Well, I never thought that I would allow the annual G.T. 350 Tour grow beyond 20 vintage G.T. 350s/40 participants. It is a nonprofit tour, and I have no desire for it to become some gargantuan event, as with some other superb driving tours, that allow nearly 100 cars and 200 people to participate. The G.T. 350 Tour is a very casual and unpretentious event, and I aim to keep it that way.
It is a ton of work to put the Tour together, but, owing to its small size, we have a blast running around a different part of the country each fall in our G.T. 350s.
The 2019 G.T. 350 Tour was based out of Big Cedar Lodge in Ridgedale, MO, although nearly every mile of our four days of driving took place on the stunning Ozark Mountain roads of northwestern Arkansas.
There were 25 vintage G.T. 350s and 50 people, from across the US and Canada, participating in the 2019 G.T. 350 Tour. To keep things manageable, I decided to split the group in half and then send one group off about 20 minutes in advance of the second group each morning. Although I had my doubts about this type of a format, it seemed to work fairly well. This does require, however, that the route books -- the books that list the daily driving routes -- must be dead-on accurate; otherwise there would be Shelbys aimlessly roaming throughout the Ozarks!
We had a bit of fog at elevation, on day 1, as we snaked our way along a mountain ridge and down into Jasper, AR. Luckily, the sun eventually burned the fog off and our drive back to Ridgedale was superb.
I always attempt to find a few interesting stops along our Tour routes in order to break things up a bit. On the morning of day 2 of the Tour, we stopped for a tour of the Ranger Boat manufacturing plant in Flippin, AR. It was fascinating to see how the Ranger folks create the razzle-dazzle finishes that their boats have become known for. Unfortunately, photos were prohibited inside of the Ranger Boat plant.
Day 2 was followed by a “down day” on Wednesday, which allowed the Tour participants to enjoy the extensive facilities and activities that are available at Big Cedar Lodge.
For driving day 3 -- October 31 -- quite a few in the group donned some seriously creative Halloween costumes! (Note: This Halloween thing was NOT my idea, however, some of the G.T. 350 Tour “regulars” are genuine nut cases!)
We had a rather raucous dinner on Halloween evening. Awards were bestowed upon those wearing the most creative (or embarrassing?) costumes!
On Friday, our final day of driving, we drove quite a few curvy back roads on our way to Eureka Springs, AR. Following lunch in Eureka Springs, we drove the G.T. 350s across a few high Ozark Mountain ridges before heading down into Boxley Valley, along the Buffalo National River basin, and then back to Ridgedale where the 2019 G.T. 350 Tour concluded with our farewell banquet.
Here is a link to the photos:
Cheers,
Lee Cross
It is a ton of work to put the Tour together, but, owing to its small size, we have a blast running around a different part of the country each fall in our G.T. 350s.
The 2019 G.T. 350 Tour was based out of Big Cedar Lodge in Ridgedale, MO, although nearly every mile of our four days of driving took place on the stunning Ozark Mountain roads of northwestern Arkansas.
There were 25 vintage G.T. 350s and 50 people, from across the US and Canada, participating in the 2019 G.T. 350 Tour. To keep things manageable, I decided to split the group in half and then send one group off about 20 minutes in advance of the second group each morning. Although I had my doubts about this type of a format, it seemed to work fairly well. This does require, however, that the route books -- the books that list the daily driving routes -- must be dead-on accurate; otherwise there would be Shelbys aimlessly roaming throughout the Ozarks!
We had a bit of fog at elevation, on day 1, as we snaked our way along a mountain ridge and down into Jasper, AR. Luckily, the sun eventually burned the fog off and our drive back to Ridgedale was superb.
I always attempt to find a few interesting stops along our Tour routes in order to break things up a bit. On the morning of day 2 of the Tour, we stopped for a tour of the Ranger Boat manufacturing plant in Flippin, AR. It was fascinating to see how the Ranger folks create the razzle-dazzle finishes that their boats have become known for. Unfortunately, photos were prohibited inside of the Ranger Boat plant.
Day 2 was followed by a “down day” on Wednesday, which allowed the Tour participants to enjoy the extensive facilities and activities that are available at Big Cedar Lodge.
For driving day 3 -- October 31 -- quite a few in the group donned some seriously creative Halloween costumes! (Note: This Halloween thing was NOT my idea, however, some of the G.T. 350 Tour “regulars” are genuine nut cases!)
We had a rather raucous dinner on Halloween evening. Awards were bestowed upon those wearing the most creative (or embarrassing?) costumes!
On Friday, our final day of driving, we drove quite a few curvy back roads on our way to Eureka Springs, AR. Following lunch in Eureka Springs, we drove the G.T. 350s across a few high Ozark Mountain ridges before heading down into Boxley Valley, along the Buffalo National River basin, and then back to Ridgedale where the 2019 G.T. 350 Tour concluded with our farewell banquet.
Here is a link to the photos:
Cheers,
Lee Cross
