Hot Rods ROAD TRIPS IN A HOT ROD OR CUSTOM

Our road trip on Route 15 and 340 Md. Whites Ferry, Gettysburg,York Springs,

 

Friday we drove the coupe a couple hundred miles southeast to Canadian, Texas to their first annual car show. Spent the night with friends, then saturday went to the car show. Drove home after it was over. We had a great time, but sorry ,no pics. The car is the avatar.

 

Sorry ,You don't want to ask me about my Grandkids ha ha

 

Ron, road trips are memories that kids will carry with them all their life's. Back in the 70's I took a month off from work and loaded up my kids and all my nieces and nephews in an old moter home and took them on a tour of the united states, They are in their 40s and 50s now and they still talk about it.

 

We have logged thousands of miles in hot rods,many were daily driven and we spent a lot of summer months traveling to and from show,events and rod runs.

Driving the old hot rod on a get away that has nothing to do with car shows just a average vacation ~HRP
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I believe the sons of the South would be proud of the lad in grey,but the lass wearing the union kapi is a sweetheart.HRP

 

We just got back from a 3000 mile trip in the '46. Drove to the Bayou Round Up from Minnesota, then over to central Texas to visit some old friends for a few days, then jumped on US 81 and headed north to Sioux Falls, S.D. to deliver some Lone Star Long Necks to a couple of Buddies. Why have 'em if ya don't drive 'em!! Trailers are for Boats, Air Bags are for Peterbilts, just say'n!

 

Driving our 58 Delray from Atlanta Ga to New Orleans first week of December....

 

Mrs. Stu D Baker and I just returned from Quincy, Il this past weekend (300 miles each way). Beautiful weather and the trees were starting to color up.

Quincy, Il 2016 004 by Stu D Baker posted Oct 17, 2016 at 6:15 PM

 

A couple of years ago me and the wife drove up to Maggie Valley, and spent a couple of days. We went up the old road, avoiding the interstate. Kind of got turned around in Asheville with all the one way streeets, and had to get on 40 for a few miles until I could figure out how to get back on 19.(No GPS) I have since learned how to get there by going through Hendersonville and just bypassing Asheville altogether. It was mostly an OK trip, even though we lost reverse, just had to pay attention and leave myself a way out. The closest hiccup was when we went to see the Elk, and the traffic all had to turn around meet on the single lane dirt road, I hadnt planned for that.
I drove it to Myrtle Beach, too, down the back road, but that doesnt really count, I was headed to Run to the Sun.

 

Very interesting reading in this thread. When I first got my Safari in February of 1994 the guy I had purchased it from said he had only driven it about 600 miles. I put that on it the first week I owned the car;at least it was about that as the speedometer was inoperative at the time and stayed that way fro about 6 months.
For the first few years I drove it year round;only leaving it at home when it snowed as I had no snow tires for it. We did get caught in a couple of snowstorms;one in the mountains of upstate New York in October and that was interesting to say the least. Drove almost a hundred miles in the storm and didn't see more than a half dozen cars the whole time. Stopped in Moscow and there was about 4 inches of snow on the surfboard and water skis on the roof.
Since then I have logged just slightly over 180,000 miles on it and been to a bunch of states. For many years we made the annual trek from Michigan to Massachusetts to see friends and family and hit the Ty-Rods show. Wasn't unusual to log about 2500 to 3000 miles in a two week period doing that. Loved going through the Green Mountains in Vermont in the fall. You just have to be a little careful as there are still roads up there that do not have guard rails. I still have relatives there and always enjoyed visiting.
Considering the number of miles I have logged,I have had surprisingly few problems. A generator incinerated itself one year; the rear universal joint loosened up and lost a couple of bolts another;the radiator plugged up and overheated the car and I wound up cleaning it out with Liquid Plumber at my aunt's house in New York because they don't allow radiator shops to clean radiators anymore.I blew a set of air shocks another time and had a brake spring retainer fall off and jam in the brake drum. All in all I've been pretty fortunate.
Here is a pic taken at the Ty-Rods show one year by my good friend Dennis O'Brien.

 

I dragged a 52 Plymouth out of the bush. In 80 days rebuilt it and my wife and I drove from central British Columbia to all over western Mexico, we stopped in Tijuana and had the interior done. first trip was 3 months long and again last winter for 4 months. 2 trips 22000 miles. the car has a 230 Chevy and Saginaw 3 speed with a Ford 8 inch. Here is a link to this journey http://www.canadianrodder.com/forum/showthread.php?t=17525

 

Lynda and I recently completed two of the Street Rodder tours led by Jerry Dixie and his wife Mary Ann. Tour #1 was the Shades of the Past tour from Nashville to Pigeon Forge with several day tours included. Tour #2 was the Dynamat tour from Pigeon Forge up through Ohio Pensilvania and New York en route to Burlington VT. Unfortunately, we had to leave the tour at Utica NY, due to previous commitments. Had a great time, toured numerous shops and both private and public collections. Put over 3000 trouble free miles on the nailhead powered 51 Meteor coupe. If you are looking for a good time touring in your H A M B friendly car or light truck, check out the Street Rodder Tours

 

My wife and i have always been up for road trip. A couple of weeks after our first road trip in our first hot rod, about 1995, we got hooked up with a car club. That Car Club were all about road trips, but we lived 90 miles from their central location. Every week, they would go for a cruise someplace, so we would drive the 90 miles to them, go on the road cruise, then drive the 90 miles back home. It wasn't unusual to put on 500 miles in a weekend! The club had an honor patch for anyone that drove 10,000 miles a year in your hot rod. to qualify, you signed up at the season opener, and they recorded your mileage, then at the season closer, they checked your odometer again. For 5 years in a row, I received a patch for driving more then 10,000 miles in a season. 4 of those seasons, my mileage was over 13,000 miles! We did road trips! I was self employed, those road trips were primarily weekends and 3 or 4 day weekends. Things slowed down when gas hit $4 a gallon, but we still managed a few weekend cruises before things got real tight money wise.

We had a few years without a road (and gas) friendly hot rod. When i built the 48, I was determined to have something we could jump in and go, and wouldn't kill me at the pump. I pretty content to say that I have achieved that goal.

On sat morning of Memorial Day Weekend, 2016, my wife and I went on our first 2 week vacation in 25 years! We took the coupe. The destination was CO and the Black Hills of SD. My wife has a brother that lives in Loveland CO. Our trip was designed to stay off the Interstate as much as possible. We intended to limit our travel to 250 miles a day, at most. If there was something we wanted to see along the way, we were stopping. We got up when we got up, ate breakfast, fill the gas tank and filled the cooler with ice, and headed out. About noon, we decided where we would spend the night, so my wife did a motel search on her smart phone, located and reserved a room, and when we got there we were done for the day, usually around 3pm. while in CO, we did the tourist thing, drove into the Rockies, did some shopping and cruising around. After 3 days, we hit the only interstate we saw, up into WY, then spent the night at Hot Springs SD. We did Mt Rushmore, Crazy Horse, and a lot of very cool scenic driving, and spent the night in New Castle WY. That was only about 200 miles, but by far the longest travel day of our trip. The speed limit through the Black hills is 35 mph, and most of the time, you didn't get that fast..
We had to return to CO to attend a funeral. Then we headed home, but had to up our travel plans to about 300 miles a day.
It was a great trip. We talked with people at nearly every stop for food, gas, or whatever. I'll be there were pictures of our car all over Facebook. While we were driving, people were always taking our picture. We ended up at 3402 miles, my driveway to my driveway. Less then 200 miles of that was on the Interstate, between Loveland CO and Cheyenne WY, both ways. The car got 21.8 over the whole trip, and i had to add a quart of oil when I got home.

 

The wagon is loaded up for a short 90 mile road trip to a family reunion..

BTW,fall finally arrive here in the Sunny South. HRP

 

In 1955, when I was 18 years old, "10 ft. tall and bulletproof", I drove a 1930 "A" roadster with a warmed over banger and otherwise stock running gear and brakes, etc. no top or heater 1500 miles from Odessa, TX to here in Griffin, GA in November.
Now, in my Hiboy '31 "BGII", if I drive it much over 100 miles and then return the same day, I'm exhausted! I very much enjoy driving it on rural roads, 2 lane or 4, but if my trip gets too close to Atlanta I'm "nervous as a long tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs", especially on the Xways.
I don't much like the Xways in my '40 coupe either, but it does have the things that make inclement weather not so much a problem, what with H&AC, etc.
Have bought a "travel mobility scooter" that breaks down into 5 pieces, none over 30#, that will fit in the trunk of the '40 easily, so hopefully I'll be able to attend some events I've avoided because of the walking, which I can't do for any extended time or distance.
Wanted to make Dawsonville and Moonshine festival this year, but it's too close to RWYB @ Reynolds, GA @ Silver Dollar Raceway for me to make both. Maybe next year they won't be so close together.
But anyway, I love driving my hot rods when I can.

 

We did the goodguys road tour.
Connecticut to Illinois, meet goodguys. Tour, to texas, then back to Ct
13 days 18 states 4800 miles
Great time!!

 

We have a friend here in Denver that has driven his STOCK '39 Ford standard coupe, with a V8-60 and Columbia rear, through all 48 lower states. He regularly goes on trips of 5000 or more miles. If you have ever driven over some of the more than 11,000 ft high mountain passes here in Colorado, can you imagine doing it with a V8-60?

 

Like Ralph Waldo Emerson said “Life is a journey, not a destination.” In most cases there is usually a car event tied into my travels, although I have gone on week long drives with no destination in mind. One day HRP, I am going to make it to the Carolina's. I have covered all of the west side of the US, and all of Canada, so now it must be time to head on over to the right coast. Whenever I can, I stay off the interstates and stick to the secondary highways. There is more to see, and you get to drive through towns and cities instead of around or over them. A couple of my journey's are documented here on the HAMB for your reading entertainment. Check the links in my signature.
So I leave you with another of my favorite quotes from J.R.R Tolkien, "Not all those who wander are lost". Get out there and drive, you never know who you are going to meet, what you are going to discover, or where you are going to end up.

A great sign and message from one of my trips.

 

Just did 1 yesterday, got a hankerin for a "Onion Burger"
Best I've ever had was 100 miles north of me, so what the hell. Hop in the roadster and off I go. Had the burger, then drove over to Fort El Reno ( a circa 1880's) military base

 

With some friends on the way back to CA from Northwest Deuce Days in Victoria BC

 

Went for a ride on the Blue Ridge Parkway last weekend with some friends.

 

The Blue Ridge Parkway and it's Northern extension, the Skyline Drive is one of the most beautiful drives on the Eastern half of this country of beautiful drives. I've driven every inch of both at one time and additional portions again at others. I'd like to do it again once more in my '40 coupe while I'm still able.
Now while leaves are turning is the most scenic by far, but I'm not sure I want to put up with the hordes of people up there now.
Maybe next year in the Spring.

 

Driving my 55 sunliner back down to Daytona next month,I hope to some day take it on a leisurely trip out west for a few weeks.

 

I'm jealous of you guys. Both my fiance and I are attorneys in 2 lawyer firms, which means when we're not here in the office, there's nobody there to do our work. It makes it virtually impossible to take a vacation, though we told ourselves we will take a nice vacation as a honeymoon before we return to the shitshow that will be our office.

I almost always have a car-related destination, which has a lot to do with my car having needed some mechanical TLC for the past few years that keeps getting deferred by purchases of homes and other expenses of both money and time. I just drove out to Westminster, MD for Jalopyrama, which was a fun 3 hour drive each way. If I can tackle my punch list of maintenance and upgrades on the car, next year I'd like to get to the Lone Star Roundup or Norwell's show north of Toronto.

 

Cool thread! I enjoy the stories of the journeys.

 

Some more of the return from the Northwest Deuce Days . A stop at the World of Speed museum in Oregon , And the Spruce Goose exhibit also in Oregon .

 

Any one here going on the Streetrodder Road Tour #3 Speedway Motors to Louisville, Ky? I will be leaving Burleson, Tx on Thursday, the 27th headed to Lincoln, Ne to meet up with Dave Cahal's group coming from the West.
We are going to the NSRA Nats in Louisville, Ky, then Tour #4 dropping down to Bowling Green, Ky for the Tri-Five Nats. Then heading for Tunica, MS to win a little gas money, then back home to Texas.
I'll be driving this 34 Plymouth:

 

30 years of riding motorcycles without a destination has evolved into my car world as well. Most of our drives now are intended to bring us to a place we never knew or didn't expect. Could be hours or days away. If we do go to a show or a cruise and see lawn chairs perched behind the cars I put it in reverse and head on out. Not how I want to spend my time these days.

 

All I need is a destination, doesn't have to be a car event. My car and the person riding with me are event enough. That has been some of my funnest road trips and it doesn't have to be a long trip either.