Phoenix, AZ's Park Central Mall Officially Hosts What Was Once An "Unofficial" Cruise

7/20/2024
Mark C. Bach
Back in the day folks, every Friday and Saturday night in Phoenix, AZ, the place to take your car was Central Avenue. Here you'd see all types of cars and kids and a few acceleration tests and "burning out the carbon in the carburetors" was even known to occur. Central Avenue was home to Park Central Mall, an outdoor collection of shops with a vast parking lot. So cars collected along that stretch or the nearby Bob's Big Boy.
 
But eventually, the local police and merchants shut it down. Cruisers went elsewhere to outlying cities and roadways.
 
But you can't keep some things down and the cruise sprouted again, although only twice a year. It was reprised first as an "unsanctioned cruise" that mysteriously just popped up in April and October for one fun Saturday night. Finally, eleven years ago, a local car promoter took it over, providing some structure and yes, even some police presence.
 
 
Now the mall's (which is now mostly office space) empty asphalt parking lot is transformed to a sea of chrome and rubber. The cars come out and take over the lot and park for miles up and down the avenue in any available parking space. Central Avenue is now restricted to two lanes in each direction, with the city's new light rail running smack down the middle of the road.
 
Cars are known to spin a few tires and emit a bit of rubber smoke as the sun sets. You get all sorts of cars coming out for this event, some parking and some spending the whole night cruising. This year, at one time, we had a Plymouth Superbird leading a Bugatti Veyron with a Phoenix police car following along! That kind of sums it all up doesn't it? Plenty of Corvettes and Mustangs, new and vintage, were spotted along with plenty of deuces and coupes.
 
For information on next year's cruise, check out http://nancyperryproductions.webs.com/ It generally is scheduled for the second Saturday in April and October.
 
See ya' on the road.
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