Hot rods roll through on Power Tour

Homepage

Related Photos

Cars, trucks and hot rods of all makes and models cruise Thursday through Muskogee as part of the Hot Rod Power Tour 2012. The tour started in Detroit and ends in the Dallas Metroplex. Staff photo by Cathy Spaulding
Crowds gather at the corner of Okmulgee Avenue and U.S. 69 to catch a glimpse and shoot a picture of thousands of cars cruising in the Hot Rod Power Tour 2012. Staff photo by Cathy Spaulding
Martin Holdorf, 9, of Manitowoc, Wis., talks about cruising in his dad’s souped-up 1998 Caprice station wagon. Staff photo by Cathy Spaulding

Discussion

June 8, 2012

Hot rods roll through on Power Tour

Thousands of vehicles here on road to Dallas

By Cathy Spaulding Phoenix Staff Writer The Muskogee Phoenix Fri Jun 08, 2012, 12:58 AM CDT

Martin Holdorf is missing school back in Manitowoc, Wis., this week.

But he says he’s still learning things cruising with his dad on the Hot Rod Power Tour 2012.

“It’s a car education,” said Martin, 9.

Martin and Terry Holdorf are riding from Detroit to the Dallas Metroplex as part of the 18th annual tour, presented by Chevrolet Performance. The tour passed through Tahlequah and Muskogee on Thursday, with many of the drivers stopping along Shawnee Bypass or U.S. 69 for lunch or gas. Estimates on the number of participants range from 4,000 to 7,500.

“It’s way more than 4,000,” said Linda Thomas of Pocola. “My registration number is 4,700.”

Thomas and her husband are driving her 1972 Camaro in the tour. Flare-gun orange with a white racing stripe, plus that component that gave the 60s and 70s muscle car its muscle — chrome.

Not only does Thomas’ Camaro boast chrome bumpers, it has a shiny chrome engine.

“I want as much chrome as I could get,” Thomas said, adding she wishes it could have a chrome frame.

The car wasn’t always that shiny. Her husband, Marvin Thomas, said the car was on its way to be crushed when he got it on eBay. He said he picked it up in Oklahoma City.

“We rebuilt everything on it,” Marvin Thomas said.

“It had no motor in it, no windows, no interior,” Linda Thomas said.

“If it had a bolt or nut, we replaced it,” Marvin Thomas said.

Marvin’s brother, Mike Thomas of Fort Smith, Ark., helped them get the Camaro back in shape. Mike Thomas and his wife, Laurel, are doing the tour in their 1969 Mustang.

The Mustang is in its original condition, with only new wheels, tires and carpeting, Mike Thomas said. He said the car has 12,000 miles on it.

Mike Thomas said he’s participating in the tour “for the fun of it” and the chance to meet new friends with similar interests.

The tour features vehicles of all makes and models — Little GTOs, monster Chrysler Imperials, shiny custom trucks and rusty heaps apparently held together with Bondo.

The Holdorfs are in a brown 1998 Chevrolet Caprice station wagon — with a Corvette motor.

“It’s a sleeper,” Holdorf said. “That’s a car that doesn’t look like it’s got power, but it really does.”

“It can be a sleeper both ways for me, I guess,” Martin said, adding that he sometimes slept in the back seat.

However, a highlight of Martin’s tour came earlier Thursday.

“I liked the part of the trip where it had rocks going up real high, and some of the rocks went over the highway,” Martin said.

Holdorf said the road was Oklahoma 10 north of Tahlequah. The road winds between high bluffs and the Illinois River.

A Corvette motor also helped Kelly Dykes of Plano, Texas, keep his slant-back 1937 Ford going. He said the motor has 345 horsepower, compared with the 60 horsepower in the original model.

“Everything’s modified except the exterior,” Dykes said.

Reach Cathy Spaulding at (918) 684-2928 or cspaulding@muskogeephoenix.com.