Tom and Diane O’Toole joined us again this year for the cruise up to Ohio. The husband and wife team head up Star Coach, which is located 92 miles northeast of Atlanta. Star Coarch began in 1979 in the custom van market, adding SUVs to their line 6 years later. They like to stay on the leading edge of the niche vehicle market. Last year they brought a supercharged Dodge Durango along, but a real treat this year was a PT Cruiser that had received a Star Coach makeover. Tom feels the design of the PT Cruiser is great. “With the design, they’ve taken parts of the '39 Ford, '35 Oldsmobile and '37 Chevrolet and put it all into one glistening, good-looking vehicle”. Tom’s company has taken the PT Cruiser to the next level. For the exterior, Star Coach offers front fascias, side skirts, rear bumper covers and even exhaust systems. For you guys with a heavy foot, a turbo kit is in the works which should bring another 60 to 75 more horsepower. Tom didn’t leave out the interior. His company offers carbon-fiber-dipped LCD screens that fold down from the ceiling, along with other custom interior touches. The Star Coach PT Cruiser is one truly beautiful vehicle. The leather interior is stock on the Limited model, but the little details Tom added really brought the package together. With a base price of a PT Cruiser at only $16,000, there is still room in the budget for custom touches. I was able to spend some time with Tom and Diane over the course of the Nats and they never ceased to surprise me. At one point we were trying to get into our hotel, but the police had blocked off the entrance with cones. I jumped out of the Toyo truck to ask a police officer to move the cones for us. No sooner had I distracted the officer than Tom jumped into action. He grabbed up the cones and waved the truck in. I just smiled at the cop while shrugging my shoulders. I ran into Tom a few weeks after the Nats at a local car show. He not only recognized me, but he even invited me up for a tour of his company. I sure hope Tom and Diane make the trek to the Nats with us again next year, it wouldn’t be the same without them.