Thursday, June 1
“If It Wasn’t For Bad Luck, We’d Have No Luck At All”
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Let me tell you a little story. . .
Better yet, how about a song? (Sung to the theme from Beverly Hillbillies):
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Come-a listen to a story ’bout an Olds Vista-Cruiser,
A 455, that block’s a real bruiser.
But then one day while portin’ on a head,
A little slip of the grinder and the motor was dead. . .
Antifreeze that is ’ ethylene glycol ’ in the oil.
Well the first thing you know, Gary’s workin’ all night long.
Gotta get it runnin’ now, gotta get the job done.
So they bolted-on the new heads and fired the engine-up,
Cause if the ’Cruiser missed the Tour, it surely would s_ck!
Sputter that is — white smoke — everywhere.
But the engine wasn’t willin’ to make that big old trip,
So we threw it on the trailer and we coupled up the hitch.
Gary wasn’t happy, his ego was bruised,
but next time he’ll test it BEFORE goin’ on the cruise.
Trailer queen that is — all the way — embarrassin’!
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So. . . the million dollar question is, where’s the Vista-Cruiser in this picture?
That’s right. It’s dead, DOA, MIA.
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Actually, as you can probably guess, we had just a few MAJOR engine problems. Of course, nothing says “trouble” better than starting an engine for the first time just before driving cross country. But that’s OK, we’re human — we make mistakes. And naturally, if we’re human, that must make our hot rod builder, Gary Turnau, superhuman. . .
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On the plus side, our loyal hot rod fans will have no problem finding our Mothers® Vista-Cruiser at the stops, just follow the fresh trail of oil and antifreeze.
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That’s not to say our new PT Cruiser didn’t have its problems. Somehow the trim got pulled back the night before we left. ..
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Thankfully, our friends over at Metalcrafters/TGF were able to reshape it, no problem. . .
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1:00 pm. We pull up to Power Tour registration in San Bernardino. . .
Forrest insists on driving right up to the registration booth. He says it’s because he’s “a lazy, old geezer.” Doesn’t he ever get sick of being right all the time?
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Pictured on the right, Todd Ryden’s (MSD Ignition) just-completed 1965 Pontiac Wagon. On the left, Auto Custom Carpets’ GTO Judge...
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What a surprise, I ran in to my old high school PE coach...
Actually, it turned out to be a French Bull Dog named Orion.
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And here he is with his pet toddler, Evan...
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Forrest Tosie, your host for the second half of the Power Tour, had his daily “Moment of Zen” when he saw this 1965 Falcon Futura Convertible...
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Don’t venture too close to this big, bad, baby blue hot rod, or you might catch a glimpse of the ugly side of cross-country touring...
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On the left a 1956 Chevrolet Bel Air. On the right a 1939 Willys. . .
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A 1955 Oldsmobile Starfire Convertible.
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A 1940 Pontiac Chieftain Woody.
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And of course one of Pennsylvania law enforcement’s finest. . .
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The Demolition Dart.
It’s 7:30 pm and time to stop writing for the day.
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No sign of the Vista-Cruiser. But, Gary still has 12 hours. No problem. (Yeah, right!)
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Personally, I’m just going to forget about the whole Vista-Cruiser thing and get a good night’s rest. And for you, our faithful readers, we’ve got a surprise for you on our day off in Tunica, Miss. We’re taking a little detour back in time, to a place where green shag carpet and oversized, plastic rhinestones still define cutting-edge fashion.
Watch out Memphis, we’re going to Graceland!!!
Story and photos by,
Ken Holland
Mothers® Polishes•Waxes•Cleaners
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2000 Cruise Night Schedule
Thursday, June 1
San Bernardino, CA
Friday, June 2
S. Bernardino, CA to Phoenix, AZ
Saturday, June 3
Phoenix, AZ to Albuquerque, NM
Sunday, June 4
Albuquerque, NM to Elk City, OK
Monday, June 5
Elk City, OK to Tulsa, OK
Tuesday, June 6
Tulsa, OK to Tunica, MS
Wednesday, June 7 (DAY OFF)
Tunica, MS
Thursday, June 8
Tunica, MS to Talladega, AL
Friday, June 9
Talladega, AL to
Panama City Beach, FL
Saturday, June 10
Panama City Beach, FL
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