The event itself may have had a new name borrowed from another historic driving event, but Tom's Fun Run ran like a well-oiled machine thanks to some careful planning, great tour leaders, and the great shops that hosted tours along its long and winding route. With five starting points across the country, Tom's Fun Run had one final destination: the Goodguys Hot Rod Nationals in Columbus, Ohio. The various legs of the cruise started out according to how long it would take to get to Columbus, meeting along the way and joining forces as the week of cruising progressed.
The Mooneyes tour, led by Chico, set out from California eight days before the event and was the first leg of TFR to get their motors running. They would eventually meet up with the Vintage Air tour in Texas and pick up TFR's unofficial tour leader, Rick Love, in his flamed '39 Ford coupe. Together the growing group motored across the country until meeting up at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway museum with the Heidt's tour, led by Gary Heidt. The final group to join the growing procession of hot rods was the Fatman Fabrication tour, led by Brent Vandvort. The Borgeson tour made their own route and met everyone in Columbus.
Drivers and tour leaders got together each morning to discuss the day's route and any last-minute changes before hitting the road. Most people stayed together, but some ventured out on their own. Both methods were equally enjoyable.
All the careful planning paid off when the entire group rolled into Columbus, Ohio, on Thursday afternoon, exactly as scheduled, to enjoy the weekend at the Goodguys event. A huge thanks from the R&C staff goes out to our tour leaders: Mooneyes, Vintage Air, Heidt's Hot Rod Shop, Fatman Fabrication, and Borgeson. This event wouldn't be possible without the support of these companies and the people behind them.
Plans for next year's event are already being made to make the L.A. Roadster show in Pomona, California, the final destination. So far it looks like we'll have a tour coming out of Texas lead by Vintage Air, one out of Washington lead by Art Morrison Enterprises, and maybe one leaving from the Goodguys Indy event. Stay tuned for further details and Tom's Fun Run announcements.
Daily Diary
Day 1 After months of anticipation, we gathered early at Mooneyes in Santa Fe Springs with a group of spirited drivers and copilots, and after a briefing by tour leader Chico, we set off out of L.A. and rolled toward Arizona. Chico braved the heat and open road in Dean Moon's original shop truck, which had only a couple hundred miles on the fresh 410ci FE under the hood. Some cooling issues turned up in the 110-plus-degree Arizona heat but were worked out along the way. Our first stop was to check out the Hall of Flame museum in Phoenix, where we saw many amazing examples of early firefighting apparatus, both horse-drawn and motorized. We finished up the day with a stop at SO-CAL of Arizona to see what they had cooking. First day down and already the benefits of air conditioning and a good cooling system have been deeply noted in the Arizona heat (yeah, but at least it's dry heat just like my oven-KL).
Day 2 The second day started with a visit to the Pima Air and Space Museum in Tucson. Beyond hangers full of planes and memorabilia, there were unique and historic planes spread over 70 acres, including every kind of winged machine from early one-manned experimentals to fighters and even the heaviest bombers the military has ever put in service. After a great history lesson, we headed out to Las Cruces, New Mexico, for a great Mexican dinner in its old town and a night's rest.