VMCCA celebrates its 75th year with array of national tours

The Veteran Motor Car Club of America calls itself “The Touring Club,” providing interesting driving tours for its members and their originally equipped old cars. This year, there are six national tours planned exploring different parts of the country. The VMCCA recognizes all old cars 25 years old or older – but many of the tours are specialized for different eras.

The 2013 touring season starts with the Chrome Glidden Tour® in Boerne, Texas, on April 21-26. This tour is aimed at newer cars (1936 and up) and will feature the Texas Hill Country at the peak of wildflower season. Stops include downtown Luckenbach and the famous LBJ Western White House.

On May 19-24 there is a Heritage Tour in Tiffin, Ohio, for cars older than 1950. Heritage tours focus on historical themes – in this case the Teapot Dome scandal and the presidencies of Warren G. Harding and Rutherford B. Hayes. Visits to presidential libraries are included with many other points of interest in north central Ohio.

June 9-16 finds an Eastern Nickel Tour in Alexandria Bay, N.Y., well north of Syracuse near the Canadian border. This tour, nicknamed The Bootlegger Patrol, is for cars older than 1935. Drives into Canada are included. Expect to see plenty of aquatic attractions and miles of obscure rural roads favored by rum runners of the past.

The annual One and Two Cylinder Tour putt-putts around Marion, Ohio, June 23-28. This tour is also open to antique steam and electric cars and pre-1904 four cylinder cars. Naturally, the tour’s terrain and distances are aimed at keeping these ancient mechanical marvels and their passengers cool and comfortable.

From Aug. 4-9, the VMCCA moves west to Idaho Falls, Idaho, for their Western National Tour. Enjoy great western mountains and plains punctuated by the Grand Tetons and Snake River. This tour is open to all old cars 25 years or older.

The touring year ends in Chattanooga, Tenn., on Sept. 8-13 with the 68th annual AAA Glidden Tour®, co-hosted with the Antique Automobile Club of America (AACA). This is our premier driving tour for pre-war cars. Expect hundreds of miles of beautiful roads to share with lots of unusual old cars and their passengers.

Details and applications for all these tours can be found at www.vmcca.org. Just click on the Upcoming Tour and Event link.

Some of the tours have entry limits, so enter early. Tours are designed to fit the capabilities of the cars involved, they are not endurance tests. But most VMCCA tourists find the drives challenging. The best fun is meeting new friends while learning more about your car and country.