ididit to host hot rods, muscle cars at Friday show

Tecumseh has become a destination for auto enthusiasts, whether they come to show off their rides or merely to look. To start with, there is the monthly Classic Car, Bike, and Bicycle Show, which takes place this Thursday and every third Thursday of the summer downtown, and then there is ididit, Inc., on South Maumee Street, which attracts a host of auto aficionados to its annual show in October. Last October’s silver anniversary filled South Maumee Street with classic autos and oglers. About 500 classic and customized cars showed up for that event.And now, hot rod and muscle car enthusiasts will have another opportunity to sate their hunger for Detroit steel this Friday, June 22, when the participants of the promotional tour for Flint’s Eighth Annual Back to the Bricks Car Show rumble into town to visit Tecumseh and ididit. Most of the caravan will be arriving in Tecumseh between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m.Aileen England is the chairperson for the 2012 Back to the Bricks Promotional Tour and has been involved with the two previous tours. She said that the first tour attracted 25 cars and last year’s drew 170 cars.Megan Lundsford, ididit’s marketing director, expects a crowd on Friday. “We’re the last stop on a tour that is traveling around mid and southern Michigan to promote the “Bricks” car show,” she said. “We’re excited to be included on the circuit and we’re looking forward to hosting the cars.”Marty Waterstraut, ididit’s sales manager, said that ididit is preparing for the onslaught. “We have a small staff, but we look forward to giving tours of ididit to the drivers for the “Back to the Bricks” show,” he said. “It’s a big tour and they are trying to drum up support for the actual Flint car show that will be August 14 through 18 in various locations in downtown Flint. We’re happy to show them around our facility, just as we would any other local group who would like to see what we do.”The stop at ididit underscores the esteem that hot rodders and car restorers of America have for the local factory, a reputation to which many residents may be oblivious. ididit manufactures steering columns to customer’s specifications, which is important to restorers because many of the modifications that they make to their automobiles preclude the use of the original car maker’s steering columns.The Back to the Bricks Tour began last Friday, June 15, in Flint and the circuit included Durand, Mt. Pleasant, Grayling, Traverse City, Boyne City, Cadillac, Grand Rapids, Kalamazoo, and Sturgis. Tecumseh is the last stop before the cars head back to Flint’s Sloan Museum Auto Fair. The tour stays overnight at some cities and makes stops to take in the sights or visit significant automobile-associated businesses like ididit in other cities along the route. A television camera crew from ABC affiliate channel 12 will be traveling with the tour and documenting the stops for possible broadcast.City Manager Kevin Welch said he is pleased that Tecumseh was selected by the Back to the Bricks Tour as part of the tour. “The credit for the tour coming here really goes to Ken and Jane [Callison] of ididit,” Welch said. “I would like to think that part of the reason we’re on the tour is that we are such a cool city, but, really, the tour is coming here because of ididit.” Welch said that the city will be providing a few amenities for the drivers, like coolers stocked with bottled water and information about local restaurants and businesses.The classic car tour is billed as promotional because the main event will be the actual “Back to the Bricks” car show in Flint, which will include hundreds of classic, collectible, and cruiser cars. In addition there will be entertainment, food, dances, and swap meets.