Before we headed out from...
Before we headed out from the Lewis Antique Auto and Toy Museum, Archie Lewis, in his signature cowboy hat, and Beth took a minute to pose with the group. Archie and Beth are always great hosts and take plenty of time to show us their huge collection of cars, parts, and toys.
From the Oklahoma Route 66 Museum, the main group headed toward Alton, Oklahoma, the home of Darryl Starbird's Rod and Custom Hall of Fame and Museum. It was a four-hour drive and we arrived around 4 p.m. Darryl greeted us and gave us some background about the Hall of Fame and some history of his amazing career in the car customizing business. The museum contains many of Darryl's famous show cars and also includes many other significant rods and customs. The Hall of Fame has walls that are tributes to the people who have been inducted over the years. Most of the famous builders of the past and many present builders have a section in the Hall of Fame. After our tour we were treated to great burgers and beverages in the backyard of Darryl and Donna Starbird's home. It was a very cool evening with one of the true icons and nice guys of our hobby. Thanks to the Starbirds for welcoming us to their Hall of Fame Museum and their home.
The Sunday afternoon lunch...
The Sunday afternoon lunch stop was Tucumcari, NM. The folks of Tucumcari really rolled out the red carpet to greet us with an official escort that consisted of the chief of police and three of the city's fire trucks.
We got a very early start on Tuesday because we had almost 450 miles to travel to arrive at COMP Cams in Memphis. After our 7 a.m. drivers' meeting we made the 30-minute drive to Odd Rods in Carl Junction, Missouri, near Joplin. Operated by Rusty Jackson, Odd Rods has come onto the scene recently with two very high-end Packard street rods. We were greeted at Odd Rods by Rusty, Linda (his Mom), brothers Ryan and Randy, and many local customers and friends. Besides the two Packards, we got a look at some of the projects that are on deck at Odd Rods. Rusty is another one of the new young builders who is bringing some new creativity and energy to our hobby.
From Odd Rods we headed out on our 400-mile trip to COMP Cams in Memphis, Tennessee. Our route took us past Springfield, Missouri, and through some very beautiful portions of the Ozark area of Missouri and Arkansas. We arrived in Memphis on a day that was setting records for heat and the humidity was at about 100 percent. After fighting some traffic tie-ups we all finally arrived at COMP Cams by 5 p.m. We were greeted by Hailey Douglas and her team from the marketing department at COMP Cams. We were given an in-depth tour of their huge facility, which includes many of their different divisions and manufacturing facilities. Provisions had been made for the folks at COMP Cams to install one of their new FAST EZ-EFI injection systems on the '52 Chevy. While work began on that installation we were treated to Memphis barbecue and door prizes were handed out to some lucky Road Tourians. Many thanks to Hailey and to all the folks at COMP Cams who made our Tuesday evening visit very special.
There's nowhere else where...
There's nowhere else where you can find the vintage tin that you will see at Archie Moore's yard in Moriarty, NM. Archie has been collecting and dealing with antique cars and parts for 50-plus years.
On Wednesday it was rise and shine. It was time to get to Louisville and the huge NSRA Street Rod Nationals Plus. It was a six-hour drive to Louisville and we made it while enduring some record-setting temperatures. When we arrived at the Kentucky State Fairgrounds the thermometer had hit 102 degrees F. Things were in full swing at both the registration area and at the fairgrounds where vendor set up was taking place. We settled into our hotels and anticipated the opening of the event on Thursday morning.
The Intercity Lines Tour to the NSRA Street Rod Nationals had been full of adventure and fun. As is the case with all of our tours, we were able to visit some fantastic collections of vehicles, meet some great car folks, and enjoy some wonderful meals and camaraderie with folks who enjoy street rods as much as we do. Thanks to everyone who made the trip so enjoyable. It was a great weekend as the Street Rod Nationals with the weather report calling for sunny skies Friday, Saturday, and Sunday proved to be correct.
The 2010 AMSOIL/STREET RODDER season continues as the Dynamat Tour leaves from the Street Rod Nationals Plus in Louisville and heads to the hallowed ground of the Bonneville Salt Flats and Speed Week.
You can check out our Bonneville Dynamat adventure on page 142 of this issue.