Of all the "what the hell" decisions we made in 2005, deciding to participate in the HOT ROD Power Tour was one of the best. As Bruce Corcoran's 2005 GTO project car was scheduled for springtime delivery, I figured to take advantage of the killer summer weather by taking a good old-fashioned road trip to the Midwest. Pontiac's 400-horse, six-speed Goat is built solid and comfy for a long-distance trip like this, and I could think of no better way to break it in before the track and dyno testing started.
As Associate Editor Scott Parker was scheduled to have his hands full at the SyTy Nationals in Kansas City that week, I'd have to find myself another navigator. Luckily, Jasson "Train Guy" Kugler, owner of the '69 Nova that GMHTP DFI'd awhile back, was willing to go--provided that I pick him up in Chicago and keep his seemingly endless collection of Led Zeppelin CDs in heavy rotation.
While I couldn't afford to be out of the office for the 10 days needed to do the entire June 4-11 Tour, the plan was to book-ass 800 miles from Queens to Chicago to pick up the Kugman, cruise to Miller Park in Milwaukee the night before the June 4 start date, hit the Springfield, Illinois; Indianapolis, Indiana; and Nashville, Tennessee, stops, do a couple of photo shoots, head back to the Windy City to drop off my navigator, then aim the Torrid Red missile toward NYC and flip the cruise switch.
Of course, with so many variables it was inevitable that something would go wrong--as the Pontiac GTOs were being sent from Australia, our '05 was delivered several months later than it was scheduled and only a week before I was set to leave. But what really sucked was when one of its coils failed with only 79 miles on the clock--in the South Bronx, no less. Of all of the places that I don't care to break down in a shiny new musclecar, this would have to take the cake.
Thankfully, the homies held their fire and I was able to limp to a local Pontiac dealership, where a coil was replaced. The 400-horse LS2 was now healthy, and a couple of days later, I escaped from New York on an epic 4,000-mile journey.
While these photos will provide some insight as to the scope of this event, they won't come close to doing it justice. The Tour is truly a car guy's Nirvana--literally thousands of car enthusiasts make the trek, with late-model GMs from all over the country present, as well as lots of new toys from Tour sponsors GM Performance Division. Each stop is a party replete with racing, vending, and great food and drink.
And another great aspect of this deal is its loose structure: go by-the-schedule or make up your own rules. You can drive the Tour constantly mixed into the action with a sea of fast and loud rubber-burners, or quietly cruising in front, behind, and even beside the main route as you nurse that hangover. It is, all in all, an outstanding event that you need to attend to believe.
Although the 2005 event is long gone, HOT ROD's 2006 Power Tour will be leaving from Kissimmee, Florida, on June 3 and stopping in Gainesville, Florida; Perry, Georgia; Columbia, South Carolina; Roanoke Valley, Virginia; and Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, before ending at our home racetrack of Englishtown, New Jersey on June 9 and 10. And this we know: you are guaranteed to have a blast. So check out hotrod.com/powertour for the details--and come June, bring out those bad EFI GMs and we'll see you there.