From motorcycle rallies to Mustangs, what is driving so many car events in Myrtle Beach?
In May, many Myrtle Beach area businesses put up signs saying “Welcome bikers!”, inviting motorcyclists into their restaurants and stores during the popular spring bike rallies.
In September and October, the signs switched, welcoming Mustangs during Mustang Week and Jeeps for Jeep Jam, which brought hundreds of people and vehicles to the Myrtle Beach area.
The Myrtle Beach area hosts a wide range of car events throughout the year, including three motorcycle rallies, a massive car show and various weeks dedicated to classic cars. This has been going on since the 1940s when the Myrtle Beach Bike Rally started and has only grown over the past 80 years.
Along with the large vehicle events that draw in thousands, Myrtle Beach has many car clubs. There are clubs dedicated to classic cars, British cars, Mustangs, Jeeps and Corvettes, to name a few.
What is it about Myrtle Beach that attracts car lovers?
A great landscape to host thousands of people
Run to the Sun organizer Michael Leaventon said the classic car show originally started about an hour away in Florence. But as the show expanded, organizers brought it to Myrtle Beach to better accommodate the event.
“It grew so much that in about the eighth or ninth year, they had to move it to Myrtle Beach, because a lot of people are coming from out of town, and there’s a lot of hotels and stuff in Myrtle Beach,” Leaventon said. “The reason we stay in Myrtle Beach is just it’s a great location to have a car show.”
The Myrtle Beach area has over 157,000 accommodation units, according to the Myrtle Beach Visitor’s Bureau. This includes hotel rooms, rental houses, RV parks and bed and breakfasts. The wide range of places to stay offers lodging at various price ranges, making it more accessible to vacation at any cost.
Outside of hotels, Myrtle Beach provides activity outside of the vehicle show events. There are thousands of restaurants and various shopping centers to explore. And, of course, there’s the beach.
“When you’re not out riding or driving or at (an) event, you can always go to the beach,” said Lee “Spider” Webb, the Myrtle Beach Bike Rally marketing coordinator.
Along with what’s been built here, Myrtle Beach’s location along the East Coast works in its favor.
Jeep Jam founder Steve Taylor said he decided to start a Jeep Jam in the city because there wasn’t one nearby. As an avid Jeep fan, he’d seen Jeep events in other places like Pigeon Forge, Tennessee or Daytona, Florida. Hosting a Jeep Jam in Myrtle Beach brought in people from the Carolinas and Virginia that may find other events too far.
Myrtle Beach offers good roads to ride along, Webb said. If people head outside the Myrtle Beach area, there are nice country roads and motorcyclists can drive to Charleston, Georgetown and Wilmington, North Carolina, easily.
“When you come to a rally, (the) No. 1 thing you want to do is to ride a motorcycle,” Webb said. “Myrtle Beach has great options.”
A hub of car lovers
One reason Leaventon said there are so many car events is because there are a lot of car lovers in the Carolinas. That can be partly attributed to the number of retirees headed to the Grand Strand, said Carol Hadley, the lead director of the Myrtle Beach Car Club.
“(The Myrtle Beach area) is now becoming one of the largest areas for retirees. So a lot of the people that are coming down here, they have cars or trucks or motorcycles that they’re into. It’s their passion,” Hadley said.
The weather is one big reason car lovers end up here, Hadley said. South Carolina’s mild weather allows people to cruise year-round instead of locking their classic car in the garage through the winter.
Leaventon said Run to the Sun targets people in their 70s with disposable income, which is a sizable demographic in Myrtle Beach.
More than just retirees love cars. Taylor said around 25% of the Jeeps registered for Jeep Jam 2024 came from the Myrtle Beach area. In total, there were around 500 locals who brought their cars to the event.
The rallies and events bring together people who love cars, giving them space to socialize and celebrate different vehicles.
“Overall, it’s a great community. Not only just the location and the people, but the car clubs are very welcoming of each other,” Leaventon said. “There’s a lot of camaraderie in the car community, not only in Myrtle Beach, but in the whole hobby.”
