Welcome back to another episode of As the Tour Turns. When we last left our heroes (hey, that’s us!), they were embarking on a 251.8-mile cruise from Crown Point, Indiana to the Isle Casino Hotel in Bettendorf, Iowa.
See ya, Crown Point, Indiana. Wouldn’t wanna be ya. If anyone from the Crown Point Visitors and Tourism Bureau is reading this post, that previous statement was in no way intended to denigrate the, no doubt sterling reputation of your fine metropolis. It’s just something that people say. And with that, this concludes the PC portion of our programming.
Eli Reed, driving his murdered Charger with Hunter Gilbertson riding shotgun. Their combined age is still less than mine and for that reason alone they should carry my luggage up to my room every night. In fact, when I was his age, I didn’t have a car that cool (still don’t). Okay, they are definitely carrying my luggage for me.
Our friend, Dennis Russ of JNB Machinery has been with us all week stretching the legs of his ZL1 convertible.
Whenever we pass near Manteno, Illinois our own Jim Holloway sets us up with a tour within the Tour of Rad Rides by Troy. Troy recently lost his father, Jack Trepanier, which gave this visit a more poignant tone.
Before we made our way over to the shop we paid our respects to Jack. The Trepanier and Mothers families have become very close over the years and Jack’s passing left a deep impact on us. Godspeed, Jack.
It always amazes me that the Rad Rides magic happens within this non-descript shop in Manteno, Illinois.
Once inside, visitors are treated to all manner of current and completed projects.
Troy Trepanier and his team have won the prestigious Riddler, AMBR and our own Shine Award over the years. In addition to these show awards, Troy also has a thing for the salt, as in the Bonneville Salt Flats. This is George Poteet’s Blowfish, a ’69 Plymouth Barracuda. With a 1,000hp 175ci four-cylinder Chrysler Hemi, Blowfish went 255.659-mph at Bonneville to set a new F/Blown Fuel Competition Coupe record.
Today Blowfish rocks a NASCAR 392 V8 with twin turbos topping off the mix for good measure. In 2011 it punched through the 300mph barrier with a 307mph average. Totes amazeballs.
Pedigreed racecars are usually not of the same stuff as an award-winning show car, but Troy has always approached things differently with his builds. Take these heat shields, just one example of the perfection Rad Rides exhibits within every single aspect of their work.
This is Nailed, a 1956 Buick with a 413cu Nailhead. This was a 2013 Detroit Autorama Great 8 Finalist. Because we liked it so much, and since Troy is one of our valued partners, this car can be seen in our latest Mothers Polish product catalog.
Even with all of the treasures within the walls of Rad Rides, we were most excited to see one in particular – our Mothers Polish ’59 Sedan Delivery.
Our mom, Barbara Holloway, has owned this ride for the past 35 years and it was long overdue for a proper restoration.
I couldn’t think of a better caretaker than Troy and his Rad Rides crew.
The new powerplant is a Lingenfelter LS3 topped off with a Magnuson supercharger. Our friend, Brian Thomson, from Thomson Automotive added a hotter cam. The final package should make upwards of 650hp.
Underneath we went with an Art Morrison chassis that’s in the process of some heavy modifications by Rad Rides.
Check out the transmission tunnel of love – such exquisite work on this area alone.
Troy told us this is the only area of rust on the car, on the trailing edge of the driver side fenderwell. He followed this by claiming that ours is quite possibly the cleanest ’59 Sedan Delivery in existence.
I thought I’d interrupt this post by showing you a picture taken by our own Forrest Tosie of Rich Waitas from Magnaflow taking a picture of me, taking a picture of a car. I now return you to our regularly scheduled post already in progress.
After we were done gently caressing our ’59 Sedan Delivery, Troy walked us through another project in the works.
The Mariani 146 Streamliner will feature a bespoke 430 cubic inch engine that will produce 1,100 naturally aspirated horsepower. The target is 400mph at the Bonneville Salt Flats.
Yes, Virginia, those are billet aluminum heads. And just look at the welds on the driveline cage and exhaust header. Dear mother of god.
This is the safety cell that will surround the driver. Troy takes the utmost care in building the absolute safest competition cars. Of course, this is paramount at 400mph. Troy expects to complete this car in five weeks.
This 1950 Olds Tin Woody is another work-in-progress.
We want to extend our sincerest thanks to Troy and his team for opening their doors to the Mothers Polish Power Tourists. And please accept our apologies for dragging our jaws all over your floors.
Once we left Rad Rides we got back on the road to Bettendorf.
I’ve heard of “Plan B” cars people bring on the Power Tour. This must be Plan Z.
At the end of this leg, we crossed over the mighty Mississippi River to get to the Isle of Capri.
During the Power Tour this set up is spread out and broken down for seven straight days. It looks more like a city than an event.
To the right is our friend, Scott Timberlake from The Enthusiast Network (formerly Source Interlink). In the center is Fred Holcomb, Scott’s 83-year old father-in-law. On the left is the Fred’s recently acquired 1932 Ford. Fred says at 83 years old he finally has the chance to get back into his first car. Good on ya, Fred and we’ll see you and Scott on the road tomorrow.
Just when I thought these guys were winning at tailgating…
I see this. Game. Set. Match.
Forrest wanted to make sure this guy knew the names and origins of every single one of the tributaries of the Mississippi River. Poor bastard never stood a chance.
This is what the Power Tour is all about. Standing around at each stop looking under hoods.
This is what they were watching. High rise intake manifolds, dual carbs and blower scoops do make for a compelling sight. Much like Sofia Vergara doing jumping jacks. But that’s another story, for another blog.
Numbers matching 1967 Chevelle SS 396.
Now there’s a tidy row of Grand Nationals. We’re pretty sure our girl, GN GAL, aka Kristina Richards is in the mix here.
Shelby Cobra GT500 Mustang looked great…
But it looked even better with this Jon Kaase Boss Nine 527ci engine sitting under the hood.
This is Michael Deitzen’s ’79 Mercury Capri. It was built to be a Pro Street project, but while it looks the business, Michael doesn’t race it. This is a pure street car. Michael told us that the Porsche Raspberry Red paint is some 19 years old and that he only uses Mothers to care for the finish. That works for me.
A ’70 Ford 302 small block opened up to 306 cubic inches powers Michael’s Capri.
“Soon as I get home, first thing I’m gonna do is punch yo mamma in da mouth!” – Buford T. Justice.
I saw Bryan Grove’s ’74 Malibu earlier this week but it’s so nice, I wanted to post it twice. This is Bryan’s third Power Tour and he long hauled each and every one of them.
This supercharged 383 motivates Bryan’s Malibu.
Fast Freddie’s Rod Shop built this ’71 Challenger R/T with a bored and stroked, forged and rollerized 408ci Holley EFI’d monster. The owner, Daniel, wanted to be able to tear up his home track, Laguna Seca so Freddie’s used a Reilly Motorsports Alter-K-Tion suspension system up front with an XV Motorsports Level 2 kit out back and Afco coilovers, Wilwood brakes, Forgeline ZX3s and Nittos all around. I’d love to see this one taking a set in the corkscrew.
Gary Salsman drove his Plum Mist ’67 GTO 22K miles across 15 states and now he’s selling it only because he wants to start work on his Chevelle SS convertible. Good enough reason for me.
While we are rolling deep in our rental Navigator it doesn’t get much more gangster than taking a laid out ’59 Cadillac (with LS9 power no less!) on the Power Tour. If we did get this, I would totally make Shane wear a Frank Sinatra fedora to complete the look.
I may have remarked in passing that this MG would look better with Centerlines and both of these people hit me over the head with their hats, really hard! True story.
Forrest says he knows this car from Power Tours past, but that doesn’t mean much since Forrest knows every car that has ever been on the Power Tour for the last two decades. 1986 Shelby GLHS, number 21 of 500 built.
This is George Doyle’s 1940 Ford. Forrest thinks it was originally a tow truck and I would tend to agree since he’s rarely wrong.
I think this Toyota Stout 1900 is suspended with an air system. But I know for sure that it’s powered by a 5.7L Corvette engine.
The Dreamcicyle is a ’33 Ford with Popsicle taillights. Wouldn’t that make it a “Dreamsicle?”
So I’m schlepping around the Isle Casino grounds soaking up all the wild rides when I get a call from Jim. “Have you seen the Ringbrothers Winnebago?” ‘I’m sorry, Jim, I can’t hear you too well. I thought you said, “The Ringbrothers Winnebago.”‘ As I approached this one, I was a little disheartened. This is, after all, the Ringbrothers we’re talking about here, capable of Shine Award winning builds.
I find Jim holed up next to the ‘Bago. He encourages me to take a better look.
Aside from the Grinch, the Ringbrothers’ latest creation, there doesn’t seem to be anything to see here.
What’s this, a bar in the back with a flat screen TV?
Inside is the wildest interior to ever grace a KOA site.
Even the radar detector is period correct.
The LS powerplant is pure Ringbrothers panache.
Jim quickly made himself at home.
I’ve made up my mind, this is the ride I want for next year’s Power Tour.
Since Mothers works closely with Ringbrothers, Jim was invited to add his signature to the door.
Power Tour is not complete until someone is forced to crawl under his or her car.
We produce special versions of our popular Detail Bags for our friends at Rad Rides by Troy.
This is Sugga, a 1957 Volvo TP-21 radio command vehicle originally used by the Swedish Army and now owned by David and Susan Gehring. Ja ja ja.
Tomorrow is the last day of the 2014 Power Tour. We’ll go 203.3 miles from Bettendorf, Iowa to the Chula Vista Resort in Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin. Jim will still be driving an LS powered supercharged car, but it won’t be our ZR14MOM. The people at Lingenfelter wanted him to sample their beastly sleeper, this blown LS3-powered Vista Cruiser. The last day is upon us, let’s make it a good one!
In the meantime click here to check out even more great images from Day 4.
