Motor City

Friday brought the first full rainy day of our Hot Rod Power Tour.  It was 4 1/2 hours driving in off and on showers to from Muskegon to Detroit.  An easy, if unexciting drive, on Michigan interstate highways,  unless of course your were Mike in the T-Bucket.

The venue at Detroit's Metro Beach was good, but the weather kept the local car count down.  The Metro Beach and Marina is located on Lake St. Clair, and has a huge paved parking lot for which we were very grateful.  The parking on grass in the rain would have been a nightmare.

It is the little things that stand out in your mind. Detroit was our 7th car show in 7 days, and they all start to run together in your mind.  What Ayce will remember about Detroit was the heated restroom with running water that located a short walk from the venue.  Port-a-Potties would have been a dismal option when the colonic malfunction he suffered with all week decided to break loose after our arrival in Detroit.


Two other more pleasant and interesting things set Detroit apart from the other Power Tour Venues.  One was food.  The vendor charged reasonable prices and had an excellent choice , including several salads, grilled items, sub sandwiches (with the best bun I've had in a long time) and wood fired pizza, prepared on location with a portable wood burning pizza oven.  They also plenty of covered seating.

Lots of cars on display but the one that made the largest impression was a late 60's nitro-methane burning funny car (dragster).  Ayce has some knowledge about drag racing and has spent a little time at various drag strips.  But, was not prepared for the noise, violence and mayhem that occurred when the car was started.  The noise (at idle speed) is literally ear splitting and painful, and when the engine revved up the sound was nauseating.  Coupled with the acrid odor of the burning nitro-methane it was enough to make one physically ill.  It is hard to believe that Funny Car drivers will strap themselves into a seat directly behind the motor (the drivers seat can be seen at the far left of the picture) and allow the car body to be lowered down around them.   Funny car drivers may be the bravest or the most &@#$%* up race car drivers there are. 


Have to tell you though... that car drew a crowd, and the car was on jack stands and wasn't going anywhere. Just sitting there sounding like the end of the world.

Next stop -  Hot Rod Power Tour Long Haulers get together at the General Motors Proving Gounds