"EPIC" is an understatement, and, your wife certainly falls under that banner as well. It takes an EPIC spouse to make that trip in a traditional hot rod, you're a lucky man. I, for one, would love to see more pics of the trip. The hot rod is perfect and obviously very reliable. FWIW, you certainly don't need to apologize for any English or grammar issues, as a lot of the "natives", myself included, don't write/spell well. Hats off to you Sir, and welcome to the HAMB. Subscribed....
One of my "goals", along with traveling in vintage vehicle(s) on this trip was, has been in the past and will be in the future to try and stay in some cool, older hotels that feature not only vintage appearance and architecture, but preferably decor and furniture to match. Some, but not too many anymore, can still be found in downtowns of smaller town and cities. Many lack "modern" conveniences, but often make up for these in character and charm, which have long gone missing in most of todays "corporate" establishments. While all our stays in "destinations" like Grand Tetons (2 nights) and Yellowstone (5 nights, 2 locations) were reserved almost a year ahead, most of the "en route" stays were found "on the day of" and nearly half ended up satisfying my (vintage stay) "goal". Some of the ones we stayed in even still offered rooms without private bathrooms, but that's were wife drew the line. Lobby to Enders Hotel in which we apparently were the only guest for that night and due to closing of lobby/registration for the night at 8pm, they gave us keys to front door, in case we had a need or desire to go in/out during late evening or night. They also gave us their "best room" (middle top floor, 1 of 3 with private bathroom) with portable A/C !!! (no central air, but the building had central heat via vintage in-room radiators, which one doesn't see often in SoCal ;-)
Anyone interested in how I got my Roadster, please check out my post in "Lets See Your Project Car" thread.
Sorry, I only work on carbureted equipment and this posting s**t is already hard enough ;-) Perhaps someone else (younger generation?) can help us with that ?
Cool trip! I can relate....in 1995 my wife, 8 year old daughter and myself headed off to Speedweek in my Plymouth coupe. She was also 4 months pregnant with my son. That's him and the coupe in my avatar 17 years later. After most of the week on the salt, we detoured into Wyoming and hit Yellowstone on the way home. About 1800 miles in a 2 seater. A trip I'll never forget....
https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/lets-see-your-project-car.1052393/page-7#post-12232984 Post 197 Good story
More details, please. Never made it to Bonneville yet, but been to El Mirage few times in the past due to a very good friend racing there (and in Bonneville) and perhaps even still holding records at both.
Sorry, my memory is fuzzy 22 years later....all I can remember is the worst sunburn ever because I was young and tough and didn't need sunblock. Still have the car, mostly unchanged.....kids are grown, wife and I parted ways years ago.
Good trip. Some of my best memories are of my 8 year old son and I on the 95 Americruse. The trip to Lincoln with the tour was great and the return was just us. We were on the road for 8 days in a 27 hiboy With truck cool cushions for seats. A 283 with 3-2s and a good cam and a 4 speed. We had put 23 miles on a new build.. We had bungees, tie straps, and duct tape. A bungee held the trunk lid down. A Halibrand V8 quickly for music. We left on July 4 in a rain storm and learned that if we stayed above 60 we didn't get too wet, but watch for Rooster tails on the turns. The motel we reserved was rotten , so we went to the university dorm. It was cheap and a cool place. The event was great. We had a great time.
If you ever pass through West Texas, take a look at El Capitan Hotel in Van Horn and El Paisano in Marfa.
Yeah, I hear you. I used be invincible too and even knew everything before I learned more. That's great !
Sounds like a great father/son experience and memories of a lifetime for both, thanks for sharing. I remember when I was able to sleep in or under the car(s) or truck(s), rest area benches or share a $20/night (read, really crappy) single room with couple of friends on a across US (LA to Baltimore) drive with 3 1950s cars we've just bought few days before. And yet, all those seemed luxurious accomodations compared to what we encountered in NYC after leaving the cars to Baltimore.
Even though those cars were never used as a basis for a traditional hotrod I approve of your car and the fact that you actually use it as it should be used. What country are you from?
Well, while waiting for above details or replacement of this thread to more appropriate section, I'll just continue presenting our "Grand Touring" in vintage style here... Another "goal" for me was, and usually with vintage road trips is, to utilize scenic back roads, by-ways and 2-lane Highways rather than Freeways, Interstates and alike, which I often find boring(?), "conveyor belt"-like experiences to transport you and you vehicle greater distances without offering much "pleasures" for driving or car handling. I'd say we managed to reach 2/3 of that "goal" on this trip. Hwy 34 in ID. Probably same. Along the Snake off Hwy 89 in WY.
Dream trip, superb car, cool attitude... I enjoy reading every post, big thanks for sharing this! Congratulations for period true hot rod and extra points for a Mopar on mopar - No offense, but fords are 13 in a dozen.
The front spreader bar/luggage rack is an ingenious way to gain additional storage space for the long haul! I can imagine trying that...followed by the thump thump...knowing that I just ran over my laundry and underwear. Cool car, trip and story btw.
Thanks ! And with all due and well deserved respect to Fords, but I think last count I heard was that off the +/-13000 '32 Ford Roadsters originally built, at least several hundred thousand (still) exists today.
Thanks ! As for strapping on the luggage, just like anything else in life we work on, all one has to do is be smarter than "it" and "it" in my case was just a duffelbag filled with "my laundry and underwear".
Cool thread...love your car and and the pics along the way. Being from Socal do you recommend any vintage hotels along the 101, preferably central coast? Los Olivos and Los Alamos are sleepy towns with vintage hotels. Keep the posts and pics coming!
I travel within or through California Central Coast area few times a year, often with vintage cars, but I also have fair amount of friends in the area so I usually get invitations/offers to stay with many of them. I've stayed in some "modern" establishments in that area, but these have been work related occasions, not leisure. I've seen some older/vintage Hotels, but due to aforementioned reason haven't had a chance to stay in any. If you get a chance, please report back.
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