PC Cruisers celebrate 30 years

Parker County Cruisers are like many community service clubs, but with swagger. They meet, socialize, and donate to area charities and services, but they drive those really cool automobiles. Classic car clubs hold rallies and shows every weekend, inviting other clubs to show their four wheel pride and compete for trophies and prizes. The Parker County group has been doing it for 30 years.

Longtime members Jackie Collins and Morris Stewart helped arrange the charitable aspect of the group twelve years ago, and since then, the Cruisers have used club memberships and company sponsorships to donate thousands of dollars each year to deserving Parker County organizations. Texas Pythian Home, Parker County Animal Shelter, Meals on Wheels, and Weatherford College scholarship endowments are some of the 16 local organizations that received financial donations from the Cruisers in 2024. Club president James Logan said the group is expanding their outreach.

“It’s a really, really good club that does a lot for the community and, except for what you see here, we try to keep a low profile,” Logan said as he looked across rows of classic cars lined up at a recent event. The prizes and trophies are fun, but we don’t do it for notoriety. We do good for the community because it makes us feel good.”

Logan owns a blue 1957 Chevy Bel Air, which is a contrast sitting next to club vice-president Mike Allred’s 1972 Dodge Challenger with a 440 horsepower engine and a body that looks like it is speeding when it is parked. Allred spent six years restoring his blue Challenger to resemble the automobile he owned when he was younger.

“We go to a show every weekend until it gets too hot or too cold,” Allred said. “We hang out and talk. None of us care too much if we win a trophy or not, we just visit and have fun. We have about 80 members and we all make it to quite a few shows a year.”

Some vehicles are completely transformed, like Jackie Collins’ candy apple red 1936 Ford Coupe. Collins split the body horizontally to lower its profile and installed a 383 horsepower fuel injected Corvette engine. On the other hand, Gary Peninger’s 1974 Corvette Stingray is almost completely original.

“I try to keep it as original as I can,” Peninger said of his sleek, red Stingray. “I don’t transport it on a trailer. This is my everyday car and I drive it everywhere I go.”

Barbara and Chris Hummel use their 1955 Chevy Bel Air to promote service organizations they support. Wreaths Across America is a network of volunteers who conduct learning events to honor fallen soldiers and teach the value of freedom. The Hummels also founded Service With Heart to raise funds to purchase and install emergency heart defibrillators in locations across Parker County. They even keep a defibrillator in their black Bel Air.

To learn about business sponsorships, which include promoting business donors through car events, t-shirts, and social media, call Brandon Reese at 817-994-0074. To learn about club membership, contact James Logan at 817-233-0324. Find Parker County Cruisers on Facebook to learn where they will be at their next car show.