August 29, 2008. Much more than a show of 1500 cars from the 50's, Lead East was advertised as the "World's Largest 50's Party".
Upon arrival, we encountered a parade of vintage cars and hot rods whose owners enjoyed circling the giant parking areas , showing off their vehicles.
The central registration and activities area was at the Hilton Hotel in Parsippany, NJ. Entering the hotel lobby, the sound of Doo Wop echoed throughout the ground floor atrium as karaoke singers performed to a large crowd. There were kids dressed in 50's garb and were dancing along with the karaoke singers.
Many attendees were dressed in 50's outfits, a number of cars had Elvis "passengers" and there were many 50's merchandise vendors with souvenirs and collectibles.
One guy converted a 1958 Oldsmobile into a Jukemobile, with a fully working Seeburg "Select-O-Matic" juke box that had a very nice sound too.
About 3 hours into our visit, hunger took over and we had very delicious steaks at Ruth's Chris, inside the Hilton Hotel.
"Walking off our meal", we hit another of the vast areas of cars and enjoyed the many different and customized 50's vehicles. What an amazing show.
One important thing we learned via the Souvenir Handbook was that the car show was a daylight event but starting around 7 PM, until the wee hours of the morning, were numerous venues of karaoke, dance contests, A cappella Doo Wop, sock hops, movies etc. This 4 day event was truly a 50's party.
Click HERE to view our 2011 visit to LEAD EAST