Impressive machinery, old and new was the unofficial theme of the Vintage Air Tour’s third day on the road. As you probably know, this tour is part of the 2017 ARP/Street Rodder Road Tour presented by Chevrolet Performance. The Vintage Air Tour was planned—and is being led—by Rick Love from Vintage Air. About 25 street rods and twice that many drivers and passengers left San Antonio on Sunday morning and have been cruising across the South on our way to Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, to attend the Shades Of The Past car show this coming weekend.
On Tuesday, we started the day in Meridian, Mississippi, on the eastern edge of the state. After the morning drivers meeting, we hit the road. It was only two or three miles from our hotel to the old industrial area of Meridian—our day’s first stop.
The Soulé Steam Works: Mississippi Industrial Heritage Museum is like walking into a steam-powered belt-driven machine shop of 100 years ago. In fact, that’s exactly what you’re doing. The building was the site of the Soulé Spee-d-Twin Steam Engines factory for most of the 20th Century, using the machinery that is now on display. Many of the machines are still operational and the belts are functional. Greg Hatcher, the museum’s director, greeted us and provided a guided tour of this incredible museum.
As we were leaving, we met TV reporter Jeremy J. Ford from the Fox affiliate TV station in Meridian. Ford was there to report on the Vintage Air tour. His photo of our group posted on the Fox 30 News Facebook here.
Not long after leaving Meridian, we rolled across the state line into Alabama. Our second stop for the day was Goolsby Customs in Hueytown. Jonathan and Vonda Goolsby and the crew were expecting us, and had lunch waiting when we got there. The shop occupies a couple of large buildings, with more to come. We got an up-close look at the 1932 Ford highboy roadster pickup that made a huge impression on everybody when it debuted at the 2017 Grand National Roadster Show in January. The Olds-powered Deuce was a contender for the America’s Most Beautiful Roadster award. We also got to see numerous other rods scheduled for debuts later this year and next year.
Storm clouds followed us to our evening stop in Guntersville, overlooking the Tennessee River. Several members of the Vintage Air Tour drove to nearby Leeds, Alabama, to check out the Barber Vintage Motorsports Museum, which houses more than 1,000 historic motorcycles and race cars.
On Wednesday, the Vintage Tour will enter Tennessee as we continue our cruise to Pigeon Forge. Check back for more photos and video of the fun.
The post 2017 ARP/Street Rodder Vintage Air Tour Part 4 appeared first on Hot Rod Network.