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They rumbled, they roared and they took up Main Street in Viroqua for more than an hour, Friday.
The Hot Rod Power Tour made its way through Viroqua around noon. Some people sat in lawn chairs and watched the muscle cars pass, just like a parade. Other people complained that it was impossible to cross Main Street.
Organizers estimated the tour included up to 4,000 collectible and vintage automobiles. Among them was Donald Atkinson, 60, of Onalaska who drove his 1957 Chevrolet two-door sport coupe.
“It’s a true hot rod,” he said.
While he always has loved cars, Atkinson had given up restoring them — until five years ago — to devote his energies to running his custom metal stamping company, Venture Machine & Tool Inc.
“I thought it was time to get back to my hobby,” he said.
It was the first Power Tour he joined, he said, looking forward to the size of the tour.
“It’s going to blow people’s minds when it comes through here,” Atkinson said.
And it did blow people’s minds as the heavy metal parade made its way up Main Street. Several cars stoped near Western Technical College in Viroqua. Some on the tour stopped at businesses.
This year’s tour began in Little Rock, Ark., and continued more than 1,400 miles, through seven cities. It ended in Madison on Friday.
Bruce Miller, publisher of Hot Rod magazine, the tour’s sponsor, said more than 70,000 spectators viewed the tour.
“People build their vacations around the Power Tour,” Miller said.
Drivers come from all over the world, he said, but there are essentially three types who participate. Locals who come out for the day, other drivers — such as Atkinson — who do two or three legs of the tour and those who drive the entire distance. They’re called “long haulers,” Miller said.
“They’re so passionate,” he said. “People build cars to go on the Power Tour.”
Bill Bauman, 56, of La Crosse joined the tour starting in Ames, Iowa.
“I’ve been aware they’ve been doing this for years, and I’ve always wanted to do it,” Bauman said. “This year, I thought I better do it. You can’t get much closer to home than this.”
Bauman drove his 1969 Camaro SS convertible. He said he wanted it to look vintage but perform as well as a current car.
“It’s pretty stock looking,” he said, “but all the running gear and suspension are current technology.”
Although they don’t know one another, Bauman was just the kind of person Atkinson expected to meet on the tour.
“You can hardly find a bigger cross-section of people who love cars,” Atkinson said. “Everybody’s got that in common.”
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