Returning To Brice Road

Brad's tour hadn't arrived yet by 1:30, so we rolled out of The Paddock and hit the road once more, this time traveling Route 40 to avoid the construction along Interstate 70, which proved to be a much nicer drive through small-town America. We eventually had to get back on Interstate 70, though, which was actually fairly easy until we arrived in Columbus, where we met up with more delays trying to get onto Brice Road

Despite the long waits in traffic that seemed to dominate our tour, if you were to ask me what the most memorable time was, I would have to say it was the folks who were along on the cruise. They all made it a very enjoyable trip me. Thanks to you all. -Chuck James

When my faithful companion and Mopar Muscle Advertising Team Leader John Nichols agreed to join me on the Return To Brice Road tour from Memphis to Columbus, I think we both initially thought we'd be living in the lap of luxury. Perhaps our trip to Memphis would start on Beale Street...a little barbecue, a little blues...wait, make that a lot of barbecue.

Well, we did that, but only after sampling Rick Bottom's '64 Dodge 880 Custom station wagon. Sure, it had the ultra-cool lo-profile treads, polished American Racing Wheels' Torq-Thrusts and a booming sound system. With its down-in-the-weeds stance and the downright stylin' cheetah-trimmed interior, we knew we would be the double-take that every car enthusiast desires.

But What About The A/C?
The ride itself was downright comfortable with a case of Zephyrhills water and iced-down towels draped around our necks courtesy of our tour host Competition Cams. Despite over 100-degree temperatures and heat advisories all the way across Tennessee and into Bowling Green.

However, even more impressive was that none of our fellow travelers had A/C in their Mopars either.

Upon arriving in Bowling Green, temperatures dropped to a downright delightful 89 degrees. On Thursday morning, Holley's Bill Tichenor took us on a tour of the Holley facility. At 10:15, we promptly put our Mopars in gear and headed north toward Cincinnati, anticipating a midday rendezvous with the folks on the Atlanta tour. Unfortunately, they were running about one hour behind us. Despite a couple of minor problems with caravan participant vehicles, we continued north to Columbus, meeting up with the Atlanta tour approximately 60 miles from our destination-Brice Road.

When we pulled into the lot on Brice, the caravan participants waited patiently. With over 150 cars in the tour and over 300 cars in the lot, the Return To Brice Road caravan achieved what we had hoped-making the event more than just being there, it was about getting there as well. Next time, however, I'll opt for making the Memphis caravan an evening tour if we have to travel without A/C! -Jerry Pitt

Atlanta, Georgia:
For me, it was the third time around on a Mopar Muscle Nats Caravan, this time originating at Year One's facility in Atlanta and running with the crew from Year One and the participants on the two-day cruise up to Columbus. Actually, my odyssey began at home in Southern California several days before. Borla offered their 2000 Dakota Fire Rescue vehicle; the only problem was getting it from Borla's plant in So-Cal to Kansas City, Missouri, the cruise starting point. "Wanna drive Borla's 4x4 truck to K.C?" Jerry asked. Having never wheeled through that much of the country, I said "Yeah." Once in K.C., the Borla truck was deposited at Weld Industries for the Kansas City Caravan in the morning, and I caught a flight to Atlanta for the Year One Caravan.