It was a beautiful Saturday in late September, the 22nd to be precise, and the Tigers Prowled.

The event was the 10th Annual South Central Tiger Prowl put on by the GTO Association of N. TX. This is an all Pontiac Car Show that once again brought out some of the best Pontiacs the area has to offer. The site was the Bass Pro Shop in Grapevine as it has been for the past several years, a good venue in a central location within the Metroplex.

As always, the GTO Assoc. of N. TX put on a great show with proceeds benefiting the MD Anderson Cancer Center. The show field consisted of about 65 cars, most of which are pictured below. DAPA Members that were in attendance included Don Fenton, Shawn Wheeler, Bob Cook, Brian Donahue, Mark Waterman, Larry Rawlings, Phil Madden, Randy Allen, John Darling, Colleen Darling, John Oliver, Deanne Wagner and Tony Ricci. Hope we didn’t forget anyone, but probably did.

Click a picture to see a larger view.

July 10-14, 2007
By Rob Bender

McKinney , TX to Tulsa . This caravan included Don and Stephanie Fenton, Larry Rawlings, Brian Donahue , his buddy Rick Theissen, Jim Kerbel, son, Jake Kerbel , James Morris, and yeah, I was there. On the way up we were joined by George Reaves en route, and later in Tulsa met up with Lee Green and daughter Jennifer, Shawn and E.J. Wheeler, Randy Allen, Bryan Liptoi and John and Dawn Wolf.

Already on the scene in Tulsa were Bob and Linda Cook, Mark and Lynn Waterman, Ross and Dorothy Clegg, Tommy and Judy Rivers, John and Colleen Darling, Robert Kern, Marty and Paul Parker and Shawn Patterson.

This event was well put together. POCI, in working with the Oklahoma Tourism Board, had blocked off several square blocks of downtown Tulsa for the convention. There were city parking lots reserved for in and out POCI member parking, the Swap Meet in another lot and a display by Pontiac that included the Solstice GXP and yet to be released G8. Trailer parking was available a few blocks away and POCI rented vans for shuttle service. Even a couple of hoses were set up in one of the trailer lots to hand wash your car.

The weather cooperated on the days that counted, including race day and show day. It rained part of Thursday, but there were a couple of seminars to choose from, as well as several vendor booths and displays to keep us occupied. The day at the track, Friday, the 13th was hampered by rain early on, but the track was dried and ready to go by late morning. The only affect Friday the 13th had on us was it hexed our times in the bracket racing – at least that’s the story we’re sticking to. By late afternoon, all of us “he men” were sitting around staring at each other while we watched Jennifer Green go round after bracket round making it all the way to the Finals. Shawn Patterson also hung in there and made it to the Finals in the “Dirty Bird”.

The Popular Vote Car Show day was Saturday, and it turned to be a perfect day with the weather sunny and warm. There was also a Points Judged Car Show on Friday. I understood there were 360 cars in the Saturday show field which stretched for several blocks. All cars were in specific classes and positioned accordingly. For example, not only the GTO’s would be lined up together, the 1965 GTO’s lined the better side of one street! You can’t forget the beautiful vintage Oaklands which were set under a row of trees. And it was the 30th Anniversary of the Can Am; they of course were grouped in a prestigious location.

POCI had indeed put on a great event. We were fortunate to have it held close to Dallas in 2007 allowing a fair contingent of DAPA members to participate.