We spent a fair amount of time following that cool, flat black, big-block ’53 Chevy to the Covercraft facility.
Later in the day it would disgorge its occupants right in front of us upon arriving in Arlington, TX.
Jim and I said goodbye to the Best Western bright and early on the morning of June 8, 2012. We had about an hour’s worth of driving ahead of us before we’d hook up with the official Power Tour route. We settled into tidy pack of vintage iron whose occupants also spent the night in OKC.
The city was abuzz over their local professional basketball team making it to the National Basketball League’s championship series. Professional basketball is big in Oklahoma City. I hear the reason for this is a lack of anything else interesting to focus on in the city. Their team, “The Thunder” would be defeated four games to one in a best of seven series by a team from Miami, Florida called “The Heat”.
There was once a time when professional sports teams were given interesting names. They would often relate to something unique about a region like an industry, something historical or maybe a derogatory term used to describe Native Americans. For example, The Steelers play football in Pittsburg, PA, which was once a steel town before everyone started buying steel from Japan or wherever. We were on our way Arlington, TX which has a baseball team called “The Texas Rangers”, which is named after Chuck Norris. There used to be a football team in Houston, TX called “The Oilers”. How is that for a cool name with historical significance? They even had cool little oil wells on their helmets. They were moved to Nashville and renamed “The Tennessee Titans”. Evidently folks in those parts are huge. The capitol city of the United States has a football team named “The Redskins”. At the beginning of every football season people with nothing better to do organize protests demanding the name be changed. These protests are ineffective because the participants are generally listless from drinking too much vodka. Nowadays when teams move to a new city or created from scratch they are named after animals or weather.
There are countries in the world whose citizens protest against tyranny, violence and corruption.
In America lots of people protest against being offended.
Okay, back to the Power Tour! Unlike the day before, Jim, The Judge and I are in the thick of the tour on the way to Arlington via Paul’s Valley, OK. Everywhere you look there are cool cars coming and going. We are headed to a courtesy stop and lunch at Covercraft Industries. These folks make the finest car covers money can buy. I’m not sure if that statement is true but they did treat Power Tour participants to a great lunch and a tour of their factory. They did a terrific job feeding and watering a massive throng of hot, hungry and thirsty gear heads. It was very well organized and wait times were minimal. There were huge tubs full of ice, water and soft drinks and volunteers at the ready to direct you here and there. Jim and I sat at a table under a huge tent and devoured our share of BBQ, beans, potato salad and cookies. If you ever have the pleasure of getting to know Jim, you will learn that after any meal involving beans you will not regret riding in a car with no A/C and the windows down no matter how hot it is outside.
Covercraft created a time lapse video of the event and posted it on Youtube. It’s pretty amazing how many cars rolled through that place in a relatively short amount of time. The Judge makes an appearance at around the 9:35 mark. Thanks again to everyone at Covercraft.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nq5XJe01tqI
Bellies full and thirsts quenched, it was time to hop into the judge and hit the road. We were part of a noisy and colorful procession that snaked its way through the center of town. From what we could tell, Paul’s Valley is a nice place populated by good folks.
Oklahoma would have one more surprise in store for us; magnificent Turner Falls Park in Davis, OK! The park is nestled below the Arbuckle Mountains which form Honey Creek and it’s 77-foot waterfall, the largest in Oklahoma. I wouldn’t have guessed there were any waterfalls in Oklahoma.
We would have blasted by the park none the wiser had we not spotted the Turner Falls Curio Shop. It features a nice observation deck with views of the waterfall. There’s plenty of parking so naturally cool cars began to congregate so their occupants could see the sights and purchase fabulous items in the shop. It was manned by a friendly lunatic who recited poems and cracked one-liners. Jim bought a t-shirt for his bride and I got a couple of Turner Falls stickers. Then we signed the guest book and hit the road.
To be more specific, we hit Route 77 and rode that road to its end. The official Power Tour route diverged from Rte 77 and onto I-35 but Jim and I took our chances and broke away from the pack for a while. It’s a good thing we did, too. Otherwise we would never have discovered Thackerville, OK or the McGehee Catfish Restaurant Airport! Hilariously, we ended up making better time on Rte 77 than the Power Tour on I-35 due to a big traffic jam. We’re both of the opinion that a smoldering pile-up of wrecked late-model Challengers, Camaros and Corvettes caused the slowdown.
Thackerville!
The Power Tour was bearing down on the Texas border with the kind of urgency usually reserved for a pickup truck packed with forty illegals. Soon it would cross the red river and rumble its way to Arlington. This created a bit of a dilemma within the confines of The Judge. You see, Jim and I were deeply opposed to crossing that river using The Eisenhower Interstate Highway System. Jim consulted his maps feverishly as he tried to find an alternative but there seemed to be none. Well, maybe one. It was a long shot but we were just the guys to make it happen. And we did.
We were lucky enough to have chosen a spot for the jump that was near
a crawdad hunter with an iphone who snapped this photo.
I nailed the landing.
While slogging through the traffic on I-35 Jim made an interesting observation. Running parallel with the interstate was a frontage road that ran for many miles almost uninterrupted. On top of that, the exit and entry ramps were incredibly short which made it possible for us to jump onto and off of the highway with the flick of the wrist. This was a lot of fun and allowed us to stay off the the wretched slab that was I-35. The elevation of the road also shifted wildly, adding another thrilling element. One minute we’d be below the highway and the next we would be soaring above it, looking down on the Power Tour procession.
Later on, Jim and I were pleased to notice other Power Tour folks playing the same game as us. We can’t blame them.
While we were riding the frontage road roller coaster, someone riding shotgun in a black late-model Camaro rolled down his window and snapped a few photos of the Judge. The Camaro appeared to be stock with only one unique identifying feature; a white decal located at the top center of the rear window. I don’t think it was a Power Tour or Long Hauler decal. I can only assume it was some kind of speed shop or tuner decal. I would love to get copies of those photos.
The tables have turned and the black Camaro soars above us on the frontage road.
Naturally we snapped a photo.
The zig-zagging frontage road fun would come to an end as we approached the Dallas-Ft. Worth metropolis. Any disappointment caused by that fact was countered by the excitement of nearing our final stop; QuickTrip Park in Grand Prairie, TX. Upon arrival, were guided into a massive parking lot which was probably half full. Behind us was a seemingly endless line of cars streaming into the venue. Before long the lot would be bulging.
In addition to the vendor area and the stage, there was an autocross course and some kind of acceleration and braking circuit. Jim and I lingered near these courses without spending much time at the other areas. There’s really no need to check out the vendor area again, as it never really changes. Crowds would gather around the stage at all the venues. There was never really anything all that interesting going on there and we tended to steer clear of the throng. Having seen the sights, we headed back to the Judge. This is when we’d really start thinking about the next Power Tour.
The Judge was pointed east and the sun steadily heading West. We popped the hood and set up our chairs in the shade it provided. We were able to enjoy some cold beer and relax. We debated the pros and cons of various cars and configurations in order to come up with our ultimate Power Tour vehicle. It would have to be old; there’s no way we could live with using Jim’s Cadillac CTS-V wagon or the like. Sure, it would be a perfect choice but it just wouldn’t be “right”. Even my ’95 Impala SS seems too new and as Jim put it, “too easy”. We also decided we wanted air conditioning and some kind of overdrive transmission. The 3.90 gears in the Judge makes for great around-town driving and exhibitions of acceleration, but get old on the highway. Lastly, we agreed that a modern, efficient and powerful fuel injected engine is the way to go.
Simple recipe, really. And it doesn’t really restrict the candidate list as we’ll likely be building the car ourselves. Station wagons, pickup trucks and El Caminos seemed to be popular choices for obvious reasons. Of those three we found the wagon option more interesting. The big problem there was that the Tour was heavily populated with them. They are kind of been-there-done-that. Regardless, we pondered wagons anyway because we like them. Jim dialed up some interesting Ebay listings on his iPad, including a very cool ’68 Impala wagon with hideaway headlights. Cool car, but big and heavy and this particular example had a really nasty interior and body issues. Pass. Then he came across a couple of nice early-eighties Fox platform Ford wagons. Newer than what we want, but an intriguing option considering all the Mustang hop-up parts that would bolt right on. Lots of engine choices, too. But our hearts just weren’t in it and the wagon idea faded.
We considered seventies conversion vans and cheap four-door sedans from the forties and fifties, as well. We ditched the van idea because I simply can’t grow a good mustache. And the old sedans with their rickety suspensions seemed like more trouble than we wanted. A hearse was considered and hastily dismissed. Too campy and probably horrible to drive. Some serious thought went into a flower car, though. Again, it would be big, heavy and lack easy suspension upgrade options. Even though we decided against the flower car option, I still think it could be cool. I may revisit when I have more time and money.
This good looking Lincoln is a fine example of a sweet flower car.
It’s basically a huge, luxurious El Camino/Ranchero. PT 2014?
We probably drank eight Miller Lites between us in the two or so hours spent seated before the Judge. We watched cars and people and chatted with a handful of visitors. It was a fun day and fitting conclusion to our maiden Power Tour adventure. The parking lot started to thin out so we packed up and made our way to the Sheraton in Arlington. Still rich from my casino winnings, I slipped the head valet a fifty and asked if I could park the Judge in front of the hotel with the fancy German cars. He was enthusiastic about showcasing the Judge and help me situate it to his liking. The bribe was probably unnecessary but I didn’t mind. Easy come, easy go.
If you ask me, the Judge’s forty-three year old styling holds up
pretty well among some of today’s finest.
The next morning we hopped into the Judge and started our trek to Kansas City. It was a hot, loud nine hours but it went by quickly and we were still having fun. The trip was uneventful and the Judge continued to soldier on without any hint of trouble. While it may not have been well suited for the Tour, it performed perfectly. It is a great car.
At some point Jim and I resumed discussing candidates for next year’s Power Tour.
That’s when one of us aksed “What about the Duster?”