Hot Rod Power Tour

[fleetus macmullitz]

Originally Posted by Ron in SoCal

Great post Paladin

X2...you sure painted a great picture.

[clill]

I did the whole tour and maybe saw 5% of the cars. It is that big. The best part is at the end of the day you go to dinner with friends and then after dinner in the hotel parking lots everybody is hanging out. Usually a few burnouts occur. The Polce generally look the other way because the money that gets spent in these cities is a ton. I think Champaign Il said the one day would bring 1.3 mil. Figure at least 1000 motel rooms, at least 2000 dinners, 1000 tanks of gas etc. It is a big economic stimulator. Crusing thru a town with crowds on the sidewalk watching is fun as can be. Seeing the people like the old lady in her nightshirt a couple years ago out picking up her paper was priceless. You could tell she had no idea and she paused to watch the old cars go by but they never stopped going by. She probably figured 1 minute and it was probably more like 5 hours. Next year we start in Texas and I'm told one of the stops is Memphis. Beale street in Memphis on a summer night Are we there yet ? Rendevous Ribs....ahhhhh

[camcojb]

Originally Posted by clill

I did the whole tour and maybe saw 5% of the cars. It is that big. The best part is at the end of the day you go to dinner with friends and then after dinner in the hotel parking lots everybody is hanging out. Usually a few burnouts occur. The Polce generally look the other way because the money that gets spent in these cities is a ton. I think Champaign Il said the one day would bring 1.3 mil. Figure at least 1000 motel rooms, at least 2000 dinners, 1000 tanks of gas etc. It is a big economic stimulator. Crusing thru a town with crowds on the sidewalk watching is fun as can be. Seeing the people like the old lady in her nightshirt a couple years ago out picking up her paper was priceless. You could tell she had no idea and she paused to watch the old cars go by but they never stopped going by. She probably figured 1 minute and it was probably more like 5 hours. Next year we start in Texas and I'm told one of the stops is Memphis. Beale street in Memphis on a summer night Are we there yet ? Rendevous Ribs....ahhhhh

that's a great stop, and that waiter at Rendezvous is awesome!

[Shmoov69]

Memphis on the Power Tour......last time I had food poisoning from the night before.....not good!!! The time before that the Camaro was down because of a machine shop issue that didn't get the engine back to me in time. The time before that, well I blew up the transmission on the chassis dyno at Comp Cams in front of a couple hundred people!!!! Dooh!!! But Comp was awesome and provided me the parts and place to get it back on the road and finish out the long haul!! And I met alot of cool people that week, that have helped me out along the way!

[strtcar]

Originally Posted by camcojb

that's a great stop, and that waiter at Rendezvous is awesome!

Memphis was done several years ago, the police stopped by our hotel while we all hanging out around 7-8pm and said I'd recommend someone sleep out here all night, cause something will happen to your car.

[Northeast Rod Run]

Originally Posted by GregWeld

When it becomes a sea of late models - it will cease to exist. The name is HOT ROD power tour - not 2002 and newer tour...

It's like Hot August Nights... which has turned into nothing more than a "local show" of the same crap you can see any Saturday at the burger stand... Instead of the best or latest builds... People stop going when the stuff stops peaking your interest.

IMHO the more people that think it's just an "event" and you can drive your new car... the quicker it will become a non-event.

Just curious Greg, how many Power Tours have you been on?

It is much more about the actual drive and the people, than what you drive. Ask anyone who goes year after year.

Also, you said it's not about new cars because it's a Hot Rod "power tour"? Well, I almost hate to say it, but a lot of the late models on tour, have hundreds more horsepower than the classics taking the trip. just sayin'

[camcojb]

Originally Posted by strtcar

Memphis was done several years ago, the police stopped by our hotel while we all hanging out around 7-8pm and said I'd recommend someone sleep out here all night, cause something will happen to your car.

We had that stop two years in a row, 05 and 06 I believe. No problems at all, though areas of Memphis are extremely sketchy.

We stayed at a hotel downtown right across from a Hooters. Had it's own parking garage, no problems. Many of the Power Tour host hotels have security, knowing the cars that will be there. If you stay at another hotel you'd be on your own. I do remember driving through Memphis from the fairgrounds to the hotel the first time, very scary neighborhoods.............

[hifi875]

Originally Posted by Northeast Rod Run

Just curious Greg, how many Power Tours have you been on?

It is much more about the actual drive and the people, than what you drive. Ask anyone who goes year after year.

Also, you said it's not about new cars because it's a Hot Rod "power tour"? Well, I almost hate to say it, but a lot of the late models on tour, have hundreds more horsepower than the classics taking the trip. just sayin'

It may be that way now, but when the power tour started,it was all about getting your OLD hodtrod out and driving it. Fixing it up, making it road worthy so that it just don't sit in the garage and go to mom and pop car shows and just sit there. I've been to several stops going back to i think 2000 when it started in california and ended in nashville tn. There weren't no newer cars hardly at all. It was all about the old Hot rods. I love newer hotrods(had Z06 etc) but its not the same and not a challenge. IMO

[strtcar]

Originally Posted by camcojb

We had that stop two years in a row, 05 and 06 I believe. No problems at all, though areas of Memphis are extremely sketchy.

We stayed at a hotel downtown right across from a Hooters. Had it's own parking garage, no problems. Many of the Power Tour host hotels have security, knowing the cars that will be there. If you stay at another hotel you'd be on your own. I do remember driving through Memphis from the fairgrounds to the hotel the first time, very scary neighborhoods.............

Yea I remember seeing parking garages for certain hotels but we booked it later and couldn't get any of those. The neighborhood certainly wasn't the best, but if you think about it that happens every town you go to.

[camcojb]

Originally Posted by strtcar

Yea I remember seeing parking garages for certain hotels but we booked it later and couldn't get any of those. The neighborhood certainly wasn't the best, but if you think about it that happens every town you go to.

yep, Little Rock for example. The venue is right in the middle of the "hood". And that's one of the stops next year.......

You have to book hotels a well in advance. We have a friend who books them as soon as the official route is set, usually around August/Sept the year before.