Classic cars roll into Reno for Hot August Nights

RENO, Nev. - Economic forecasters anticipate an influx of tens of millions of dollars, police are preparing for hundreds of arrests and the weatherman is predicting highs in the upper 90s.

Hot August Nights is under way.

"This place is full," Reno Mayor Jeff Griffin said Wednesday.

Hundreds of hot rods started rolling under the Reno Arch as the city's population began to swell to twice its normal size and unsuspecting tourists scrambled for motel rooms 100 miles away.

The Fifties-style celebration features sock hops, drag races, Hula Hoop contests - and of course, cruising. It routinely attracts 4,000 classic cars and more than 150,000 visitors to Reno, pop. 143,000.

City officials were predicting the events through the weekend would generate as much as $120 million for the local economy as the muscle cars, poodle skirts and saddle shoes make their way through town.

Nature was doing its part, pushing the mercury toward the 102-degree record in Reno on Wednesday, with high 90s forecast the rest of the week.

Police prepared for as many as 600 arrests, mostly for public intoxication. Downtown traffic will come to a standstill Friday and Saturday night.

"It's hot, people drink and people are going nowhere," Reno police Lt. Jim Ballard said. "I used to leave town. I'm not kidding you. I left town on vacation."

The automobile aficionados who flock to the event don't seem to mind.

"You can't replace the feeling you get when you drive around in the car and people give you that high sign," said Rich Martucci, a local collector and owner of InterWest Bank in Reno.

Car auctions were planned each night. The local Reno-Gazette Journal was filled Wednesday with classifieds advertising rare cars for sale, including a 1933 Ford Cabriolet for $60,000, 1940 GMC Woodie Wagon for $8,900 and 1963 Chevy Corvette for $20,000.

Some hotels and motels more than doubled their normal rates to take advantage of the big demand for rooms.

"A lot of these places have been selling the Hot August Nights rooms two years in advance," said Beverly Loranger, a publicity assistant for the Reno-Sparks Convention & Visitors Authority.

"We're booked for Friday. Saturday we have a few rooms," said Margo Anderson, a clerk at the Best Western Gold Country Inn in Winnemucca, 165 miles east of Reno on Interstate 80.

The Associated Press found no rooms available for the weekend in the Reno-Lake Tahoe area, whether it was rooms starting at $185 at Caesars Tahoe or $157 at the nondescript Travelodge near the Reno-Tahoe International Airport.

At the Western Village Inn along I-80 in Sparks, where truckers sign up for free showers, the cheapest room normally going for as little as $21.95 was renting for $110 a night Friday and Saturday.

Those are gone too.

"At some places, rates go up like 200 percent," said Alisa Hicks, publicity manager at the Nugget in Sparks. "We hike our rate about 15 percent, from the rack rate normally of $99 to about $120."

The best bargain still remaining as of Wednesday appeared to be 90 miles away at the Covered Wagon Motel in Lovelock, where a queen was going for $37.98.

"Yes, they have come this far before," said Jackie Wolff, the manager. "They rent rooms and go in for the day and come back at night. It takes about an hour and one-half."

If they can find a place to stay, visitors will be treated to a host of free musical performances from Chubby Checker, Gary Puckett, the Drifters, Three Dog Night and others. The Beach Boys plan an outdoor concert Saturday night at the Reno Hilton for $29.50 a ticket.

The visitors authority estimates visitors to Hot August Nights will spend $59.5 million directly, which should double as it flows through the local economy for an economic impact of $120 million.

David Saville, executive director of Hot August Nights, said a 1995 study found each visitor to the event spent $208 on gambling and $373 for lodging and other non-gambling expenses.

"It is a very diverse crowd," Hicks said. "It impacts every aspect of tourism. We see it in our restaurants, in the casino, even the parking."

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