(Photos by Cole Reynolds) Because they change the route and meeting places each year, we don’t know where the 2019 Tour de’ Orange will be held exactly, but if we’re in town we will most certainly be a part of it. We had a great time, shot some cool photos, and saw some really cool rides doing what they are supposed to. After all, no matter what the value, a car is most at home on the road they were intended for which is exactly where they all were during the Tour de’ Orange. Vintage imports and domestics, exotics, sports cars, muscle cars, and some really cool imports, all shared the road with us in Cole’s 2005 GMC. But we weren’t the only truck, there were a few more cruising along with us and having fun too.
The cruise route was great, and had us cruising from Aliso Viejo over to Pacific Coast Highway and then up the coast through Laguna Beach and then up near Newport Beach. There we turned inland and ultimately ended up on a great road through some of the foothills which was great. Here is the entire story and our next gallery of photos. If you missed the first one, click the link below.
For the past few years, on New Year’s Day morning, a group of folks have been putting on a cruise through Orange County here in SoCal that has become known as Tour de’ Orange and this year Cole and I decided that we were going to get up with the chickens and head down there for the trip. Well it turns out there were hundreds of cars on hand and we couldn’t believe the variety of cars on hand. One of the cool things about this event, that I found a bit annoying at the time, is the fact that until a day or two before the event they don’t even announce the location for meeting. I think this is because they don’t want to be hassled by cops, permits, etc, although I have to say this was a VERY well behaved group of people participating in the cruise. We didn’t see a single burnout, and most people seemed to be honoring the spirit of the speed limit at least. Ultimately not getting the location until right before turned out to be kind of cool.
So after getting the address for the meet, and being told that the route would be handed out on site at around 8 am with an 8:30 am departure, we decided we would need to leave the house around 6:30 am. We hit the road, drove to the hour or so to Aliso Viejo, and had a gourmet breakfast of Del Taco before heading over to check out all the cars on hand. It was incredibly foggy on our way to the meet, and a little chilly. It was typical SoCal hoodie weather and was very damp and overcast. There were hundreds of cars in the parking lot, and they ranged from new to old, domestic to import, and everything in between. There were Lambos, McLarens, Corvettes, Mustangs, Camaros, Imports of all kinds new and old, and some familiar Pro Touring machines from the area including Matt Alcala in his cool Mustang, Steven Rupp in his Chevelle Wagon, and several others. While I shot photos of all the parked cars, Cole and I figured out a game plan for him to shoot all the on-road action while I drove his truck. We left near the front of the pack, drove slow, used the center dividers and shoulders to our advantage, and Cole got his hang out the window on to grab some cool shots.
We had a great time cruising along, enjoying a REALLY nice route that had us going up the coast through Laguna Beach and then inland through the hills of Orange County as well. This was a fun morning for sure. The total route was only 70 miles long, but took us a couple hours as it was all city streets and the like. We definitely put on a spectacle and Cole and I got tons of photos of all of it.
