# Power Tour!!!



## BearGFR (Aug 25, 2008)

It's time! The Beast is ready, we're ready. I put on a set of drag bags yesterday so we'll be able to carry us, luggage, tools, spares, etc without dragging the bumper. I even talked Mrs. Bear into driving it last night a little (she's been a little 'skeered' of it). 
If you're going to be anywhere nearby the tour, c'mon out and say howdy (if you can find us in the hoard of cool cars).

Wish us luck!

Bear


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## Instg8ter (Sep 28, 2010)

Man i wish....daughters wedding in two weeks has squashed my hopes of making it this year, but its on my calender for next year...hope to see you there. Sent PM on the drag bags, have fun and take lots of pics for us...:cheers


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## MY67GTO (May 4, 2013)

I plan to look you up in Little Rock Monday.


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## ALKYGTO (Mar 29, 2010)

Best of luck and have a great time Bear! Lots of pictures of Pontiacs please. arty:


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## jsgoatman (Mar 5, 2013)

Friends of mine left wednesday for Arlington. I couldn't get time off this year. I did part of the tour 2 years ago....have a blast, and be safe!!!


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## Rukee (Feb 8, 2007)

:jealousface


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## joesweeting (May 8, 2011)

Good luck

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## BearGFR (Aug 25, 2008)

Day 1 under our belts. Every little town we went through, folks were gathered along the sides waving. It was like being in a giant parade.

Bear


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## BearGFR (Aug 25, 2008)

Found this on the "Official" Hot Rod Power Tour blog site - the Beast made the photo! .... sort of... 

Bear


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## Eric Animal (Oct 28, 2007)

Bear You GO DUDE!!!!.........arty: Eric


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## geeteeohguy (Feb 2, 2008)

Heck, you're a regular celebrity...living the life! Excellent. Your hood doesn't look too bad, either. Car still looks GREAT, IMO. Still can't believe how straight it is. Drive safe.......


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## BearGFR (Aug 25, 2008)

MY67GTO said:


> I plan to look you up in Little Rock Monday.


Pleasure meeting you today, Bob. Your 67 is beuatiful! :cheers

Bear


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## MY67GTO (May 4, 2013)

BearGFR said:


> Pleasure meeting you today, Bob. Your 67 is beuatiful! :cheers
> 
> Bear
> View attachment 22138
> View attachment 22146


My pleasure Bear. Your beast is very nice in its own right. I have been following your posts, and they are always informative. Even though some may be over my head. Have a safe trip.

Bob


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## jetstang (Nov 5, 2008)

Have a great time on the tour, hate I missed it. Check the Hot Rod Magazine website and look for a pic of your car, I found my Vette a few years ago when I went. Fun, but hate to see your gas bill, lol.. :cheers


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## kilkm68 (May 5, 2011)

I've been on it twice, lots of amazing cars and great people. Bear, are you gonna race at Memphis? Watching the racing was some of the most fun. The tours I was on they raced at Indy and St. Louis. Never know what your gonna see. Watched a guy run a '38 Cord down the track at Gateway then saw the best "sleeper" I've ever seen. A Z06 Vette pulled up to the line and next to him a guy pulled up with about a '82 Ford Fairmont station wagon that was dog crap brown and looked like it had been painted with a brush. We were laughing and wondering why anybody would take that POS out on the track. When the tree dropped that crappy old wagon pulled the front wheels about 3 feet off the ground and ran a 9.80 quarter mile! He got a standing ovation from the crowd when he came back around. Have fun Bear!


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## BearGFR (Aug 25, 2008)

We got to Memphis in time to make some passes, or so we thought. The line to get into the place was BRUTAL! It took us well over an hour to inch down one side of the track, loop around the end of the quarter mile, then inch back up the other side of the track. The only place left to park was in West Egypt way out on the grass. By the time we got parked, I had less than an hour to figure out how to deal with/store all the crap in the car somewhere, fight the crowd to get to the staging lanes, and make a run. I decided it just wasn't worth it to try. I heard later that the track had planned for "about500 or 600 cars". Man did they every underestimate...

I did get a cool photo and autograpsh though, and I told him I'd like to see him make some round port heads with the new style chambers... 

We went out on Beale Street last night and had an awesome steak at Blues CIty Cafe (thanks for the tip, Bob!)

Bear


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## jmt455 (Mar 26, 2012)

Glad to see you having so much fun, Bear!
That's what the hobby is all about.


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## Instg8ter (Sep 28, 2010)

When Vic sends you the prototypes i got dibs on your old heads...

How far are you going and where does it end this year?

thanks for the pics, sounds like a great mini vacation...:cheers


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## BearGFR (Aug 25, 2008)

Instg8ter said:


> How far are you going and where does it end this year?



We're going all the way to Charlotte. 

Bear


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## BearGFR (Aug 25, 2008)

Pretty good day today. The drive was on the longish side, but we got an early start and took the most direct route. We made one stop in Tupelo, MS to see Elvis's birth place. We even got a photo of "the three of us" with his house in the background. We toured it. It's tiny - only two rooms. Elvis's dad, Vernon, built it himself with $180 that he borrowed. They lost the house some time after that when he was unable to pay it back, and spent some time in the pokey for writing a hot check.

We made it to Hoover Stadium, south of Birmingham, shortly after 1pm today and actually got to park close, didn't have to fight traffic to get in, and generally had plenty of time to walk around and check out cars. It was great. We dodged several bullets during the afternoon, weather-wise, and managed to get to the hotel and into the room just before the skies opened up.

Tomorrow, we're off to Chattanooga. I looked to see if we might make a side trip to Leoma, TN, home of Butler Performance, but it's farther 0ut of the way than we want to go. I like this arriving early stuff - a lot.

Having a blast...

Bear and Mrs. Bear


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## jetstang (Nov 5, 2008)

Chattanooga has rock city and ruby falls, both beautiful and worth the trip. Nice mountainous? area. I think that is the perfect part of America, get both seasons, and mountains. Have a great time! Too cool!


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## Icefan71 (Apr 7, 2011)

Bear, I'm lovin' this thread. Looks like a blast.


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## joesweeting (May 8, 2011)

kilkm68 said:


> I've been on it twice, lots of amazing cars and great people. Bear, are you gonna race at Memphis? Watching the racing was some of the most fun. The tours I was on they raced at Indy and St. Louis. Never know what your gonna see. Watched a guy run a '38 Cord down the track at Gateway then saw the best "sleeper" I've ever seen. A Z06 Vette pulled up to the line and next to him a guy pulled up with about a '82 Ford Fairmont station wagon that was dog crap brown and looked like it had been painted with a brush. We were laughing and wondering why anybody would take that POS out on the track. When the tree dropped that crappy old wagon pulled the front wheels about 3 feet off the ground and ran a 9.80 quarter mile! He got a standing ovation from the crowd when he came back around. Have fun Bear!


Any idea what was in the Fairmount?


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## Flying Monkey (Apr 10, 2013)

Missed you guys today. Wanted so bad to go but couldnt get there due to doctor appointments. I was literally 10 min away too. Buddy went and sent me pics of a couple GTO's to make me drool


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## BearGFR (Aug 25, 2008)

Good mornin', Chattanooga!

We're up and will be headed out for Charlotte soon. Today is the longest driving day of the tour and we want to get an early start. We're learning, especially after our experience in Memphis. If you want to have time to relax and actually enjoy the goings on at the venues each day, it really pays you to get there as close to noon (when they open) as you can.

Last night was really something. Coker Tire opened up their whole complex, which looked like it covered more than two city blocks, to all of us. The streets all around were all blocked off and we had ourselves one huge block party. The Beast was parked across from the offices of Honest Charley's Speed Shop (another Coker business). We took a bunch of photos but I don't want to take the time to resize and post them all right now.

His car and motorcycle collection were open to the public, as well as one of the shops where they make wheels. There was one HUGE metal turning lathe in there - had to be over 20 feet long, maybe 30.

In Charlotte today the venue is Z-Max Dragway. I'm really hoping to get to make some passes in the Beast and also participate in an effort to set the Guinness Record for the largest number of cars ever performing a simultaneous burnout. However, the weather looks like it may have other ideas. It's been raining in Charlotte all night long and the forecast is well over 50% probability for most of the day. We'll just have to see how it goes. The main part of the weather system on the radar looks to be mostly south of our intended route so hopefully the pavement will be reasonably dry.
350+ miles in the wet running on drag radials with my teeth clenched the whole time doesn't sound appealing. 

...from the road.

Bear and Mrs. Bear


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## FlambeauHO (Nov 24, 2011)

Looks like a blast Bear! Have fun! :beer:


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## BearGFR (Aug 25, 2008)

Hello again from Charlotte. We made it --- now we just have to make it back home.
Today was the longest driving day of the tour. We stopped for lunch at Roush - Yates racing in Mooresville, then hooked 'em to the hotel to drop off luggage. I had an idea that I was going to make some passes in the Beast, but it was not to be today. Just enough of a sprinkle came to wet the track and shut that part of the festivities down for the day.

All was not lost, though, because the Beast and your humble reporter participated in setting a new Guinesss World's Record for the most number of cars ever to do a simultaneous burn out --- 73 cars, including one beat up old Pontiac, lit 'em up and reclaimed the record from the Aussies.

Unofficial New World Record Burnout: 73 Cars at Once at the HOT ROD Power Tour 2013 - Hot Rod Magazine Blog

Bear


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## BearGFR (Aug 25, 2008)

Mrs. Bear shot some video too...


Bear's GTO - Setting the Guinness Burnout Record - YouTube

... and then after it was all over while we were exiting the track, I saw her shooting some more video. Something came over me and I just couldn't resist. One of the officials yelled at me a little afterwards, but it was all ok -- and worth it 


Bear's GTO - I got yelled at for this - YouTube


Bear


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## ALKYGTO (Mar 29, 2010)

I could smell the rubber from here lol. Pretty cool. :cool


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## Rukee (Feb 8, 2007)

Awesome!!


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## 69Goatee (Aug 14, 2009)

Day-um!! I REALLY got to get my GOAT back on the road, I have almost forgot what tire smoke smells like from inside the car. Awesome videos, looks like fun!


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## BearGFR (Aug 25, 2008)

With the Saturday morning Long Hauler photo and "ceremony", the 2013 edition of the Power Tour ended. We had a great time, for sure. Even Mrs. Bear enjoyed it (much to my relief). Her favorite part was the driving each day, especially on the scenic back roads and rolling through towns with folks gathered by the roadside waving at us. We even saw a few parked on overpasses on the Interstate, waving and hollering as we passed under.

Today we start "Part 2" of our vacation. We're taking our sweet time getting back home, driving relatively short distances each day, staying in cool places my bride found for us like out-of-the-way bed and breakfast spots in the middle of nowhere. We're stopping to spend a couple days with my cousin and her family near Gulf Shores, Alabama. So, if you're close to the general route from Charlotte to Gulf Shores to Dallas, send me a PM or something if you'd like to meet up. I'll check in when I can...

...(still) from the road,

Bear and Mrs. Bear


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## BearGFR (Aug 25, 2008)

I just have to share this.

We're sitting in a Subway somewhere off I85, Mrs. Bear just looked at me and obsevred, "You know? Pontiacs are like the Grand Funk Railroad of the hot rod world. They get no recognition, but they still kick ass!"

Dang, I love this woman.

Bear


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## BearGFR (Aug 25, 2008)

Yesterday, at a Quick Trip just off I-85 we made a short rest stop. A woman in an mid 70's Chevy pickup hollered at us from across the parking lot, "Hey! what's it got under the hood?" Turns out her truck was packing a PONTIAC 455 

I love this country...

Bear


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## FlambeauHO (Nov 24, 2011)

PM sent


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## BearGFR (Aug 25, 2008)

FlambeauHO said:


> PM sent


...and responded to. Twice 

Bear


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## jmt455 (Mar 26, 2012)

Sound like a great trip, Bear!

Love the Long Haul plaques; great pic!!


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## FlambeauHO (Nov 24, 2011)

Thanks again for lunch, it was great to meet you guys and the Beast! Have a safe drive home!


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## BearGFR (Aug 25, 2008)

FlambeauHO said:


> Thanks again for lunch, it was great to meet you guys and the Beast! Have a safe drive home!


You're welcome, FlambeauHO. Your car is positively gorgeous. I kept looking at it in the mirror while we were driving. We enjoyed visiting with you and hope to have a chance to do that again. I meant to tell you, you mentioned wanting to do some car events. On the Power Tour a couple with a really nice '70 was telling us about an event called Cruisin' the Coast that takes place in Mississippi I think, later in the year. They said it's a blast and still "short" enough that you can stay at the same hotel every day if you want to. Might be worth looking into...

Bear


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## jsgoatman (Mar 5, 2013)

*Dream Cruise*

Bear, Have you ever considered taking a long trek up to the suburbs of Detroit, Michigan for the "Woodward Dream Cruise"? It is the largest one day classic car event in the world, but, the events go on all week before. It is the 3rd Saturday in August (every year). This year it is August 17th. In one day this event draws around 40,000 (yes, 40 thousand) cars and 1.5 million spectators along a 17 mile stretch (34 miles round trip) of Woodward Ave....the first ever paved road in the country. It is 4 lanes on each side, separated by a grassy boulevard...a great time for car crazies like us!!


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## FlambeauHO (Nov 24, 2011)

Great pics Bear! I heard about cruising the coast somewhere and I am definitely planning on doing it! Hope to catch up with you again, and the Beast is gorgeous too!


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## BearGFR (Aug 25, 2008)

Had a little excitement yesterday of the unwelcome kind. Pulling up to stop at a light, leaving Alabama, we heard a rather ominous "pop". We limped into a Texaco across the road and it turned out it was the sound of the driver's side rear brake caliper tearing its mount loose from the backing plate. Fortunately, the brake line was still intact though. So with the assistance of "Norm" from a nearby Advance Auto Parts who was willing to "bring me stuff", I removed the caliper completely and capped off the brake line. So, we're running with only 3 brakes now, but we're still running. Lord willin', we'll be home later today.

On the home bound side of this little excursion Mrs. Bear was in charge of making the plans and arranging the accommodations. She's done a terrific job, mostly having us in some pretty cool B&B's instead of regular hotels. Last night in West Monroe, LA we stopped here at the Hamilton House, just a few blocks away (they tell me) from the Duck Dynasty place.

Hotel, Hamilton House Inn Monroe, LA Home

The shower was awesome!

Hotel, Hamilton House Inn Monroe, LA The Renate Room

Bear


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## geeteeohguy (Feb 2, 2008)

Bear, the three brakes you do have are probably 50-75% more effective than the OEM brakes that were on the car. No worries. It does always seem that the "trick" aftermarket stuff is the first to fail, though. I hate that. Thanks for your posts...The Grand Funk/Pontiac comparison is priceless, and the burn-out at the 'wrong ' moment was pure class, IMO. There is something to be said for taking an 11 second car on an extended road trip and having it turn out to be practical, reliable transportation. Your car is pretty well 'proven' by now, drivetrain-wise. Fix that brake and you'll be good to go!


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## OrbitOrange (Jul 5, 2010)

Dang, I hate that I dont get on this forum as much as I'd like to. Sorry I missed ya Bear. I watched the power tour come through our little town ALBERTVILLE, AL just north of Oneonta on Hwy 75. 

I was actually 1 red light away from where you guys crossed over 431 in Albertville. I was headed to set in the Kmart parking lot to watch. Then someone rear ended me in my company truck. So I stood in the middle of the highway watching everyone pass through while the police did their business at the wreck.

A friend of mine joined in with his f100 and made the trek up to North Carolina.


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## BearGFR (Aug 25, 2008)

OrbitOrange said:


> I watched the power tour come through our little town ALBERTVILLE, AL just north of Oneonta on Hwy 75.


I'm sorry you had that happen. I remember rolling through there, and also wondering "just how DOES one pronounce 'Oneonta'? Is it 'won-awntah' 'owney-owntah' ?"...

We had a good time. If I did the math right, we drove the Beast just over 2800 miles, got it good and dirty driving in the rain, picked up a battle scar or three, and found a few 'soft spots' that need some work. Also met some good people, including some folks from the forum here (who I'm glad I don't have to compete against in shows). We got back home last night. Time to start cleaning and fixing things... 

Bear


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## OrbitOrange (Jul 5, 2010)

owney-wontah is how I pronounce it. Most everything around here is named after an indian or something to do with indians. 

Glad you made back home safely.


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## Instg8ter (Sep 28, 2010)

jsgoatman said:


> Bear, Have you ever considered taking a long trek up to the suburbs of Detroit, Michigan for the "Woodward Dream Cruise"? It is the largest one day classic car event in the world, but, the events go on all week before. It is the 3rd Saturday in August (every year). This year it is August 17th. In one day this event draws around 40,000 (yes, 40 thousand) cars and 1.5 million spectators along a 17 mile stretch (34 miles round trip) of Woodward Ave....the first ever paved road in the country. It is 4 lanes on each side, separated by a grassy boulevard...a great time for car crazies like us!!


Agreed, if you guys want to see a real spectacle come visit us in the motor city, we can plant you right on Wide Track drive at the turn around, we can never have too many Pontiacs where they were born. Hotels on and near Woodward get booked a year in advance but easy to find lodging a few miles out and access is easy. The events throughout the week are excursions to offsight venues that allow for some open road cruising. Day of it's best to make a few passes early and park for the afternoon. The Wide Track sight is perfect as its the far northern end and has a large field right at the light, perfect for snapping pictures of every make, model and and conglomeration of cars you could ever imagine....arty:


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## BearGFR (Aug 25, 2008)

I'd love to make the Dream Cruise (and every other event there is) at least once. 

For now though, I've got to take care of getting me and Mrs. Bear moved out to the country 

Bear


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## jsgoatman (Mar 5, 2013)

Bear...you will always be welcome!! Instg8ter...what part of the city are u from? Ever come up to Woodward on the weekends??


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## Instg8ter (Sep 28, 2010)

I'm a few exits south of Metro here, get there for the DC, but do more of my cruising on Telegraph and Fort St. and the Hines Drive cruise is very cool, i grew up down there and they basically outlawed hotrods since then, now for the past three years they do a closed cruise where all they let in on that day are HodRods and Modifieds, very unique and it brings back memories when we all used to skip school on the first nice day and line the drive for miles playing frisbee & hacky sack, among other things... I park at the Wide Trackers lot for the Dream Cruise have to look each other up this year.


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