Road Trips

[Matt B #26021]

Hey everyone,

I would like to hear about your road trips in your old/restored cadillac's. I know many of you have done this and i would enjoy hearing your story. When my 65 Deville is finished I would like to go on a cross-country trip in it. So, let's hear about your trip!

[bill henry]

I drive my 1970 Coupe DeVille from Pittsburgh to Myrtle Beach South Carolina on vacation every year.

[quadfins]

Here is the (maybe too long) story of the first road trip in my '61 Coupe de Ville:


   Years ago, when I was growing up in the ‘60s, there was a television cartoon superhero named Batfink. Batfink was a spoof of the campy TV series “Batman”. Batfink drove in the “BATILAC” as he and his sidekick “Karate” saved the world from evil. I grew up loving cars with fins, although our family never owned one.

     Fast forward to 1997.

   Having decided that my next car would have to have fins, and needing a project to keep me busy, I began to look wistfully through the car ads in the local newspaper. I soon graduated to Old Car Trader, Hemmings, and other such literature. Soon I found myself making phone calls all over the country, even though I wasn’t sure that I even wanted to undertake an automotive restoration. But the more I researched, the more my desire grew to fulfill my childhood dream of cruising the highways in a finned wonder. I soon found myself focusing on a 1961 Cadillac Coupe de Ville located in Carlsbad, New Mexico. After many phone calls, photos and descriptions, the owner offered a price that I couldn’t refuse, so I put a deposit down, and decided to go take a look. Optimistically, I arranged a flight to Dallas, Texas, where I was to pick up a U-Haul type truck for the projected one-way drive to New Mexico. Moving-type trucks turned out to be FAR less expensive than cars to rent one way and then “dump” at the destination.
     Arriving in Dallas, Texas, I took a taxi to the truck rental agency, only to discover that it was out of business, and the building was abandoned. I felt abandoned, too, in the middle of Texas with no return flight. A few phone calls connected me with another branch of the rental agency, and so before long I was on my way to New Mexico. Later that evening, massive thunderstorms moved through the area, and from my hotel room I watched as a tornado passed in the distance. Was all of this an omen, telling me to give up this silly idea? Was it my fate to be stranded somewhere in the middle of Texas, with no way out and no way home??? This was my biggest apprehension.
     The next morning, when I arrived in Carlsbad, I conducted a thorough inspection of the car. I noted a few flaws, such as non-functional speedometer and windshield wipers, no tail pipe aft of the rear axle, and a few small dents and spots of superficial body rust. These had been described to me prior to my decision, so they had been factored into the purchasing considerations. But overall, I found the car to be in excellent dry-climate condition, preserved right down to the original primer on the undersides of the floor pans. The car had been repainted twice and reupholstered once, due to the effects of the desert sun, and both would eventually have to be redone,. But overall the car was in fine shape, drove well, stopped as well, and I deemed it to be a good deal for the price, worthy of a restoration.
The owner and I took care of the paperwork, and then spent the afternoon installing new oil and filter, spark plugs, coil, distributor cap, etc… By late afternoon, Trusting in God, I embarked upon the Great Adventure.
   Almost immediately, I felt that something was different from when I test drove it. The engine seemed to lack power, and ran rougher than before. Investigation soon turned up an unconnected spark plug wire, and after hooking it up, all ran well again.
   The first challenge was to determine air speed velocity, so as to avoid meeting Texas’ finest men in uniform. By clocking the mileage posts, I kept my time at one minute per mile, perfectly adequate on interstates and secondary roads. I kept up well with traffic, and began to relax and enjoy the ride. The car floated along smoothly (if not quietly due to the missing resonator and, it turned out later, decomposed muffler). The Big Boat handled well, and really was a pleasure to drive. I also noted the first of many turned heads, cheery waves, and approving thumbs up signals.
   East Texas brought the first raindrops, but they were sporadic, and the Rain-ex and highway velocity kept the windshield clear enough to drive safely. However, steady rain and road spray in Louisiana forced a rest-stop delay for several hours as a frontal system passed by. I took the opportunity to begin disassembling the dash so as to explore the non-functioning vacuum climate control system. Substituting some new vacuum hoses resulted in the sudden and fortuitous functioning of the defrost system.
   The next day and a half were more of the same â€" hours on the road interrupted by delays as I apparently continued to catch up to the same slow moving weather front. Along the way I tested other “systems”, such as the power windows, power seat, vents, lights, etc… and began to make a list of things to do. The list was growing quite long.
   My ego was boosted in Alabama, when someone at the motel offered to buy the car then and there, and later, during a traffic jam, when I struck up pleasant conversations with the drivers in the neighboring cars, all of whom had lots of questions about the finned wonder. Speaking of fins, it took a while for me to get used to the sight of the fins in the rear view mirror. However, I soon found myself looking at them frequently, and getting a warm, reassuring feeling at the sight of them, following everywhere I went, slashing the air in the wake of the car.
   Finally, I was in North Carolina, stuck in yet another rain shower, but this time at a truck stop. I sat in the smoke-filled Big Rig driver’s lounge, watching a NASCAR race on TV until the skies cleared yet again. I was getting fed up with the delays, but was not smart enough to try the local auto parts stores for a new windshield wiper motor. By fits and starts, 20 miles at a time, I finally drew closer to Virginia. The midnight conversation with the creepy guy at the rest area convinced me to move on regardless of the weather, until I reached Petersburg, where I could no longer see enough of the road to drive safely. I pulled over at yet another truck stop, locked the doors, and tried to sleep through the rain.
   Before long, something told me to wake up. What was happening? Was Creepy Guy back? Were those stars? Yes! The skies had cleared. Wasting no more time, I took the opportunity to drive the final 90 miles to my home in Gloucester County, Virginia, which borders the Chesapeake Bay.
   Home at last, without major mishap, after an epic cross-country trip in an unfamiliar car in unknown mechanical condition. If, as they say, God rides a Harley, then who is the patron saint of cars with fins? I owe him a couple of candles.

[The Tassie Devil(le)]

Ah ha, now I know why you called her Batilac.   Never got that cartoon series down this neck o' the woods.

Bruce.

[buicksplus]

We often drive our old cars cross country.  Our '40 LaSalle has been an several very long trips.  Lots of fun and great opportunity to learn about your car while you see the country.  Try it, you'll like it.

We have documentation for some of our trips, see http://home.comcast.net/~wsullivan711/conn.htm for a typical blog.  

FYI, we often have minor mechanical problems when we travel, but only once did we have a show stopper -- our '40 Chevy lost a rod bearing rather suddendly.  I had to have the car shipped home, while I took a bus.   No big problem both the car and I were back home in a few days.

We do prepare fairly carefully.  I don't carry a lot of spares -- but I test our cars a lot to make sure they can handle heat, traffic, hills, etc.  I try to replace any marginal parts before the trip.  Bring a shop manual, club directories, and a few tools.  Make sure your AAA towing is up to date!

Have fun, see you on the road.

[Mike Josephic CLC #3877]

Hey Folks:

Looking for a neat Road Trip?

THe CLCMRC (Cadillac Lasalle Club Museum Research Center) is having a drive in
and lunch on Saturday, September 4th.  It's at the GiLMORE MUSEUM site near
Kalamazoo, MI.  There will be special parking for vintage cars (15 years or older)
and a complete tour of the site.

This is the chosen site where we will build our museum.  The exact plot has already
been selected -- a prime location among the 90 acres available!

PLEASE CHECK JUNE'S SELF-STARTER FOR COMPLETE DETAILS AND THE REGISTRATION
FORM.  ANY QUESTIONS -- PLEASE E-MAIL ME.

Hope to see you there.  
Registration deadline is July 31st.

Mike Josephic
Meet Chairman

[Jay Friedman]

I live in Decatur, a suburb of Atlanta GA, and have owned a '49 Model 6107 2-door coupe for 26 years.  Starting with the Grand National in '91 in Cincinnatti, I've driven my Cad to 13 GNs, as close as Savannah GA, a 5 hour drive, and as far as Saratoga Springs NY, over 1,000 miles away.  I've also driven it to 3 National Driving Tours, one in New England about 10 years ago, another in New York about 5 years ago and last year in the Washington DC area where we were based at Dulles Airport in nearby VA. 

My '49 will easily cruise at interstate speeds and has only given me trouble 1½ times.  Let me explain. 

In 1993, while leisurely driving it with my wife through Virginia on our way to the Grand National in Lancaster PA, the generator and regulator failed.  We staggered into Lynchburg, and had the great luck to immediately find an auto parts store whose owner was into old cars (he had a '56 Lincoln parked outside).  He sold me a NORS 6 volt regulator and directed me to an auto electric shop nearby whose staff (a young guy and his Mom) never threw anything away.  Mom found a used 6 volt Oldsmobile armature for the generator in a pile of stuff and 2 hours later we were on our way.  (That armature is still in the generator and works perfectly 17 years later.) 

The next time was half a problem on the way to DC last year.  My '49 has a manual transmission and within an hour after leaving home I noticed my clutch was slipping at low speeds.  Although the car remained driveable, I figured hills might be a problem.  Realizing the route I had planned to take on Interstate 81 to I-66 was replete with these, if not mountains, discretion dictated that I adopt Plan B and travel via a relatively flat route on I-85 to just south of Richmond VA and then I-95 to Dulles.  This temporarily resolved the clutch problem, since it did not slip at higher speeds, but made for a hotter than anticipated 1½ day drive.  (This time my wife Elaine wisely went by air.) 

I can't make it to KC this year, but will probably go to the GN in Columbus OH next year.

[Matt B #26021]

Thanks for the great stories. I enjoyed them!