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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