Big news folks! You wouldn't believe the trip that Grandpa Jim and I got to take just a few days ago. He and I were missing each other and were looking for an excuse to get back together and decided to sign up last minute for an event called "The Great Race" put on by Coker Tire, Hemmings Motor News, Hagerty Auto Insurance, Reliable Carriers and many other classic car-associated companies! The Great Race is an annual time-trial event for Pre-1972 vehicles which this year traveled along old Route 66 from St. Louis, MO to Los Angeles, CA. In short, it's "the trip of a lifetime you can take every year!"
So, 2 weeks ago my parents trailered our 1940 Chevy to St. Louis, grandpa flew in from California and I flew in from Ohio (where I've been working as an Engineer for Detroit Diesel Remanufacturing between school semesters at Purdue University in Indiana.) And we set off on the trip of a lifetime! Nine days traveling over 2400 miles! Most of which on the old Route 66!
The picture below shows our stops!
I am so proud of our 1940 Chevrolet because it made it all the way without a single break-down of any sort! The only failures was a nut coming loose on our generator mount causing the rear end of the generator to wobble slightly and the window crank falling off from the bumps - which I popped back on immediately!
The first few legs of the trip were a cake-walk! The weather was mild and the roads were nice all the way through until we hit Amarillo, TX. I was the driver, and grandpa was the navigator. Then it started getting hot. Really hot. Once it got up over 100, grandpa begin having internal pains, heart problems, trouble breathing, and had to step out to ride in the Support Truck (with A/C!) He stepped out for 3 days from Gallup, NM to to San Bernardino, CA and re-joined me for the final leg from San Bernardino to Santa Monica to take the checkered flag!
I hated to have to run without him, however those three days were the hottest days I had ever braved. Gallup, NM to Flagstaff, AZ was toasty - pushing it's way well over 100, however the leg from Flagstaff, AZ to Lake Havasu, AZ was downright flabbergasting. 119 degrees Fahrenheit in the tiny high desert town of Oatman, AZ almost put me in my grave, but the old GMC "Buzzin' Half-Dozen" didn't even stutter. It even towed a broken-down 1939 LaSalle uphill for a while then down the interstate at +60 MPH! (trying to bump-start them) Lake Havasu to San Bernardino was also near 105 which is just ridiculous, but Ol' Blue still fired us down the interstate at +80 MPH for around 20 miles when we were threatening to be late for a checkpoint! The temp gauge never once nudged over 190, the car ran dead smooth at idle and like a Raped-Ape at full throttle after it's daily tune-up to accommodate for the near 7000 foot elevation chances we experienced.
I have some big thank-you's to issue to the guys on this site and all the people in this club, because without you I wouldn't have been able to build what is now my most proudest masterpiece. That hopped-up 270 GMC torn from the clutches of a junkyard in Springfield, OR making an estimated 180 HP and 300 ftlb of torque would have never come to existence without all your help.
What I have to thank you the most for, however is a side-effect of this project. The memories my grandfather and I have made working on, and driving, this car - which will last a lifetime. My Papa's years are numbered and it's been really tough on the both of us with me being gone so much lately. The odds of me returning to the West any time soon are very low, so any time we can spend together is cherished. This experience is one that both of us will take to our deathbeds.
Thank you.
