Just down the street from...
Just down the street from George Lange's collection is the hot rod shop of the Stirnemann brothers, Jack and Harry. Their tastes and interests range from very traditional Deuces to this Chevy that competed on the salt with some vintage speed equipment bolted to the six-cylinder powerplant.
From Bright it was a short drive to C. Cook Enterprises in nearby Erlanger, Kentucky. C. Cook Enterprises is the official metal shaper and engine detailer of this year's Road Tour. By the looks of their shop they are well qualified in both areas. Clay Cook and the crew at C. Cook Enterprises have plenty of projects to keep them busy and Melissa Signore keeps things under control in the front office. Clay also conducts metal shaping classes in the shop as well as at shops around the country. They are a talented group at C. Cook and it was a very interesting stop on Tuesday morning's tour of the Cincinnati area.
It was then a 30-minute drive north to Danny's Rod Shop in Goshen, Ohio. Danny and their trailer have been fixtures at rod runs and swap meets in the Midwest and South for years. The trailer is always stocked with the latest parts and accessories. The shop itself is located in the small town of Goshen and it is also filled with tons of things that street rodders need. It was a nice lunch stop at Danny's and a good break before we again continued our drive north in the Buckeye State.
There is another project that...
There is another project that has already begun at Woody's Hot Rodz. George Poteet commissioned Woody's to build him a very special '57 Chevy. We were one of the first folks to see the rendering of what will no doubt be a fantastic Chevy.
After a nice cruise through Amish country we arrived in Delaware, Ohio, for a special visit at the shop of probably the most famous family in drag racing. The folks at Jegs Motorsports agreed to open their doors for a Road Tour visit. Scott Woodruff was our host and tour guide at Jegs and he gave us some real insight into what is involved in campaigning a winning professional drag racing team year after year. It was obvious from everything that we saw that dedication, hard work, and pride play a major roll in that winning formula. After the tour of the racing facilities, Scott gave us a behind-the-scenes look at the business end of Jegs. The size and scope of their mail-order business was mind-boggling. Dedication, hard work, and pride were again evident in the mail-order end of things. We all walked away with a real respect for the accomplishments that the Jegs family has achieved over the past 50 years.
By 5 p.m. we were all tired and hungry. We had made reservations at a famous Amish restaurant in nearby Plain City and we were able to enjoy some great Amish cooking together and to recount the amazing visits that we had made during the long but very interesting day on the Woody's Hot Rodz Road Tour.
Chris Sondles and the crew...
Chris Sondles and the crew at Woody's Hot Rodz greeted us on Tuesday morning. Woody's built last year's popular '52 Chevy Road Tour sedan. They have already started work on the '11 Road Tour '55 Chevy.
After our busy Tuesday on the Road Tour we were up on Wednesday with another full schedule on tap. It was a very short drive to the AMA Motorcycle Museum in Pickerington, Ohio. Most street rodders have an interest in vehicles of all types and there were many of us on the tour who found the AMA Museum lots of fun. There was plenty to see with a wide range of motorcycles and memorabilia on display.
From the AMA Museum we headed east across Ohio and into Pennsylvania. Our destination for Wednesday afternoon was the central Pennsylvania town of Altoona and a get-together at Dan Baker's Alumicraft Street Rod Grille shop in nearby Bellwood, Pennsylvania. We arrived at the hotel about 4 p.m. and Dan's father, Delmar, came to the hotel to greet us in his newly completed hot rod Volkswagen Beetle. Delmar started the business in the '70s and son Dan took over about 10 years ago. Alumicraft has grown over the years to become the leading manufacturer of billet aluminum hot rod grilles in our hobby. Many of the Road Tour vehicles of recent years have featured an Alumicraft billet grille. After some great barbecue and a surprise birthday cake for me, Dan gave us a tour of the facility. It was amazing to see the wide variety of grilles that come out of this small family run facility. It was yet another example of hard-working, talented folks making quality products right here in America.