Contributed by Russ Muller Photography
Everything ends eventually: Jobs, relationships, life. When something that we enjoy ends, the sense of loss and sadness can be powerful. Hooters & Hot Rods, the cruise-in hosted by Cruisin Orlando at Hooters of Sanford, was an event loved by many and attended by hundreds every month. There’s a special place in my 
heart for this event. I first discovered Cruisin Orlando and FlaCarShows.com because of the Hooters show. I was driving by, on my way to Sam’s club, back in 2012 when I saw a Car Show banner on a pole outside of the restaurant. The rest, as they say, is history. But if you want to read more about that bit of history, I wrote an article for Mike Kelly’s Cruise News in 2016, and another for Chevy Classics magazine in September 2022 about Hooters & Hot Rods. But I digress…
What was it that made Hooters & Hot Rods a favorite monthly event for so many people for so many years? Lots of other car shows and cruise-ins have come and gone through the years, but none of them generated such an outpouring of sadness when they ended. Maybe it was the combination of good music, cool cars, Hooters girls, wings, and cold beer. Maybe it was the parking lot burnouts in the early days. Maybe it was the great central location, convenient to both I-4
and the 417 for people who didn’t live nearby. Maybe, just maybe, it was a little bit of all those things, plus a unique blend of people who appreciate classic cars while welcoming modern ones. The show certainly grew and evolved over the years, to the point that the overflow of cruisers in the mall parking lot frequently became a second show. But the purpose of the show never changed. It was, until its last day, nothing more than a place for car people to hang out and have a good time. No trophies, no monetizing, no push to sell merchandise or make anyone famous…
I was fortunate to stumble upon this show after it was already established. Don and Tara had worked with Robyn Kluge in the early 2000’s to start a car show at the Casselberry Hooters location. Robyn’s only requirement was that the music had to be ‘80’s rock, which was sort of ground-breaking at the time, as virtually all car shows/cruise-ins at the time were only playing oldies. The Casselberry show was so successful that Robyn asked them to do one at the Sanford Hooters as well. The Casselberry Hooters closed in 2014, but the Sanford location and show continued to thrive.
It was no secret that Hooters (the company) was having financial issues. They had closed many underperforming locations in 2024. When they filed for bankruptcy in March 2025, nobody knew what to expect. Local management was optimistic that the Sanford location would survive, and for a few months, things went on as usual. The June 1st Hooters & Hot Rods was one of the busiest shows in a while, with close to 300 cars filling the parking lot and overflowing into the mall lot and onto the access road. On Wednesday, June 4th, Hooters abruptly closed over 30 locations, including Sanford. And just like that, Hooters & Hot Rods became a part of our past…
Everything ends eventually. Don’t be sad that it’s over, be glad that it happened.
