Hundreds of hot rods stop in the suburbs

Thousands of classic cars descended on the Northwest suburbs Sunday, June 7, while participating in the 21st annual Hot Rod Power Tour.

The weeklong motoring celebration kicked off Saturday in Madison, Wisconsin, and is caravanning the next six days down to Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

While passing through the Chicago area, many took a detour to Heidts Automotive in Lake Zurich. Heidts, a maker of suspension and chassis parts for hot rods and muscle cars, served as the tour's first official hospitality stop.

Heidts' staff offered tours of the company's massive shop, manufacturing facilities and customer service department and provided lunch for the hungry motorists. Every hour, hundreds of vintage machines poured into the surrounding parking lots, making for one large and ever-changing car show as drivers arrived and departed.

All kinds of vehicles are being driven on the power tour, including muscle cars, vintage trucks, rat rods, street rods, modern performance cars and everything in between. Participants hailed from around the country with license plates bearing such states as Colorado, California; British Columbia, Canada; Texas, Minnesota and Idaho. The massive rolling party moves on to the Gateway Motorsports Park Monday in downstate Madison.