Road Tour Wrap Up 2022
By Jerry Dixey
As many of you already know, for 25 years from 1996 until 2020 I was the Road Tour Director for Street Rodder Magazine. From 1996 through 2005 I attended every NSRA event in the United States, driving a different
street rod every year. In 2006 we decided to
invite readers to join me on the week-long road
tours in their own cars. I would put together eight
tours each summer and travel with couples that
joined me for the week.
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That dream job ended with the 2019 season when Street Rodder Magazine ceased publication. Shortly after that, Covid hit and everything shut down for a year. In the spring of 2021, I was contacted by many folks who had participated in the previous tours. They missed the road tours and missed seeing the friends that they had made along the way.
My wife Mary Ann and I thought long and hard about whether we wanted to put some Road Tours together. We decided to move ahead with the idea and offered the tours under a new company called Classic Road Tours LLC. The tours would be “all inclusive”, and include the hotel accommodations, the admission to museums and collections we would visit, some meals, special parking, and admission to the rod-runs that we would attend. We decided to limit the number to 25-30 cars so that the group was small enough to manage. The response was tremendous.
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In the summer of 2021, we offered two tours. In August The Motor City Solutions Tour spent
the week in Detroit for the Woodward Dream Cruise. In September, 30 cars and couples traveled from Nashville, Tennessee to the Shades of the Past Hot Rod Round Up.
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This summer I offered two Road Tours. The Speedway Motors Tour in June started at the fantastic Speedway Museum in Lincoln, Nebraska.We spent a full day at the museum. On Sunday we traveled west two hours,and visited the Great Platte River Archway Museum and the Classic Car Collection in Kearney, Nebraska.
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Monday, we went an hour east to Omaha.
We visited Gas Pump Heaven, Andy Leech’s
CAL Automotive Creations and Peter Fink’s
American Muscle Car Collection.
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Tuesday, we moved on from Lincoln and stopped
for lunch at Dakota Digital in Sioux Falls on our
way to Brandon, South Dakota where we toured
Bowman’s Real Hot Rods and the private car
collection of Larry Olson.
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On Wednesday we got a last look at the
Elmer Duellman Collection in Fountain City,
Wisconsin. The Duellman Family has made
the decision to have Mecum auction the huge
collection of cars, motorcycles, over 800
pedal cars, and vintage signs.
We arrived in St. Paul on Wednesday. We
were welcomed at the Thursday Back to the
50’s kickoff party and The Scavengers picnic.
We had a special parking area and hospitality
tent where we enjoyed the Back to the 50s event.
This year they again had over 10,000 pre-1964
registered vehicles at the Minnesota State
Fairgrounds.
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The second Road Tour of the summer started on Sunday, July 10th just after the Goodguy’s Columbus event wrapped up. We spent Sunday and Monday in my hometown of Youngstown, Ohio. We were featured guests at the weekly Sunday night cruise at the Quaker Steak and Lube in Austintown. On Monday we visited an incredible private car collection in the morning, had lunch at Firestone Farms, and toured the Snyder Collection of cars.
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Monday evening everyone enjoyed a picnic
in Mary Ann and my backyard. The delicious
food was provided by the Mark Cole Agency
of Youngstown. Mark is a car enthusiast and
writes specialty vehicle policies through
American National. Tuesday was a fun day
as we visited the Lucy and Desi Museum in
Lucy’s hometown of Jamestown, New York.
Tuesday afternoon we arrived in Niagara
Falls in time for many of us to enjoy a ride
on the famous Maid of the Mist.
Wednesday’s route took us along the northern
coast of New York with great views of Lake
Ontario. We arrived in Syracuse Wednesday
evening. Thursday we enjoyed the participant’s
kickoff party at Lake Onieda. Friday we had
special parking and a hospitality tent as our
headquarters to enjoy the Syracuse Nationals
which again covered the New York State
Fairgrounds.
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Both Road Tours were a huge success. The participants came away asking, “What are we doing for next year?” Depending on the destination and hotel costs, the Road Tour cost averages between $2,000 and $2,500. That is for one car and two occupants.
If you would like to learn more about the Classic Road Tours, visit the Facebook Group at “Jerry Dixey’s Road Tourians” or check this webpage. You can also reach me by phone at
1-330-506-9169, or by email at Jerry@roadtourians.com.
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2006 Road Tour
Motor City Solutions Tour
Shades of the Past Hot Rod Round Up
Great Platte River Archway Museum Kearney, Nebraska
Peter Fink's American Muscle Car Collection
Larry Olson's Private Collection
Duellman Family Collection
Minnesota State Fairgrounds
Sunday Night Cruise Quaker Steak and Lube Austintown
Snyder Collection of Cars
Dixey House Picnic
Niagara Falls Maid of the Mist
Syracuse Nationals
Speedway Museum Lincoln, Nebraska