Antique autos cruising into Madison for Founders Tour
This 1949 Hudson convertible, owned by Randy and Nell Owen, and 1958 Edsel, owned by Terry Owen, are examples of the types of cars that the Antique Automobile Club of America will have at its Founders Tour in Madison in May. (CONTRIBUTED)
MADISON – Vintage vehicles will roll proudly down streets in Madison when an area car club holds an anniversary tour.
The North Alabama region of the Antique Automobile Club of America will host the club’s 25th Founders Tour in Madison on May 5-10. The Radisson Inn at 8721 Madison Blvd. will serve as meeting headquarters.
“For this year’s tour, the club has limited the tour to 100 cars built from 1932 to 1988,” club spokesperson Nell Owen said. “Many of the cars will be driven to Madison from across the United States.”
Owen said the Founders Tour will be reminiscent of the Glidden Tour that the North Alabama region hosted in Madison in 2003. The Glidden Tour included more than 200 cars.
Individuals who enter the tour will receive detailed directions each day from the Radisson Inn to sites and attractions in North Alabama and South Tennessee.
Organizers are suggesting entrants to visit Cathedral Caverns; Jack Daniel Distillery; Beechcraft Heritage Museum; Alabama Robotics Technology Park at Calhoun Community College; Ivy Green, birthplace of Helen Keller; Tennessee Valley Authority facilities; Ave Maria Grotto; Huntsville Veterans Museum; and Huntsville Botanical Garden.
The Founders Tour will open on May 5 in the Mars Room at the U.S. Space and Rocket Center and will close with an awards banquet on May 10 in the Davidson Center for Space Exploration.
“On the evening of May 9, many of the vintage autos will form a ‘gaslight’ parade as they wind their way through the streets of Madison to a home on Capshaw Road for an ice cream social,” Owen said.
“We hope many of the area residents will take advantage of the antique vehicles being in the area to see them up close and ask questions regarding the cars,” Owen said.
For more information, call tour chairman Dr. Bob Bentley at 256-828-4226 or 256-361-5782 or Julia King at 256-534-0429.
