2006 PPG/Street Rodder Road Tour - Leg 4

We were treated to a close-up look at Hagan's latest project called the Coopster. Pete is gearing up to do a limited-production 1933 Ford all-steel roadster with a mechanical retractable hardtop.

For years, Hagan's has been known as the place to go to for a custom-built hood. Pete showed us how a pattern is made to begin the process.

From Hagan's, we traveled south and made a stop at the National Museum of the Air Force. Located just northeast of Dayton and near Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, this facility is huge and contains hundreds of planes of all varieties.

Our stop for Monday evening was Brookville Roadsters in Brookville, OH, west of Dayton. We were treated to a great meal in their newly completed showroom.

Long known for their steel Model A and '32 Ford roadster bodies, Brookville's latest effort is an all-steel '32 Ford three-window coupe. Production has begun and the orders are pouring in for this masterpiece.

We were given a complete tour of the Brookville facility. This particular piece of equipment is capable of exerting 600 tons of pressure. It was an impressive display.

Industry innovators Ray and Kenny Gollahon (far right) were great hosts for our evening at Brookville Roadster.

It was hot and hazy as we headed west on I-70 and crossed into Indiana. The sign on the arch thanked us for visiting Ohio and invited us to stop back real soon.

The Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum is located in the infield of the track. The folks at the museum were good enough to let us stop briefly in front for a photo opportunity.

We spent almost two hours at the track. Inside the museum, we were able to see race cars from all eras of racing at the Brickyard.

From Indianapolis, it is a beautiful drive through the southern Indiana countryside to Jasper. Our destination for the evening was Air Ride Technologies.

The folks at Air Ride Technologies greeted us in style with food catered by a local German restaurant. We really ate well on Tour #4.

Owner Bret Voelkel (right) personally gave us a tour of the Air Ride facilities. Air Ride Technologies is a very innovative company with a strong emphasis on research and development.

By Wednesday morning, it was time to head toward Louisville. The NSRA Street Rod Nationals were scheduled to begin on Thursday and we did not want to be late.

Before heading to the fairgrounds and registration, we made a stop in downtown Louisville. The Louisville Slugger plant offers tours to the public and we took the opportunity for one last group photo in the shadow of the largest bat in the world.

At the Nationals, many of the folks from tours 1, 2, 3, and 4 stopped by the STREET RODDER booth. We decided to get everyone together on Saturday for a group photo. SRM's senior editor, Eric Geisert, was on hand to capture the Kodak moment.