Arkansas Pontiac Association

Just a reminder that the APA is going on its annual Poncho Power Tour this weekend, Nov 7 & 8. We'll meet at the Searcy Walmart parking lot at 8 am for the drive up to Hardy AR to check out the "Good Old Days Vintage Motorcar Museum" and have lunch. We'll then head over to Mountain View for the evening, staying in the Pinewood Cabins near the town square. We'll have dinner at Jo Jo's Catfish Warf, then settle back at the cabins to tell some lies. The next morning, we'll have some breakfast and then head out - possibly to Leslie AR for a stop at Serenity Farm Bread. Almost all the driving (except on 67) will be scenic, so bring your cameras.

It looks like the weather will be perfect too, so I'll probably take the GTO instead of the G8...it should be fun. If you would like to go, but haven't signed up, no problem. You'll have to get your own hotel reservation, but let me know so when we call ahead for lunch/dinner/breakfast reservations, we know how many. I also know a couple of folks will just go up on Sat, then return that night - a great idea if you have other things going on.

BTW, my avatar is from the last time we went to Mt. View!

We just made it in .
Thanks to everyone for putting up with me and making it a great time !

It was great to see everyone and talk cars And stuff sorry Ed I tend to go on and on about my boy and baseball.

I had just finished telling Tammy how much I enjoyed the drive today. Tony and Betty made sure we got some "spirited" driving in. Man, those Firehawks can sure get around a corner. Tammy's Solstice was fine in the turn but when they laid the hammer down the turbo just couldn't keep up.

Dewayne, you won the "rack the pipes" contest at Sonic. I hope to have my TA ready for cruising next year and give you some competition.

Of course I enjoyed seeing the old TA and GTO on the road. The modern stuff is impressive but nothing beats seeing the old iron swinging through those turns at speed. Brian's goat is freakin' impressive. Something to aspire to.

I'm sorry I didn't get to join up with the group until today. My other commitment could not be avoided. I'm already looking forward to next year.

LOL.... Where's my trophy !!!! LOL...
I have not felt so much like a kid as I did this weekend in a long time.
It was sure fun driving the TA. It handled the curves very well and I only got 4 or 5 demerits from my co-driver for recklessness.... Lets see the Burn out leaving Lunch on Saturday, not hugging the yellow line close enough on left handers 2 or 3 times.... running it out past 4000 rpm playing a little... turning out on the road Saturday evening... sorry for the Black fog of hydrocarbons..... and 1 for goosing it leaving the red light beside Dan and spinning the tires in traffic... I agreed that was not good form.... ...

I don't know how well the Grand National would have kept up this weekend it would have been pressing it I think...
Brian's GTO is a work or art imo.. the car looks great from any angle and it performs well in every way sounds great etc...
The new cars really are impressive technology has come a long way... Marks G8 GXP was great and that sucker hauls butt..
The Firehawk's really show the peak of Pontiac Firebird performance and style. The Soltices man those things look like fun... The feeling of being so part of the car must be unreal ! Hey and Ed's Reatta was carving the curves up pretty dang well too... very under estimated performance machine, neat car !

I know I talked Ed's Dan's, Tony's , and Brian's ear off about cars, baseball or both. I swear I am like a man staggering in out of the desert to an oasis, It really recharged my battery to go work on the car... you guys that are lucky enough to be close and able to attend most or all of the club functions I envy you this is a really great group of folks....

Till next year !

Next year my butt. Bring Justin and come up next weekend. Y'all can hang out Friday night at the CITR and get him to the coach on Saturday.

The Solstice is an incredible car. When the turbo spools, well, you know that feeling. They were "the choice" in showroom stock for the past couple of years with SCCA in autocross for good reason. Seeing that coupe flashing his lights at us today was pretty cool.

All I know is that I need that OD transmission, a suspension rebuild and some good wheels and tires before next year's drive.

I say we go south towards the Ouachita mountains next time.

I had a blast!!!! I think I missed the best part of getting to hang out with everyone that night! I bet that was FUN!!! I Had fun with the GXP and got to play a little but driving it in the curves almost made me sick... We need more trips! I will post my pics up sometime I hope they turned out good.

Oh! I need all pics from everyone for the newsletter/web site/and whatever else I can come up with. Bring me a CD, DVD, flash drive or whatever. Thanks!

well it sounds to me like Chris just volunteered to schedule next years poncho power tour!lol

With your help. Thanks for stepping up.

Really, there's not much to it. It's a lot of fun when you don't make too many plans and can wing it like we did all day today. Heck, we ran one leg that was great after a guy with a 2002 WS6 TA stopped to visit with us at the courthouse square in Heber Springs. He suggested a route that ran us down along the Little Red River and it was a super run.

We had a great time and thanks for the comments on the GTO...I just wish I could get the carb to behave in the morning...And I loved seeing all the cars - first, I was really surprised to see Van and Shirley Johnson in their gorgeous 66 GTO (he can hang very well in the corners with that BTW). Then, like Critter, I was shocked and pleased to see Dewayne and Denise show up in the T/A...coolest car there. Yup, Mark's G8 is fast and loud when he wants it to be. Tony was egging a couple of folks on, but I think he bit off a little too much with Mark's GXP. Ed was hanging in there with his bent 6 Buick - corners were no problem for him from my vantage points, and Betty was mostly hammer down! While David was hanging back on the highway, once Geoffrey and Shaun took the lead on their Goldwing, David was on their tail - and I mean they were leaving everyone in the twisties. Both Daniel & Brandy's and Tammy & Chris' Solstices were looking good and handling those curves better than I'll ever experience. Of course they don't take hitting deer guts well Linda S did a better job of hanging with the group this year and as always it was great seeing everyone. It was pretty cool running into members Russ and Kayla White in their 66 Star Chief Executive on the way through El Paso - Russ had just finished doing some work on the car so they took it out for a spin - great timing!

Here's a couple of pics...

You guys got pretty close.... that hurts.

Looks like a great time was had by all.... love the photos. Can't wait to see more.

We missed you Frankie! I'll get mine over to Chris this weekend and I'll put a few more on Photobucket.

Thanks for the nice words the TA was perfect for the drive and a real blast I think I actually went wee ! Sunday on tha t fast downhill sweeping section ! Car handeled well although another 10 mph might have started to show some scrub but it was fun driving as it was. I got a laundry list of things I want for the car now like new headers that tuck up better I scraped a lot on the bad roads and those speed bumps at the dam site. May go with manifolds if I dont find something I feel is much better. New sound deadning and get the qjet on the sucker 12 -13mpg sucked.

Brian and Mary Ann brought me a CD. The pics are now up. Go to the home page and follow the links. Thanks to the Rays for the coverage.