Viewfinder: Hot Rods and Hot Nights at Quaker Steak & Lube

The biggest weekly car meet up in the Tampa Bay area is at Quaker Steak & Lube in Clearwater.

The classic car night each Thursday draws a crowd large enough to fill almost every parking spot in the lot.

There is a vast array of different types of vehicles including sedans, coupes, trucks, wagons and everything in between. They all pour into the lot off of 49th Street around 6 p.m. without fail week in and week out.

Imports like Porsches can be found side by side with nitrous oxide huffing American muscle cars. As engines rev in the distance and the 1950s hits blast out of the giant outdoor speakers, talk of hot rodding fills the warm spring air from scattered lawn chairs in a never-ending stream.

While the organizers at Quaker Steak & Lube have a competition for registered participants, it's not required, and many people are there simply to talk about their glory days with old friends or to grab a bit of food for dinner.

Things start to thin out after sundown and end shortly afterwards. As quickly as they arrived, the maticulously detailed hot rods are back out in the street being driven by proud owners, turning heads at stoplights again.