You can finally mark your calendars: the seventh CATL Drive (aka the 2025 Edition) is on!
The first (2019) CATL ran from Rockford, IL to the old Pabst Brewery in Milwaukee and onto Racine, WI (for beers and car discussions with @70 Sport Suburban ) in September 2019, with a stop on Lake Michigan's western shore. The 2020 CATL ran from Rockford via St Charles, IL and Hammond, IN to the Indiana Dunes National Park, on Lake Michigan's southern shore. The 2021 CATL ran from a spot on Historic Route 66 in Dwight, IL to a much smaller body of water in Fox Lake, IL. The 2022 CATL, organized in collaboration with @david hill , ran from Clinton Lake, IL to Chrysler's Kokomo Plant in Indiana. The 2023 CATL, organized in collaboration with @furious70 and @SGVert , followed Route-66 from Chicago, IL to St Louis, MO (precisely, to East St Louis, IL). The 2024 CATL was a "hub-and-spoke" that ran from several states to the Studebaker Museum in South Bend, IN and was organized in collaboration with @fury fan and @david hill in IN and @MONC440 and @Omni in OH.
This year, the idea is to drive C-bodies from Central Illinois to the 9th C-Body Show in Rockford, IL. @fury fan @RWCearley and @david hill shall join me for departure at 1:30PM on Friday, Oct. 3 from the Clear Lake in Kaufman Park (Champaign, IL) -- so the "Lake" theme holds. The C-Body show will take place the next day (Saturday, Oct. 4, 2025).
Here are some details:
--> Date = Friday, Oct. 3: this year's CATL will start a couple of weeks later the usual 3rd Saturday of September, and run on a Friday rather than a Saturday, to coincide with the C-body show in Rockford, IL on Saturday (the C-body show itself is 3.5 months later than usual this year).
--> Type of event: This is not a stationary show -- the annual C-Body Shows have that corner of the "market" covered in spades. As in 2019-2024, the idea of a CATL is to drive C-bodies on nice roads and see the countryside. Along the way and at the end, of course, we park the cars/eat/shoot the breeze. The routes have always been chosen so that folks can join or depart along the way, and thus not commit to a full day if they do not wish to do so. This year will be similar, with three stops along the way.
--> Itinerary: We will start at the Clear Lake in Champaign, IL where I will meet up with @fury fan @david hill @RWCearley. They will have driven from Brownsburg, IN to Urbana-Champaign earlier on Friday, meeting up with me at the parking lot just off IL-10 in Champaign.
Here is a magnified plan of how to reach Clear Lake from I-74 coming from Indiana:
And here is where we will meet up (parking lot for photos along the lake) and leave at 1:30PM:
From there, the four of us will drive to Bloomington. We will take IL-10, turn right on Stanley, then turn left on IL-150 and continue on IL-150 to Leroy.
We will drive through Leroy to get on I-74:
That will enable us to loop around Bloomington and to meet up with @73 New Yorker at the Shell gas station just off I-74, located at 1902 W Market St. The meeting time is set for 3PM.
After we catch up and refill with 93 octane gas, we will head to the location of the C-body show in Rockford, IL. We will take I-74 to I-39, before getting back on smaller roads as we near Rockford (well after we cross the Illinois River near Peru, IL).
We should arrive at the C-body Show location in New Milford just south of Rockford, IL about 15 hours before the C-body Show, around 6PM:
Here is a partial list of members who may be close enough to join (apologies to those whom I am missing, please add your name!):
Illinois: @sixpkrt @71Polara383 @73 New Yorker @Xenon @BLIMP @70NEWYORKER @metaldad @MarPar @Wonderwagon @furious70 @Sport Fury 67 @Asleep at the Meal @furyusvip @B to C @70 Droptop @blue88 @haywire 440 @chilsam @moparblake @Shamu70 @Clutch Carnage@SGVert @Davews @The_Eagles’_Nest @Sport Fury 67 @B to C @St.John @tallhair @John Kelly @volaredon @AJC
(and also IL members who have not recently been active, such as @swartzed @Cbodies69-73 @Billy Bats @Chopperbob1 @drh4683 @Biggie @sgtmac1 @300E @Air Force Polara @Grizzly's Garage @Popslavaz @Brian Parrino @Ed Wagner @Skins69 @BUBBAZ488 @IAG @william @Dan Wolf @Jdlov @gkellm @plum360415 @The Captain @arkmorris @badvs3vil @Casey @gregory cotten @Georges77 @300Hconvert @Ram50V8 @BobbyJ67 @william @Steven E Hiatt @Skins69 @sgtmac1 etc.)
Indiana: @david hill @fury fan @traintech55 @Stoney 65 Fury @RWCearley @SportFury @j_anderson @jct @Steven Jones @familee @Rexer @atticusfinch95 etc.
(and also IN members who have not recently been active, such as @streetmachine @ksc @74newport @Jeremy Hunter @John Boy 434j @bigandtall @Patinad70Polara @Superlite1969 @Tizz78 @Penske3 @73Gold @74newport @Jeffrey Cowell @jlcowell etc.)
Michigan: @detmatt @amazinblue82 @DetroitBorn @Carmine @69PolaraSW @65 Sporty @customsportsman @Blusmbl @66l78rat @72DL41 @MONC440 @Moparmania
(and also MI members who have not recently been active, such as @tntnewport @frankthetank81 @Mikahthegreek etc.)
Ohio: @JJ300 @Zymurgy @Omni @imperialguy7175 @67newport @Dana
(and also OH members who have not recently been active, such as @MAGNUM77 @dude69300 @Stormer etc.)
Missouri: @Stanj @Imperialist @cruisinwithsusan @marty koirtyohann @Mingo @Grannys67 @Slap Stick etc.
Wisconsin: @70 Sport Suburban @JPMODL @Don Stolfi @Owen11x @69Polara383 @glennb49 @GOLDMYN @Pete Kaczmarski @loveshack etc.
Further afield: @King Hooter @Samplingman @polara71 @Cags70PolaraConvert @cantflip (and anyone else from further afield, who is interested and can make it)
The first (2019) CATL ran from Rockford, IL to the old Pabst Brewery in Milwaukee and onto Racine, WI (for beers and car discussions with @70 Sport Suburban ) in September 2019, with a stop on Lake Michigan's western shore. The 2020 CATL ran from Rockford via St Charles, IL and Hammond, IN to the Indiana Dunes National Park, on Lake Michigan's southern shore. The 2021 CATL ran from a spot on Historic Route 66 in Dwight, IL to a much smaller body of water in Fox Lake, IL. The 2022 CATL, organized in collaboration with @david hill , ran from Clinton Lake, IL to Chrysler's Kokomo Plant in Indiana. The 2023 CATL, organized in collaboration with @furious70 and @SGVert , followed Route-66 from Chicago, IL to St Louis, MO (precisely, to East St Louis, IL). The 2024 CATL was a "hub-and-spoke" that ran from several states to the Studebaker Museum in South Bend, IN and was organized in collaboration with @fury fan and @david hill in IN and @MONC440 and @Omni in OH.
This year, the idea is to drive C-bodies from Central Illinois to the 9th C-Body Show in Rockford, IL. @fury fan @RWCearley and @david hill shall join me for departure at 1:30PM on Friday, Oct. 3 from the Clear Lake in Kaufman Park (Champaign, IL) -- so the "Lake" theme holds. The C-Body show will take place the next day (Saturday, Oct. 4, 2025).
Here are some details:
--> Date = Friday, Oct. 3: this year's CATL will start a couple of weeks later the usual 3rd Saturday of September, and run on a Friday rather than a Saturday, to coincide with the C-body show in Rockford, IL on Saturday (the C-body show itself is 3.5 months later than usual this year).
--> Type of event: This is not a stationary show -- the annual C-Body Shows have that corner of the "market" covered in spades. As in 2019-2024, the idea of a CATL is to drive C-bodies on nice roads and see the countryside. Along the way and at the end, of course, we park the cars/eat/shoot the breeze. The routes have always been chosen so that folks can join or depart along the way, and thus not commit to a full day if they do not wish to do so. This year will be similar, with three stops along the way.
--> Itinerary: We will start at the Clear Lake in Champaign, IL where I will meet up with @fury fan @david hill @RWCearley. They will have driven from Brownsburg, IN to Urbana-Champaign earlier on Friday, meeting up with me at the parking lot just off IL-10 in Champaign.
Here is a magnified plan of how to reach Clear Lake from I-74 coming from Indiana:
And here is where we will meet up (parking lot for photos along the lake) and leave at 1:30PM:
From there, the four of us will drive to Bloomington. We will take IL-10, turn right on Stanley, then turn left on IL-150 and continue on IL-150 to Leroy.
We will drive through Leroy to get on I-74:
That will enable us to loop around Bloomington and to meet up with @73 New Yorker at the Shell gas station just off I-74, located at 1902 W Market St. The meeting time is set for 3PM.
After we catch up and refill with 93 octane gas, we will head to the location of the C-body show in Rockford, IL. We will take I-74 to I-39, before getting back on smaller roads as we near Rockford (well after we cross the Illinois River near Peru, IL).
We should arrive at the C-body Show location in New Milford just south of Rockford, IL about 15 hours before the C-body Show, around 6PM:
Here is a partial list of members who may be close enough to join (apologies to those whom I am missing, please add your name!):
Illinois: @sixpkrt @71Polara383 @73 New Yorker @Xenon @BLIMP @70NEWYORKER @metaldad @MarPar @Wonderwagon @furious70 @Sport Fury 67 @Asleep at the Meal @furyusvip @B to C @70 Droptop @blue88 @haywire 440 @chilsam @moparblake @Shamu70 @Clutch Carnage@SGVert @Davews @The_Eagles’_Nest @Sport Fury 67 @B to C @St.John @tallhair @John Kelly @volaredon @AJC
(and also IL members who have not recently been active, such as @swartzed @Cbodies69-73 @Billy Bats @Chopperbob1 @drh4683 @Biggie @sgtmac1 @300E @Air Force Polara @Grizzly's Garage @Popslavaz @Brian Parrino @Ed Wagner @Skins69 @BUBBAZ488 @IAG @william @Dan Wolf @Jdlov @gkellm @plum360415 @The Captain @arkmorris @badvs3vil @Casey @gregory cotten @Georges77 @300Hconvert @Ram50V8 @BobbyJ67 @william @Steven E Hiatt @Skins69 @sgtmac1 etc.)
Indiana: @david hill @fury fan @traintech55 @Stoney 65 Fury @RWCearley @SportFury @j_anderson @jct @Steven Jones @familee @Rexer @atticusfinch95 etc.
(and also IN members who have not recently been active, such as @streetmachine @ksc @74newport @Jeremy Hunter @John Boy 434j @bigandtall @Patinad70Polara @Superlite1969 @Tizz78 @Penske3 @73Gold @74newport @Jeffrey Cowell @jlcowell etc.)
Michigan: @detmatt @amazinblue82 @DetroitBorn @Carmine @69PolaraSW @65 Sporty @customsportsman @Blusmbl @66l78rat @72DL41 @MONC440 @Moparmania
(and also MI members who have not recently been active, such as @tntnewport @frankthetank81 @Mikahthegreek etc.)
Ohio: @JJ300 @Zymurgy @Omni @imperialguy7175 @67newport @Dana
(and also OH members who have not recently been active, such as @MAGNUM77 @dude69300 @Stormer etc.)
Missouri: @Stanj @Imperialist @cruisinwithsusan @marty koirtyohann @Mingo @Grannys67 @Slap Stick etc.
Wisconsin: @70 Sport Suburban @JPMODL @Don Stolfi @Owen11x @69Polara383 @glennb49 @GOLDMYN @Pete Kaczmarski @loveshack etc.
Further afield: @King Hooter @Samplingman @polara71 @Cags70PolaraConvert @cantflip (and anyone else from further afield, who is interested and can make it)
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