I keep paging back through the last issue of Hot Rod I bought, the one with the crusty Deuce coupe on the cover, and the article on the Power Tour makes it really look like a great time. Maybe I'm just itching to take a road trip, but doing it with a bunch of old cars sounds like a lot of fun. I'm picturing that '54 Plymouth I found in the junkyard with a mild 360 and an automatic, some kind of reasonable rear end and a set of disc brakes. Could be a good way to spend a summer if I could ever get the time off work. So, has anybody done this thing? Was it fun? Did your heap make it the whole way? I want to hear some stories.
Done it many times. Heaps of fun. The best was in 2000 and I drove my '47 Chevy convert from Livonia, Michigan to SanBerdo, California to Panama City Beach, Florida then back to Michigan. Over 6,000 miles in 21 days. Trip of a lifetime and second only to the Ego-Rama in terms of the fun factor. The last one I did was in 2002 and I really don't plan on doing another only because they have been sticking around the midwest the last few years and I really perfer to drive coast to coast if I'm going to take that much time off work. I encourage you to do one though. You will really enjoy it.
I did it this past year and it was awesome. I am in the issue of hot rod your looking at I think page 61....Im striping my car...Id recommend it ...Im goin on it again next year.
I did half of the '99 tour. Might have had a better time if I'd done the whole thing, but......I doubt it. I was in my slick black 59 ElCamino---this was the year after the lime green 59 that the Chisenhall's built was in every other picture of Power Tour 98 coverage....anyway...it was kinda like I was invisible.....I only had one guy pitch a fit over my 59, telling me it was the coolest car he'd seen(and HE was in a KILLER 66 or 67 Nova).........but that's not WHY I went on Power Tour. I thought rollin' with a bunch of old cars would be the coolest too..... Man, was I disappointed. It was pretty much a RACE every day to get up at O-dark-thirty for a driver's meeting, then bottleneck out of the parking lot(s)....everybody wanted to be at the FRONT of the pack......HAUL *** until the gas stop(where everybody wanted to get gas at the same time), then back onto the highway and go as fast as possible to get to the next stop(all the while trying to get up to the FRONT of the pack )....and when we got to the overnight stops, the hired parking and crowd control people had us going in circles or waiting forever to find some ****py place to park.........Maybe that's why so many folks were in such a hurry to get there...hmmm...... My best memory was at a hotel in L'ville, talking to a couple of older guys with a mid-engine 33/4 Ford coupe--seems like it had some kind of sideways-mounted DOHC setup--I forget--anyway, they were nice guys to hang out with. PT may be different now--I dunno. It p***ed thru Nashville this year and I went down for a peek....just too many muscle cars,late-model Mustangs and bagged trucks for my taste--sorry
200 power tour is where I first met HRLC, in her vert, I had my spankin new PT Cruiser, Chrysler flipped part of my bill! Would have been more fun in my rod. Great experience, all rodders should try it once. Sorta costly, gas, food hotels etc. But lots of fond memories. The 2 before last came right in front of my house in Central MO, just sat in the yard with a cold one and watched them go by. Later, Rusty.
I did the East Coast tour in the fall of '98. It was a blast, and have wanted to do it again, but haven't bee fortunate enough to have the time to do so. The tour I went on, started in Fitchburg M***, and ended in St. Petersburg Florida. I would recommend it to anyone, and they treat you well! My costs were lower due to the fact that a buddy of mine came along, and split the cost of gas and motels. My buddies parents live in Florida also, so when we got down there, we just stayed at their place.
Everything Mike said is true. There are those guys that just have to cruz FAST and FURIOUS but those weren't the folks that I hung out with. I hooked up with a group of folks that actually wanted to cruz at a normal speed, enjoy the gas stops (yep, we got gas but then parked for a bit and stretched our legs, chatted with others and watch the burnouts as folks were leaving the gas stations) and generally hung out together for meals, etc. Some venues were better then others. Lots of really great stops like Elk City, OK, where the locals were very friendly and outgoing and some really ****py, over crowded stops like Springfield, MO. You've gotta take the good with the bad. Another GREAT stop was Tunica, MS where we got a tour of George Poteets car farm and a BBQ lunch at CompCams, where I got to see the trans, driveshaft and torque converter blow up under a first generation Camero. The next stop was kinda crummy as it was one lane for many many miles with everyone trying to get into the fairgrounds at Panama City Beach, Fl with all the springbreakers around. Very disorganized. Again, you take the good with the bad. One of the other reasons I stop going was because "Family Events" took over orgainizing the event and it just wasn't the same as when the Mag staff was running it. I do encourage you to do a Power Tour if you never have BUT if you really want a cross country adventure hop in the car the second week of August and head to B'ville for Speed Week. You'll not only test the car you built by actually driving it out of your zip code but you'll experience hot rod history, past and present once you get to the salt. Hit the HAMB Drags on the way home.
I'd be too embar***ed to drive my Camaro to Bonneville and then the HAMB Drags. The '54 Plymouth, though, I could probably do.
You and about 100 other PT Cruzrs. Man, you guys had me really pissed off. I'm like what the hell?? Buy a NEW car and drive it across country?? What's with THAT?? THEN, Chrysler had parking spots "reserved" for all you guys right up front of the venues. I did tell the powers that be what I thought about that. I guess if Chrysler's footing part of the bill it's kinda hard to say no thanks. Do you remember me coming up to you, I believe it was the next year or 2002, in Kansas City at the speedway and introuducing myself? That's when I really remember meeting you and having a conversation.
we did 96 & 97, from stl to detroit, it was fun, but as HRLC sez, special events put their hands on it and.....fixed......it up real good.
i did about a 10 mile stretch of it this past summer,,,, i was headed on my way to work one morning and fell in with a bunch of camaros,chevelles,couple mustangs,late model vettes etc,
I've gone on 5 or 6 of them including the first one which was only like 180 cars or so, now it's out of hand. (JMO). Never made the 'long haul' but it's a good time to meet rodders from other parts of the country. Best bet for gas is to stop somewhere other than the scheduled stop, most stops can't handle the m*** influx of cars. CC
I went in 97 from LA to detroit http://www.selectric.org/powertour97/index.html and in 2004 from Ft Worth to Green Bay http://www.selectric.org/powertour/index.html it's fun, be prepared for lots of folks who don't "get" the traditional thing (not that my car is traditional)
I did the hole thing in 2002. Pulled into Speedway moters in Lincoln nebr in my 34 chevy tub and a snorgal. Should of known I was going to hit some rain allmost ever day. Allso hit one of the biggist down pores and hail storms I have ever seen on the way home just west of Youngs Town. As every one was slowing down and trying to get to the side of the turn pike because they couldnt see here I am trying to go faster so I could see with my fenderless and ******* tub. Did I have fun will I go again ----HELL YA!!!!! ******* --- more then likely. I could not belive there were 3or4 shots of my car in the Mag. and I was told there was some of it shown on TV and the vidio power tour sold. IF any has that Tape Id love to buy a copy.
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