MOSES LAKE — The parking lot outside of Big Lots on Stratford Road was jammed with cars Saturday night, a display of 90 years of automotive history.

A 1930s street rod and some reimagined 1970s and 1980s sedans. Muscle cars from the 1960s and sweet rides from the 2000s. Trucks of every era. A pair of “Ken and Barbie” cars from the 1990s and some 1940s and 1950s sedans, chrome gleaming.

One of the participants described it as “an impromptu car show-cruise,” and it drew more than 100 car owners. And their rides.

Normally there’s a car show in Moses Lake on the Saturday of Memorial Day weekend, but the COVID-19 outbreak shut that down for 2020. The group “Cruisin’ Moses Lake,” which is working to revive the tradition of the downtown cruise, put out the proposal for a Saturday night meet-up.

And the drivers responded, bringing families and friends, with passersby attracted by the sight of so many cool cars.

“That was our goal when we decided to do this, to get everybody back together,” said Rosco Rivera, one of the organizers. “A simple way to get together with people — your friends, people you don’t know.”

Abel Mancilla brought his family to go cruising. His 1988 Buick Regal had an engine that definitely didn’t come from the factory.

“It’s pretty souped up,” he said. Its paint was a custom job too.

Rebuilding it was a long project. “Years. It took years. Money,” Mancilla said.

Gordon Edwards is proud of his 1960 Studebaker. “Let’s rephrase that. He’s obsessed with it,” said his wife, Anne. (In two weeks they will have been married for 64 years, she said.)

The parking lot was filled with a wide cross-section of car lovers, people walking around looking at cars and snapping pictures of interesting rides.

“I’m amazed at how many people. This is just wonderful,” Anne Edwards said.

The drivers eventually cruised downtown down Third Avenue. Rivera said the members of Cruisin’ Moses Lake want to keep meeting all summer.

Cheryl Schweizer can be reached via email at [email protected].