This past March, more than 500 cars, trucks, and SUVs headed down to Panama City Beach on the Florida Gulf for the sixth annual Spring Fling Show.
Every year, the Vital Signs truck club hosts one of the largest events in northern Florida the same week thousands upon thousands of college students infiltrate the city for their annual spring break festivities. We arrived on Friday afternoon to find most of the show participants checked in and already down on Front Beach Road (a.k.a. The Strip) to cruise and check out all of the cool scenery. This is where we got our first look at some of the vehicles we would be checking out the next day under the hot Florida sun.
The show itself was held at the beautiful Frank Brown Park on a newly paved area that was surrounded by grassy hills and a small lake. By 10 a.m., the show was in full swing, with Daric "The Hitman" from Saturn Sounds Entertainment cranking out tunes from the main stage. Vehicle judging was already underway, and the majority of the 6,000 spectators were coming through the gate.
On both Saturday and Sunday, there were a ton of events and entertainment to keep everyone's brain stimulated. There was an airbag toss, representatives from local radio station Hot 107.9 on hand cranking tunes and giving away all kinds of free stuff, and, most importantly, there were the trucks.
Everything from mega-lifted crew cabs to under-construction minis were on hand, all vying for one of the very-cool acrylic trophies available for the winners of each of the 33 classes. There were three minis that stood out from the crowd and they took home top honors in their respective classes, each of them having been recently featured in either Truckin' or Mini Truckin' magazines. Not to worry, though. There were at least three more minis in the under-construction section of the show that proved to us that the Florida mini builders aren't slackin' by a long shot. The fullsize contingent was in full effect as well. Some of the notables include the Memphis chapter of the Negative Camber truck club, with its laid-out black dualie and F-150.
And let's not forget the Vital Signs guys themselves. Many of their rides have received 'bags, LEDs, or a splash of House of Kolor since we were here last year. By Saturday afternoon, just as we thought we'd seen all of the slick rides at the event, in rolls not one or two, but five immaculately painted and big billet-wheeled fullsize Chevys making quite a scene as they cruised through the show to take their fashionably late spots. The crew turned out to be Premier Concepts and had just rolled in all the way from Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
Saturday culminated with a neon contest at dusk when a couple dozen rides lit up like Miami Beach Christmas trees. From there, it was a mad dash to get cleaned up and out on the strip to check out the rides and be seen.
On Sunday, we were back at the show to check out the hopping contest, which was followed by the all-important bikini contest. After a field of ten lovely ladies was narrowed down to three, the beautiful and talented Lindsay Blanton, representing the Wanna Play? car and truck club, emerged the winner. The day wrapped up with the awards ceremony where nearly 100 participants received accolades for their efforts. Those who did not have to hit the road immediately were treated to, you guessed it, another action packed night on the strip. Hey, Spring Break still has seven more days, right?
All in all, it was a hugely successful event, which is an especially good thing considering that all of the proceeds go to the Under the Palms charity, a playground project for the children of Bay County. The crew at Vital Signs would also like to thank this year's sponsors: Coca-Cola; Hot 107.9; Cellular One; Bart's Stereo; Off the Wall Screenprinting; Drop 'Em Where?; and HotWires. Be sure and catch next year's seventh annual Spring Fling. For more information, contact: Vital Signs, www.vitalsigns.org, www.spring-fling.net.