Cadillacs in Kansas: National Driving Tour Wrap Up August 27–31, 2024 Sunflower State Spectacle!

Well, the 2024 National Driving Tour is history. But you can still enjoy the fun when you visit our Facebook page. Your job is to post your snaps, comments, and videos on the event site so we can share the fun with the worldwide membership. Cadillacs in Kansas Facebook Page

By the numbers: 45 members and guests attended the National Driving Tour, 28 vehicles drove the routes, 20 were Cadillacs. The oldest car was a 1936 Caddy Convertible Sedan owned by Todd and Amber Tobiasz who drove the car from St. Louis.

Of course, there is nothing like the spectacle of 20 classic Cadillacs lining up in front of the host hotel on a cool Kansas morning waiting to embark on their daily adventures. Of course, the pretty parade quickly scatters like leaves in the Kansas wind only to regroup at each destination. And what a destination each day had in store for our group!

We knew it would be hot—and it was. With afternoon temps hovering just below 100 degrees, NDT participants descended 650 feet below the Kansas prairie to experience the constant 68-degree temps at the Strataca Salt mine museum. Here, in addition to salt mining, the miles-long tunnels house Hollywood films, costumes, and even medical records. Luckily we all surfaced unscathed, and feasted on our family style fried-chicken lunch at the Carriage Crossing Restaurant. Not content to burrow underground, our afternoon focused on space travel at Hutchinson’s Cosmosphere. Our guided tour focused on the space race, and early space travel.

Did I mention it was hot? After our tour participants were quite content to scurry back to the air-conditioned comfort of Wichita’s Drury Broadview, and enjoy some snacks and drinks at the ‘Kickbacks.”

Thursday’s drive to Salina was our longest of the week at 180 miles round trip. Here we visited the fabulous Garage Automotive Museum. Greeting guests as they arrive was a prominently displayed 1959 Cadillac convertible. Members were quick to alert museum staff the car was incorrectly identified as a 62-Series car. It was, in fact, a Biarritz. Several of our group enjoyed the venue so much they joined as members. One notable exhibit was NDT participant Col. John Hannon’s Chrysler 300 on loan to the museum. In addition to the Garage Automotive Museum, group members were invited to visit the beautiful car collections of brothers Richard and Roger Morrison. A delicious Italian buffet at Martinelli’s Little Italy kept us fueled for the afternoon.

Tour participants pose next to the ’59 Eldo.

On Friday we traded the hot temps for cloudy skies and spitting rain as we traveled to Marquette, home of the Kansas Motorcycle Museum. The municipality warmly welcomed our group who were immediately charmed by this quaint prairie village. In addition to the extensive collection of two wheelers, the town boasts antique shops, and a distillery which offered Cadillac-branded whiskey.

In Lindsborg we toured an historic 4-story flour mill, and strolled through the Swedish Heritage Museum. In the category of all things Swedish, The Crown and Rye restaurant served up a Swedish-style smorgasbord.

No trip to ‘Air Capital’ Wichita would be complete without a visit to the Kansas Aviation Museum. On our last day we strolled among many beautifully restored aircraft, including biplanes, in the Art Deco building. For our final luncheon together, we shared a fantastic BBQ meal provided by Wichita’s Station 8 BBQ. Central Plains Club Member Ross DeVore and his sons graciously set up, and served the meal at their warehouse, which also houses Ross’s unique Cadillac Collection which includes two Mirage pickups, and a Bi-Centennial Eldorado convertible. We also used this opportunity to present tour awards.

Many beautifully restored planes in the museum

We would like to thank our sponsors: Cadillac Parts & Restoration, and McVey’s Cadillac Parts. We’d also like to thank members of the Central Plains Region, Vice President of Meets and Tours Dave Rubin, and CLC Executive Vice President Jason Edge who all provided valuable assistance.

Cross your fingers, and start your engines.

Activities:

Wednesday August 28th: Drive 51 miles to Hutchison, KS:

Underground Salt Mine Museum
Lunch at Carriage Crossing Restaurant
Cosmosphere space history museum

Thursday August 28th: Drive 90 miles to Salina KS:

Visit “The Garage” custom and classic car collection
buffet lunch at Martinelli’s Little Italy
tour the Morrison collection after lunch. This collection is mainly Mercedes, Porsche and muscle cars in a nice personal collection setting a couple blocks from the Garage. Roger Morrison is one of the founders of “The Garage.”