Car Collector Corner; The Troy Town Cruisers and ‘RPM Mike’

If there’s one thing that still gets my car crazy personality going, it’s the many car shows that are now going full bore wherever you might live in the USA. Further, it’s these car shows that reinvigorate every muscle car or hot rod enthusiast thanks to the camaraderie and friendship these gatherings offer to fans of all ages. Regardless of political views, green or no-green attitudes or where one stands on electrical vehicles, your local car show transcends all that and concentrates solely on the unspoken bond that all car lovers hold dear.

Enter this week’s column subject The Troy Town Cruisers in Pennsylvania and RPM Mike. The latter owns a local garage known for its mechanical handy work in everything to do with hot rods and muscle cars. 

The Troy Town Cruisers present a cruise-in each and every Tuesday evening during the warm months in a First Citizen’s Community Bank parking lot. Usually packed to capacity and under the watchful eye of cruise-in show organizer Jim Blackwell, every participant receives a door prize entry ticket that coincides with the businesses that surround the show. Be it a banana split from the ice cream shop across from the bank to a car cleaning product, the door prizes seem to keep coming every 20-minutes or so during the 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. event.

There’s also Rocky the DJ spinning music to delight the fans and featuring songs from The Beach Boys, Jan and Dean, Ronnie and The Daytonas, and Motown to the appreciative attendees.

While the young and old browse the cars, a local community organization sells hot dogs and soda each week to help support their organization. By show end this night, the Troy Chamber of Commerce was sold out of the dogs. Speaking of dogs, you’ll find many of man’s best friends dotting the area to the pleasure of everyone who loves pets.

Across the street, a pizza and hoagie restaurant is fully knowledgeable that it is the Cruise-In that is most responsible for its Tuesday bottom line profit, as does the ice cream shop. Overall, Blackwell and his staff can take a bow for not only fulfilling the appetite of the car lovers, but also incorporating excellent organizing skills that merge perfectly with the ideals of the area businesses in a seamless coordination of cars, business and wholesome family values.

As one of the show’s founding members, Blackwell has been building and massaging the weekly show now for 13 years. He understands the importance of the entire community involvement, from the Chamber of Commerce initiatives to his personal handshake with a door prize ticket to each and every show vehicle’s owner.  

Enter now to the Cruise-In RPM Mike, the mechanical genius and muscle and custom car whiz who proudly displays his and his customer’s cars at each and every show. This particular RPM Mike owns the RPM Garage in Troy where the creations of horsepower, mechanicals and collector car art come to life.   

New this first show of 2023 is Mike’s most recent muscle car, specifically a 1971 Plymouth Duster powered by a 392-inch, bored and stroked engine that started as a bone stock 318-V8. Although not a Hemi as most people expect thanks to the rear 392 trim, Mike and owner Pete Paxos take great pride in the car’s spectacular finished product. The 392 sounds great thanks to electronically controlled “open/closed” header tech, something we didn’t have back in the 1960s when race time arrived.  

Most unique is a set of very rare cast iron “Direct Connection” MOPAR wedge style 318 cylinder heads that were available only for few years. After some special massaging on the intake and exhaust ports and installation of a solid lifter Howards cam, RPM Mike bolted the heads onto the block and presto, more than 500 horses await the tap of a right foot.   

The Duster’s beautiful orange color is most outstanding, applied by a regional paint whiz known only as “Mitch” from Waverly, N.Y. The Duster features a 6-speed manual transmission with double overdrive, a dual slider clutch, modified Holley 750 carb, Moser 4:11 Detroit Locker, full tube front end, and other ancillary goodies that guarantee the RPMs will rise quickly during all all-out run.

RPM Mike’s background might be a bit different from the many other RPM Mike’s that attend cruise-in shows across the country. This particular RPM Mike grew up in Queens, N.Y. and quickly found himself in the middle of one of the most famous areas for street racing and muscle car evolution.

This madness took place in the mid to late 1960s and early 1970-era featuring high dollar street races that took place every night of the week. RPM Mike found himself building engines and correcting many of his friend’s muscle cars that needed special attention when he entered the street scene back in 1971. His knowledge of both drag racing and the muscle car are unquestionable, and his aggressive yet still inviting personality is what one comes expect from a guy that’s “been there and done that” many times over. RPM Mike was there when that wild, untamed, 1970s era street racing scene produced many legends, including the Brooklyn Heavy Rufus Boyd himself and street events that featured Don Yenko Camaros, Tasca Ford Thunderbolts, Baldwin Motion Novas, and even Mr. Norm’s Grand Spaulding Dodges and Dick Harrell prepped “Nickey” Chevelles that were brought in from Chicago.   

On this special night in Troy, RPM Mike’s customers brought along their cars to show, including a ’68 RS/SS Camaro, ’66 Ford F-100, ’69 Charger R/T 440, ’67 Olds 442, ’68 El Camino, ’66 GTO, ’32 Ford pickup, and a spectacular ’79 Corvette. RPM Mike is quick to give credit to his machinist, Steve, who operates Steve’s Machine Shop in the Wyalusing area of Pennsylvania. He admits that without a machine shop that can deliver the needed correctness and usability when it comes to engine blocks, rods, piston clearances and proper bores, his reputation would not be where it is today.    

When I started this week’s column, I was confident that even though I zeroed in on Jim Blackwell and RPM Mike from The Troy Town Cruisers, my readers would quickly decipher that this story does have national prominence. There are no geographical borders when it comes to a car show and the newspapers that run my column from the largest Spokesman Review in Spokane, Washington to the smallest Milton Standard in Milton, Pa., these local car shows are still one of the greatest attractions and escapes for fans of all ages. I guarantee when you partake in your area car show you’ll enjoy an evening of fun all centered on the cars and trucks that have driven all of us to where we are now and where we all came from in yesteryear.

Try to visit or participate in a car show close to home this year and remember, there are a Jim Blackwell and an RPM Mike just waiting to say hello and shake your hand.

You simply have to seek them out.

(Greg Zyla is a syndicated auto columnist who welcomes reader interaction on collector cars, auto nostalgia or motorsports at greg@gregzyla.com).