for the finale:  Line up a bunch of hot rods and leadsleds with “flamethrowers” in the exhaust pipes, and have a flamethrower contest!  I was standing in the dark awestruck as over a dozen drivers in a row gunned their ancient engines with low-restriction mufflers, shaking the ground and filling the air with fire and smoke as the crowd cheered them on.  I have to tell you, if you have never experienced such a thing, you really haven’t lived.

One time as I was strolling through the Magic Kingdom that is Lead East, the thought occurred to me:  “You know, this event which celebrates and attempts to recreate the Golden Era known as ‘The 50s’ is actually an historical and ephemeral artifact in and of itself!”  Let’s face it–if you were a teenager in the late ’50s, you’re about 80 years old now.  I myself am probably one of the youngest people who has actual memories of cars of the ’50s/early ’60s from seeing them back in the 1970s when I was still a kid.  If I were born ten or twenty years later, would I even care about cars of the ’50s, having had no early exposure to them?  We like to believe that we are “independent free-thinkers” and that we decide what our likes, preferences, and interests are.  But the fact is, we are all products of our time and place, whether we like it or not!

Lead East still exists, but has adapted to the new reality.  It’s no longer billed as “The World’s Biggest ’50s Party” but “The World’s Biggest Oldies Festival” and “Good Vibrations Weekend”.  The rules used to be, no cars newer than model year 1963.  That was later expanded to 1972, and now I think there are no limits.  And there are no more flamethrowers, no teeter-totters, and no more Wolfman.  I haven’t been to Lead East in several years, but I assume the atmosphere is mostly still the same, but I’m not sure.  In this world, everything changes, even nostalgia!